This was a pretty funny conversation in class I personally felt like because cursing is so common in the American language that it was interesting to hear everyone's different input on the subject. We discussed whether or not some words should be considered offensive or not as well as the degree that words are taken too. I personally feel like language can only be determined whether it is offensive or not based on how we interpret it as a individual people. Myself personally, I can't stand people saying GD and this is just because I have been raised in a Christian home throughout my life and GD has always been frowned upon.
I will be the first person to say a cuss word honestly but you will never hear me say GD in seriousness or a joke. I will use just about any other word but that one just severely pisses me off even if its in my presence. This may be considered unjust and honestly, that's probably true but I can't help the way I was raised. I have my own personal opinions just like everyone else.
Another series of words I hate is anything that has to do with throwing up, I hate the word vomit, puke, etc. Not sure why, I have just always been against those words because the action is sickening to me and I just cannot stand when people use those series of words in front of me, its appalling to me. I guess everything just depends on the person because that is just what I think about the situation. Some words are vulgar and some words are fine, but this always changes depending on the person that is being discussed or the person that is involved in the conversation. Language varies in so many different ways but it will continue to be an intriguing conversation to see where our language continues to progress or in some ways, downgrade. Ultimately my thoughts about cussing are fuck it, use the words you want to use because ultimately not a damn person can tell you that what your saying is wrong because in the end its up to you!
You might be interested in a new history of swearing, titled Holy Sh*t. it traces the roots of swearing in religion, which explains (as you point out) your preferences for certain language.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a tangential but important part of this puzzle, though, which is words that aren't in themselves "bad" but that are unappealing for whatever reason. You are right that those preferences change from person to person and group to group. Why do you suppose, though, that certain of the words in any given category (say, vomiting-related words) seem so much more crass than others? Some of the answer is in the root language of the word (German-derived words are generally harsher) but surely there are other reasons. Thoughts? Which is better: puke or spew?
Just wondering.
I feel like your personal preference in words just depends on the way you are raised and honestly in your interests. Because for example, I am fine with the word moist. Yet the word is possibly the most common word that people dislike. I really don't know what is better between puke and spew because they both sound disgusting to me because in my mind I know what we are talking about. I feel like girls hate the word moist because well honestly I feel like it makes them think about the private part of a female in the moments of intimacy and no female particularly enjoys those kinds of conversations. Therefore, that word has been associated poorly leading to its strong hatred in my opinion.
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