I’ve been wondering for a while why there is such a taboo over certain specific words in the English language. Why do people take offence at certain words and not at others that mean the same thing? At the end of the day they are still words like any other. Words are neutral. Words are innocent. I don’t believe in bad words and bad language. It is the context they are used in and the intention behind their use that makes them good or bad. For example, if you take the word “nigger”. We aren’t offended when Eddie Murphy or Richard Pryor uses the word because we know they’re not racist.
Why is the s word so much more offensive than crap? They are both slang words that mean the same thing. Why is the c-word so offensive and yet vagina is perfectly acceptable? If you look at where the word vagina comes from, you’ll find it comes from the French word for a scabbard. That’s why in French it is a masculine word. Why is it inoffensive to name the vagina after the housing of a piece of weaponry (implied to be the penis) and yet the c-word causes such outrage?
At the end of the day, these are words that have evolved and developed as any other words. We can’t be afraid of words that speak the truth; even if it’s in unpleasant truth like there’s a bigot and a racist somewhere in pretty much any street in the world.
We have a lot of trouble dealing with reality so we’ve invented a soft language to protect ourselves from it and it seems to be getting worse. To give an example, take the word shellshock. It is the name of a very common condition in combat where a fighting person is under so much stress and anxiety and the trauma of what they have seen have just become too much. It was called shellshock. That has two syllables. It’s short. It describes the condition well. Yet during world War Two the very same condition was called “Battle Fatigue”. We’re up to four syllables now and the words themselves are losing their meaning. Fatigue is a nicer word than shock. It doesn’t sound so bad. It doesn’t seem to hurt as much. By the Korean War, the very same combat condition was called “Operational exhaustion”. We’re now up to eight syllables and the pain is completely buried under jargon. Operational exhaustion sounds like something that might happen to your car. Then by the the Vietnam War, they decided to change the name again to Post traumatic Stress Disorder. If it was still being called Shellshock, those Vietnam veterans might have got the treatment they needed at the time
I don’t see the need for all the euphemistic language in common use today. Why is the word “cripple” so offensive? I can find no shame attached to it in any dictionary. It doesn’t take five minutes to describe that condition. But we don’t have any cripples any more. We have “physically challenged” or “differently abled”. One of my best friends from university is a wheelchair user and I have the utmost respect for what she has to put with every day but changing the name of her condition to something softer and nicer doesn’t change the condition at all. Whatever you call people like my friend, they still have to go through the same things every day.
If people start to use words like “cripple” or “Nigger” commonly and with no stigma or offence intended by it (and those words were commonly used only 3-4 decades ago) then I don’t see why they can’t be accepted back into our language as legitimate words without any intrinsic offence implied by them. And if that were to happen, would that not be better as it would mean that there are no words left for those people who do use those words with malice and intent to hurt the person the directed at and wouldn’t that be a victory against racism and bigotry? I think the politically correct obsession with language and obscenity is actually perpetuating the very problem they are trying to eliminate because they reinforce the stigma attached to certain words and so reinforce the offence they can cause.
Thoughts?
Last edited by Ratatouille strychnine : 19-12-2007 at 04:15 PM.
Reason: it censors my post - the irony
its not what you say, its the way you say it.
if you call someone black its not offencive, but if you say they are a nigger, you are meaning to insult them, which makes it a bad word. Its meaning does not have to be bad, just your intentions when you say it.
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Personally, I don't often swear. And the reason I don't like swearing often is because using the words too frequently diminishes their power. If I was to call people th c-word in general conversation, then when I call someone it in anger it doesn't mean anything. So I save swearing for when I want people to know I'm really really mad!
And changing some phrases, its just daft. Like calling disabled people differently abled. Because disabled means loss of an ability, surely if they were just differently abled instead of disabled it'd mean they didn't need any extra help. I have a friend with physical disabilities who hates that term because she feels it belittles her condition, she has no feeling or movement from the waste down. How is that merely differently abled so someone in good health?
And all this chalkboard,brain storm, Winterval stuff. A lot of minorities hate these terms because it then makes people think they are kicking up a fuss over nothing, when really its some politically correct government beurocrat
I swear, sure. I don't think it's offensive, and I don't think it should be found offensive.
I'd rather someone called me a c[word] than 'fat' or 'ugly' or 'boring' or something that was actually personal, instead of just a word that's frowned upon. I used to have friends to HATED the word c[word], or g.ash, or w.anker - but since me and a few friends say them reguarlly they've stopped being offended by them because they aren't TABBOO and we don't use them to be offensive.
The same goes for words such as Nigger and Paki - if you listen to a rap song and they say "Nigger" it's ridiculous to find it offensive, because it's intent is to be used as a word to describe black people, not as an insult.
Another example is if someone says "**** off you black bastard" and someone else says "nigger" in normal context (to a friend "alright nigger?") which is more offensive? I think the first because of it's intention (ie: to insult).
*Shrugs* I think once people get the hell over actual words, and start to concentrate on the real issue - intent and meaning, the better. I think it's ridiculous in all honesty.
:)
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there was a programe on ages ago about swearing and how kinds thought some words where more offensive than otheres, like the c word, it used to be a perfectly fine thing to say but now its used as an offensive word to hurt people, i mean you couldnt exactly go "oi ya vagina" to someone, it wouldnt have the same offensive effect.
A lot of its to do with how things are ment, and the tone its said in, maybe its ok for you and friends to joke about and call each other thoese words, but if your walking down the street and someone starts swearing at you for no reason, it can be really upsetting.
but hey we are not even allowed to go bah bah black sheep anymore because its offensive to blakc people. Now its rainbow sheep and oh, that might be offensive to gay people.
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#i swaer pretty much all the time, I dont' get offended by it and I don't tink people should. But I don't think I ever have or ever will use the N word.
Yeah sure words are words and nthing more, but that's more than a word. It's a seriously offensive term that stemmed from the days of slavery and oppression, it's just got a horrible history and I don't think anyone should be saying it really. And I thinkif you're black and you use it to describe other black people no propblem then I don't think you then have the right to shout about a white person being racist if they use it in the same context as you. It's pretty hypocritical tbh.
I have no idea why c-nt is so offensive, it's a wonderful word but it's the most offensive thing you can say on tv, after that it's motherf-cker.
Although I think people should lighten up about swearing it's still good to have around, language would be so boring if no one got offended :P
The thing is why use profanities and other crude words when there are alot more words that would make you look more eloquent?
Some people simply don't know other words that'll make them sound more eloquent. And, if I was angry, I'd rather swear my head off at someone/thing instead of coming out with something more eloquent! There's a time and place for everything hehe.
I think it can have a lot to do with with how you're brought up and the type of people you spend your time with. When I was younger my mum never used to swear around me, and I'd get a right earful if something slipped out by accident, so I tended to swear more when I was in school and out with my friends. My mums not so bothered now but I still tone my language down in front of her, she lets the occasional profanity out every now and then but I swear a lot when I'm around my friends. My housemate swears like a trouper, and I tend to swear a lot more when I've been around her a lot compared to if I stayed with my mum for a few days.
I do have a foul mouth though, and I've had all sorts of comments, from "oh my gosh, as if you just said ****!" to "girls shouldn't say those sort of things" and "I love how you just don't care about watching your mouth".
Although, I don't swear around children and have been known to snap "excuse me, do you mind, there's kids about" or whatever when I've been on busses and there's been people swearing. I'm sure people don't want their kids hearing stuff like that really.
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I think the only thing that matters is the meaning and intention behind it, like I can call my black friend a "nigger" and he won't take offense because we joke on that and he knows I'm using it in the same context as "black" so in that case it's ok but...if I were to call him a "nigger" in the same context as the racists would use it and with the intention to insult him or hurt him then it is wrong. But really words are just words, we are the ones who give them their meanings...and we can even use them differently so they mean something else. What matters is not the word itself or the definition but the way it is said and how it is meant to come across and the intentions behind it.
My best friend and I called eachother a whore constantly and neither of us took offense becasue we knew we weren't really, literaly, saying we ware whores and that we weren't saying it as an insult yet if a stranger calls me a whore randomly, I know he means to insult me so it is different even though it's the same word.
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I wonder that as well, eg: why is c**t SO bad but T.wat is just silly - they're both derogatory terms for the same thing.
It does depend how you use it & also who to & who says it.... If me Dad called me a c**nt I would be upset but if my gf called me a c**t I'd never forgive her... the reason is that my Dad uses it but my gf despises the word & wont even say it if I ask her to.
I agree with the people here saying that they think it's the way people say things & what they mean by it that's the problem.
I can see your point in everything that's said, & think that changing language such as 'shellshock' just seems really pointless & takes away the meaning by just chucking jargon at it.. But with the words such as 'cripple' and 'nigger', etc., it's just changing the language in order not to offend people. If a word becomes a term which is generally used to insult someone, I suppose you could say that there's a need for a new word.
I also deliberated about the difference between the words c*nt, tw*t, etc., & I think that it's just the sound of the word that people don't like. It's a very short, sharp word with one syllable and a harsh sound. That's probably what differentiates that one, anyway.. *shrugs*.
& I suppose if you could argue that they're "just words" then it doesn't matter if they're changed/given strange meanings, etc.. Just playing devil's advocate ;)
Oh linguistics, you slimy little bastard, must you constantly change?
*ahem* I mostly agree that it is the way you say it, not what you say, but I do believe it is 'tradition' that makes folks at the way they do when someone says a cuss word.
Also, connotations that are given to words are often hard to shake. 30ish years ago, not many blacks would call themselves nigger or nigga, now I see it daily. (I've gotten called a nigga before, and I am very much white...I don't know why the kid said it, but it was in a friendly way) Now nigga has a different meaning, slightly. When said in a hateful way, it is still hateful. But it seems now that it can be said in a friendly way and come off, well, friendly.
I swear all the time and regularily drop the C-bomb. Because me and my friends use it so much it isn't offensive. I agree with Alcohol Induced Altruism. I would rather use a swear word, than one that is actually a personal attack.
I think you can tell by the tone in which people use a word as to whether they mean it or not. If someone sounded and looked angry and they told you to f-off. You would know they mean business.
