What's wrong with swearing?

Why is that the use of certain words or expressions are not acceptable? Yet repharsing the same message with different words is okay?

If think someone is a ****er and he knows I think he's a ****er, why should he be offended if I call him a ****er, if he knows that's what I think he is? Why is it more acceptable to tell my mom that dinner was very good rather than telling her it was ****ing awesome, even if that is greater compliment?

Is that expression requires different levels of emotion to be attached, and some levels are only to be used on rare occasions, so we protect this by making highly emotional expression taboo?

But by that reasoning shouldn't we ban exclamation marks?

Also what's wrong with expressing positive emotions, such as delight with particular meal as above?

Surely taboos on profane language stop us from being fully able to express ourselves? How can that be a good thing?

What's wrong with making it perfectly clear what I think about them?

Is swearing at someone a sign that you want things to move from a verbal confrontation to a physical one?

Why is telling someone that'd you'd like to fight them all that wrong?

Especially in an a situation like a message board, where that is impossible?

*nips stream of conciousness*

Any sociologists or cunning linguists (I've waited my life to use that in phrase in context) out there able to provide any insight?

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Riamfada

FcUk Yeah

Nightwish

I've been told that I swear like a docker

Somnus

Wasnt there another threadlike this not so long ago? Well anyway, i swear all the time in the context you are saying illegalheadbutt. I would say "It was f**king deadly" The swearing i find adds a whole new emphasis to how good it sounds

Creamy Goodness

don't mind swear words, and don't really take them to heart that much.

but i do really want to tone down on my swearing as i swear an awful lot.

Endurance Man

Ye, i started a thread on this subject a while ago.
People who swear excessively come across as uneducated and crude. Now im not saying that you are these things but that is the message you are sending out to me .

Mr.D.Leprachaun

Because if they weren't taboo then they'd loose their emotiveness. I'd be like saying "Really nice dinner!" instead of "Fuppin' awesome dinner!".

Somnus

Endurance Man wrote:

People who swear excessively come across as uneducated and crude. Now im not saying that you are these things but that is the message you are sending out to me .

Thats fair enough, but i mean do people you know not swear? And do you not find that a swearword helps get a point through more sometimes.

godtabh

Swearing is fine as long as its in the right place.

For example you wouldnt curse in front of a preisnt in a church on your wedding day.

You may curse if your after steping on a nail while bare foot.

Ravage1616

Swearing is a part of every day life, nearly every person does it, even young childern! it doesn't bother me at all!

Sangre

kearnsr wrote:

You may curse if your after steping on a nail while bare foot.

Oh fiddlesticks, thats going to require a tetnus shot.

Endurance Man

Ravage1616 wrote:

Swearing is a part of every day life, nearly every person does it, even young childern! it doesn't bother me at all!

You should travel out of Ireland and then start swearing in everyday conversation, your gonna get some very odd looks and not be taken very seriously.

Creamy Goodness

Sangre wrote:

Oh fiddlesticks, thats going to require a tetnus shot.

i've - sadly enough - stood barefooted on a nail. i made a sailor look like a saint when it happened.

Endurance Man

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054856970&highlight=swearing

Heres the other thread .

Wertz

Endurance Man wrote:

You should travel out of Ireland and then start swearing in everyday conversation, your gonna get some very odd looks and not be taken very seriously.

He makes a good point...I swear like someone with a terminal case of tourette's, but when I lived in the US I got some funny looks and just noticed a general dislike of overusage, so I toned it down....but back here I'm as bad as ever I was.

I think some people take swearwords too literally and as most of the, are sexually derived, they can still be taboo...for instance the lovingly irish thing of calling someone say a c*nt just doen't translate very well either to other cultures and in this country to other age groups or social classes.
My biggest use of swear words is as decriptive nouns or just exclamations of joy/rage/whatever.

There's a time and a place for swearing...we just all have differing ideas on when that time is...

micosavo

Think it all comes down to the tone and how you use. Swearing for comedy can be really funny sometimes...but when used in anger it can very hurtful

Explosive_Cornflake

I just think there is no need for swearing, there are wordsa out there that will do the same, and when people swear too much, it's them not knowing those words. Have to say though, i swear when in arguments, but that's me getting a bit flustered.

godtabh

Wertz wrote:

He makes a good point...I swear like someone with a terminal case of tourette's, but when I lived in the US I got some funny looks and just noticed a general dislike of overusage, so I toned it down....but back here I'm as bad as ever I was.

I worekd in an engineering office in NY for a while. The odd time i'd let slip with a f*ck or boll0x and with get strange looks. Mainly cause they couldnt understand my accent and I spoke to fast.

I'm from Dublin with no major accent. I'd hate if they meet some one with a strong accent!

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Sparky

it hasmanny uses i can say

lazydaisy

I love people, like my mother for example, who are outraged by swear words but practise saying the most vicious things and think thats ok.

Beer is Life

For me, its a MASSIVE turn off in a woman to curse too much

Mr. CooL ICE

And why the hell cant we curse on boards.ie? To make the forum more pelasing to look at? If someone is stupidly angry enough, they can use fcuk or sh1t instead of using the real words and having them censored. Its not like people havent seen or heard the words before.

mike65

Swearing is an art, badly practised by most.

Mike.

Dave!

Explosive_Cornflake wrote:

I just think there is no need for swearing, there are wordsa out there that will do the same, and when people swear too much, it's them not knowing those words.

That's bullsh!t -- I've got quite a wide vocabulary but I swear all the time. It's a choice.

Endurance Man

DaveMcG wrote:

That's bullsh!t -- I've got quite a wide vocabulary but I swear all the time. It's a choice.

Yes, it is a choice, the lazy 'cant be assed' choice. If more people in this country forgot the phrase 'cant be assed' think may move a little quicker :v: .

Wertz

Endurance Man wrote:

Yes, it is a choice, the lazy 'cant be assed' choice. If more people in this country forgot the phrase 'cant be assed' think may move a little quicker :v: .

Ah but see the swearing and the CBA are both ingrained into our heritage...you wouldn't be trying to deprive us of our heritage now would ya? It hasn't really got anything to do with your level of vocabulary skill...more to do with our wanting to get ourselves across dynamically in a conversation...

Whilst on the subject, hwat I'd find more annoying than actual swearing is people who use a substitute word, like fiddlesticks or sugar; we all know what they really meant to say, so why be coy about it?

Endurance Man

Endurance Man wrote:

Ye, i started a thread on this subject a while ago.
People who swear excessively come across as uneducated and crude.

What's fundamentally wrong with being crude/blunt? Why does it offend people? Why is it socially unacceptable?

If using a swear word is the most precise way of conveying how I feel/ articulating my message at a particular point in time how is that "uneducated"? Why is there always a better option than using swear words? That seems to be a very arbitrary axiom.

It seems to me that, the same message delivered in two different ways, should elict the same response in both situations, but it doesn't. Why is that?

People seem to able to give their reactions and experiences but not explain the core processes at work behind them.

explosive_cornflake wrote:

I just think there is no need for swearing, there are wordsa out there that will do the same, and when people swear too much, it's them not knowing those words. Have to say though, i swear when in arguments, but that's me getting a bit flustered.

Why the discrimination against certain words, what special properties do these words hold?

Mr.D.Leprachaun wrote:

Because if they weren't taboo then they'd loose their emotiveness. I'd be like saying "Really nice dinner!" instead of "Fuppin' awesome dinner!".

That's what I was thinking myself. It just seems kind of odd/irrational that emotions that people seem to go to such great concious and subconcious effort to maintain their ability to express themselves.

Anyone have any more ideas?

Interesting read - http://accurapid.com/journal/16review.htm (contains offensive language)

JC 2K3

The fact that swear words have a reputation for being so offensive and crude is the precise reason that they are so powerful. If used too often they lose their effect, which is why the person who throws in a "fúckin'" before every noun sounds like an idiot but when the person who never curses shouts, "For fúcks sake!" it sounds so strong.

The words themselves mean nothing intelligent in the way they are used normally. They simply convey anger or hatred in a strong, informal way. If someone says something that strongly conveys hatred or anger it is offensive/hurtful/incites hatred or anger in others which is why people don't like cursing.

JC 2K3

JC 2K3 wrote:

The fact that swear words have a reputation for being so offensive and crude is the precise reason that they are so powerful. If used too often they lose their effect, which is why the person who throws in a "fúckin'" before every noun sounds like an idiot but when the person who never curses shouts, "For fúcks sake!" it sounds so strong.

The words themselves mean nothing intelligent in the way they are used normally. They simply convey anger or hatred in a strong, informal way. If someone says something that strongly conveys hatred or anger it is offensive/hurtful/incites hatred or anger in others which is why people don't like cursing.

Good Stuff

Still from that, why is it necessary to "protect" people from them, in film/music via censorship?

sterculelum

It's a dirty dirty fúcking habit.

Whatever about what's wrong with it... what's right about it? Why do you feel you need to swear...? It's really kind of pointless and if I heard someone effing and blinding on like a train beside me, fúcking every second word and that, it would prolly piss me off a good bit. It just sounds arrogant and common.

Actually... fúck it.. who cares?

sterculelum

sterculelum wrote:

It's a dirty dirty fúcking habit.

Whatever about what's wrong with it... what's right about it? Why do you feel you need to swear...? It's really kind of pointless and if I heard someone effing and blinding on like a train beside me, fúcking every second word and that, it would prolly piss me off a good bit. It just sounds arrogant and common.

Actually... fúck it.. who cares?

Me, that's why I started the thread.

sterculelum

I see...

True that.

solicitous

sterculelum wrote:

It's really kind of pointless and if I heard someone effing and blinding on like a train beside me, fúcking every second word and that... It just sounds arrogant and common

I'd say yes and no to this.
Yes because you get some idiots shouting it all over public transport for attention, and no because some sentences lose effect without it even with a valid point.

Yes, some is ok, excessively is common I agree

Closing Doors

Had a conversation with my mate about this a few months ago, and to quote him:

"It's only a f*cking word"

sterculelum

solicitous wrote:

I'd say yes and no to this.
Yes because you get some idiots shouting it all over public transport for attention, and no because some sentences lose effect without it even with a valid point.

Yes, some is ok, excessively is common I agree

Oh yeah. Agree with that. A bit of swearing can be hugely effective when placed correctly, but some people have an unfortunate tendancy to throw them in no problem.