Swear words

[Xaccers]

But why is swearing bad manners and impolite? its just words and sounds, if the meaning is not bad manners or impolite then neither are the words. To think otherwise is illogical.

 

And i understand why and when certain words became swear words but my point is is that those notions wherever they came from are rediculous. Its mob mentality, people basically not stopping to think objectively about it.

 

Because of their meaning, that's why they're offensive to people who respect manners and politeness.

The F word doesn't just mean copulate, it means copulate in an offensive manner.

The S word doesn't just mean rubbish, it means rubbish in an offensive manner.

 

Their purpose is to offend. If you didn't want to offend you'd say rubbish or copulate or sexual intercourse.

It's their offensivness which is why they've entered conversations between people (mostly yoof cos their mummy didn't let them say bad words before) and why words like rubbish and copulate aren't used.

[expvideo]

I greet my freinds by calling them a *fruitcage* or a rapist pretty much every day.

Which is a pretty good indication that you aren't 18 yet.

[Skarclaw]

Orly.

[expvideo]

Orly.

rly.

[Skarclaw]

Watch Nathan Barley, its on youtube, all will be explained

 

[expvideo]

Watch Nathan Barley, its on youtube, all will be explained

I guess I didn't get the reference.

[WhutJP]

Because of their meaning, that's why they're offensive to people who respect manners and politeness.

The F word doesn't just mean copulate, it means copulate in an offensive manner.

The S word doesn't just mean rubbish, it means rubbish in an offensive manner.

 

Their purpose is to offend. If you didn't want to offend you'd say rubbish or copulate or sexual intercourse.

It's their offensivness which is why they've entered conversations between people (mostly yoof cos their mummy didn't let them say bad words before) and why words like rubbish and copulate aren't used.

 

But if I say "that movie was *fruitcage* great!" i am not saying that movie was "copulate in an offensive manner" great! I am saying that movie was really great.

So unless i am actually talking about the act of *fruitcage* the f word does not mean copulate in an offensive manner. And this is my point; theres no reason to get offended over the f word or any other word unless the meaning or intention behind them is offensive.

 

"that movie was *fruitcage* great!" is not in the slightest bit impolite. At worst its informal.

 

[BaggyPants]

The F word doesn't just mean copulate, it means copulate in an offensive manner

 

Not really. It only became a naughty word in the 1700s.

 

Although this sounds like the most Anglo-Saxon of all Anglo-Saxon words, the origin of the f-word meaning 'sexual intercourse' is actually rather obscure. There is a legend that the old name for the crime of rape was 'Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge', and part of the punishment was that an abbreviation of the crime would be branded on the perpetrators head. Hence, people with 'F. U. C. K.' on their head were known to be rapists. A similar story is that during the time of the plague when it was necessary to increase the population a royal injunction was issued telling the common folk to 'Fornicate Under Command of the King.' These, however, would appear to be acronyms intentionally spelling out an existing word rather than new creations themselves.

 

Eric Partridge, a famous etymologist, has suggested that the Old German 'ficken' or '*fruitcage*en', meaning 'to strike or penetrate', was related to the Latin words for pugilist, puncture, and *beep*, or to the Latin 'futuere' which had the slang meaning 'to copulate'. There are also clearer links to Dutch where 'fokken' means breed and is applied to cattle, and to a Swedish dialect word 'fokken' which has the English meaning. Certainly, all the earliest uses of the word in English came via Scotland, suggesting a Scandinavian origin5.

 

Records from as early as 1278 identify a man called John Le-*fruitcage* (which, considering people often had names to do with their occupations, makes the mind boggle), and it was certainly in common usage by the 16th Century, appearing in a dictionary, John Florio's A World of Words, in 1598. By the 18th century, it had became a vulgar term; It was even banned from the Oxford English Dictionary.

 

 

 

 

 

[Crazy_Harry]

totally missing the point here, guys.

 

From a purely linguistic point of view, saying something is effing great makes no sense.

 

From the point of view of taboo language, it makes perfect sense. "eff", as it shall henceforth be refered to, is currently a taboo word of power. To use it in the above content is to draw extra attention to the content in a way far more prevalent than simply using a regular, non-taboo word meaning such as "very" or "extremely". however, as the use of "eff" as a non-offensive "gosh isn't this exciting?!" word becomes more widespread, so too will its power as a taboo word diminish.

 

Hence my argument that "eff" is on the way out as a word of power- over-use, and a gradual acceptance that it no longer represents what it was originaly designed to represent, all strip it of value and weight, and simply leave it as a way for the marginally uncouth to place emphasis upon something.

 

 

[Desolation mkII]

However in the same way, using a less offensive word in the place of eff where you might not normaly say it can be as, if not more effective as simply saying 'eff'.

 

For example, 'if you don't get it right I will march you round this field all shagging day'.

[Jagdraben]

Somehow, I don't think that "I will PT you all until you shagging die!" carries quite the same weight as "I will PT you all until you f___ing die!".

 

But that could just be me.

 

®

[Xaccers]

But if I say "that movie was *fruitcage* great!" i am not saying that movie was "copulate in an offensive manner" great! I am saying that movie was really great.

So unless i am actually talking about the act of *fruitcage* the f word does not mean copulate in an offensive manner. And this is my point; theres no reason to get offended over the f word or any other word unless the meaning or intention behind them is offensive.

 

"that movie was *fruitcage* great!" is not in the slightest bit impolite. At worst its informal.

 

No it is impolite because you are using an impolite word. You aren't saying "that movie was really great" you're using a word which is offensive. The act of copulation isn't offensive, hence why copulate, reproduce, sexual intercourse.

 

Calling someone an F'er isn't offensive because you're suggesting they have sex, it's offensive becuase it's a word with offensive meaning.

 

A swear word has a purpose, to enphasise something, either another phrase, or an emotion such as dispair, or anger. To reduce it to just a word detracts for this, and as such begs the question of why bother using it?

Why say "this movie was f'ing great!" if f'ing no longer has any effect above that of just "great" or "really" or even "so"

 

As I said before, use swear words sparingly, and they have more impact, they make people sit up and take notice. Spend most of your time calm, and when something serious goes wrong and you swear people around you a much quicker to notice something is wrong and lend a hand than if you don't value swear words.

With their special status and specific purpose and use, you can hardly complain if people look down on you for misusing them. It shows ignorance and poor language skills, more so than saying "think" instead of "thing" or less when you should use fewer.

 

Not really. It only became a naughty word in the 1700s.

 

It became a naughty word when it became fashionable to speak norman french, as with other anglosaxon words such as the S word and the C word. To use the anglosaxon suggested coarseness and uncoothness.

 

[transist]

I swear lightly with my friends sometimes because I know them rather well and I know it doesn't bother them. They do it to. I rarely if ever swear to people I don't know, to my relatives (except sometimes cousins), to girls, and to my parents.

 

Swearing doesn't offend me unless it is totally pointless or if it is someone I don't know. Or if they do it excessively.

[expvideo]

Somehow, I don't think that "I will PT you all until you shagging die!" carries quite the same weight as "I will PT you all until you f___ing die!".

 

But that could just be me.

 

®

In that context, the word is appropriate, because it is meant to be disrespectful. It is meant to make the order giver sound like the dominant male/female, and to emphasize the inferiority of the order taker. Even though this is a good use of the word, the order giver's point would be more articulated if he were to say "I will PT you all until you can't stand up, and then I'll PT you on the ground!"

 

Generally, using that (or other) swear words to emphasize a point does nothing but to make it look like you just aren't intelligent enough (or at least lack the vocabulary) to put proper emphasis into the sentence. It is like using bold font, or all caps. In journalism you will not see bold words or capitol letters, because it is looked down on. It is seen as lacking the ability to properly emphasize your point if you have to use capitol letters or bold text. You should be able to form the sentence to be able to emphasize itself without using those tools. The same goes for swearing. If you use swearing to emphasize your point, many people will disregard your point all together or see you as lacking in the ability to emphasize your point intelligently.

 

When you say "That movie was *fruitcage* great!", your point is lost because instead of expressing your point, you have tried to put the ultimate amount of emphasis on the least amount of information. If you said "The special effects in that movie were incredible, and the plot kept me guessing until the end", you have expressed your enjoyment of the movie much more, and now I may actually be interested in your point. Even if you do want to just express your like for the movie without explaining why, "that movie was incredible" puts better emphasis on the greatness of the movie than "*fruitcage* great". When you say "*fruitcage* great", it just looks like you lack the vocabulary to say something is better than just "great". Saying that it is "incredible" makes you look far less stupid.

[Chimpy]

You can swear for emphasis and impart useful information, to take the example above:

 

"That movie was *fruitcage* great! The special effects were incredible, and the plot kept me guessing until the end."

 

Next we can move into swearing intelligently and for effect.

 

Of course there is also the opposite problem that not swearing enough makes you look uptight and prissy.

[expvideo]

You can swear for emphasis and impart useful information, to take the example above:

 

"That movie was *fruitcage* great! The special effects were incredible, and the plot kept me guessing until the end."

 

Next we can move into swearing intelligently and for effect.

 

Of course there is also the opposite problem that not swearing enough makes you look uptight and prissy.

That's true. There are times when not swearing just on principle can also make you look foolish. If you drop something heavy on your foot, saying anything other than a swear word will just make you look girly. Also "go *fruitcage* yourself" is a lot more effective than "I'm tired of talking to you and I'd rather you just leave me alone and take your opinion elsewhere". One is direct and to the point, and one makes you sound girly.

 

There are plenty of times in life that swearing is the best way to articulate something, but it should be used in moderation if you want to be taken seriously.

[Chimpy]

Mind you there are times when you want to be taken seriously where it will help.

 

"Start running right *fruitcage* now there is a mad man with a *fruitcage* gun over there!"

[fido]

I'm of the opinion that profanities are a valid part of the rich texture of the English Language but like all words they should be used judiciously, appropriately and with correct context.

 

to argue my point I would direct the sceptics amongst you towards the esteemed tome that is Roger's Profanisaurus and defy you to read it without developing some level of admiration for a well turned-out expletive.

[BenjaminRombough]

Not really. It only became a naughty word in the 1700s.

 

Although this sounds like the most Anglo-Saxon of all Anglo-Saxon words, the origin of the f-word meaning 'sexual intercourse' is actually rather obscure. There is a legend that the old name for the crime of rape was 'Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge', and part of the punishment was that an abbreviation of the crime would be branded on the perpetrators head. Hence, people with 'F. U. C. K.' on their head were known to be rapists.

 

Interesting is this the basis for the derogatory term effhead then?

[scorch]

Of course there is also the opposite problem that not swearing enough makes you look uptight and prissy.

 

Quite true (unfortunately).

 

Working in a plumbing merchants with a load of tradesmen for customers, you get branded as "a bit gay" or some such label if you are really well spoken and posh sounding.

 

And as such, I swear more than I really should.

[darkchild130]

im an infantryman and therefore have tourettes by default.

 

In real life i swear practically every other word.

 

It means nothing, im just a product of my environment.

 

Darkchild