Speaking Up

[squiz]

I find the whole phenomenon of swearing fascinating. Here are a few of my thoughts on the subject.

Swearing in English consists mainly of using taboo words these days. This can be different in other languages. The Germans hardly swear at all, except for the ubiquitous "Scheiße", which is hardly a swearword at all these days. My wife's mother even says it in front of her granddaughter and noone notices. English swearing seems to consist of just exclaiming the taboo words, whereas southern languages also include such practices as discussing the sexuality of your mother etc. Modern English taboo words seem to mainly center around sexuality or body parts, although there are still a few of a religious nature. Interestingly, the (mainly Catholic) Bavarians use words like "Sakrament" and Cruzifix, whereas the (mainly proddy) northern Germans do not. In English too, these seem to still consist of exclamations these days, but seem to have evolved from calling upon God as an oath (a bit like promising on your mother's grave) or as a curse (calling upon God to do something bad to someone). The words "cursing" and "oath" are still with us, but we seem to use them also for simply exclaiming a taboo word these days, which is not really the same.

Australians used to be known for the word "bloody", which they would use to fill every gap in a sentence. It has been called the "Great Australian Adjective": http://www.australianbeers.com/culture/bloody.htm. Noone seems to know these days, what it refers to, but for some reason it is still considered swearing by people like my mother. Maybe it did refer to the blood of Christ, but who knows.

For a good overview of the history of swearing in the English language, check out "Swearing" by Geoffrey Hughes. For a lighter hearted look at Swearing throughout Europe, check out "Your Mother's Tongue" by Stephen Burgen.

I remember back when I was a teenager, one of the church youth group leaders discussed swearing with us. He told us that when the guys at work asked him why he doesn't swear, he said that as a Christian he "doesn't need to". I remember even then finding this a bit hypocritical, as he would constantly pepper his speech with swearword replacements like "flippin". I remember (back when I cared about such things) finding swearing to be analogous to eating non-kosher food and finding Paul's discussion of this to be relevant.

These days, when the mood takes me, I occasionally like to swear my bloody head off. I find it a morally neutral activity and find it silly to worry about such things. (I am not talking about abusing a person here). Some say that swearing is a sign of having a small vocab, but I usually don't worry about what such wowsers (look it up) think. Nevertheless, I would try not to swear in front of my children, because there are a lot of people out there who do care about such stuff and I would not want to teach them habits that disadvantage them in life. I also turn it off in front of my parents, who are old, and whom I don't want to upset.

[M Go Blue]

(12-08-2011 01:53 AM)Paisley Wrote:  Do you remember always being told that if someone were to take the name of the Lord in vain that the proper response was to say, "I'd appreciate it if you'd not talk about my Father that way." If a co-worker cursed, we were told to tell them that we were offended and to please not use that language. Or, my favorite was the one where if someone was listening to rock music (in their own car), that we should ask them to please turn it off. Did anyone here ever have the guts to do that? Or were you like me and you sat through the sermon thinking, "No way am I going to do that!"

I did this, though not often. I joined a fraternity during my years at Michigan. Most of the time I let the swearing go. However, every now and then someone would get off on a tirade and use the Lord's name in vain quite a bit. When the happened, I asked them to stop. I even did it in our weekly meetings. When I did, I said something along the lines of "I'm not asking you to do this out of respect of my beliefs but out of respect for me. I don't expect you all to stop using that language around me but I would appreciate it that when I around, you all keep it to a minimum". And they did. After a few times of me asking (I never demanded they change on my behalf), if someone would do it and I was around, they'd turn to me and apologize.

[M Go Blue]

(12-08-2011 06:20 PM)tiarali Wrote:  I feel frustrated with the whole notion of swearing being so exceedingly sinful.

I find swearing sinful if only because my definition of swear words are those that end up using the lord's name in vain. "F bombs" and the like are crass words and aren't in the same league as swearing. Is it a matter of semantics? Probably. Maybe it's how I feel better about myself after I get particularly mad at something a string together a chorus of naughty words.

[greg]

"But now you must rid yourself of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. " Colossians 3:8

[squiz]

(12-14-2011 06:35 PM)greg Wrote:  "But now you must rid yourself of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. " Colossians 3:8

There is an interesting discussion on the translation of the word Αισχρολογιαν in post 3 here.

I find it interesting that Plato and Polybius used this word in the sense of abusive language. It also seems to me to fit the context better: all the other actions are something you do to another person.

I wonder why most of our translators chose to translate it the way they did. Tradition (from the vulgate)?

[EmilyKing]

(12-09-2011 09:24 AM)exOBCstudent Wrote:  I joined the Army while fresh out of Fundy U...even before I really wanted out of the IFB so I had LOTS of things to learn.
I used to assume that every cuss word I heard was directed in an offensive way and that soldiers around me were trying to be pricks.

I used to get in so many arguments/discussions about lots of things they did and why/why not they were wrong. They even called me "preacher man" sometimes. Looking back at my Fundy mindset, I just can't believe that I lacked so much grace and was so judgmental! The fact that we were taught to be so vocal about our beliefs didn't help the issue.

I've come to learn now that these "words" aren't really "curses" or evil necessarily but more often than not they are really used as descriptors or emotive expressions often NOT meant to offend. I still draw the line between verbal assault as PW has very well explained, but now I don't see any difference or "sin" between saying you had a really terrible day or your day was f****d up. These words in themselves don't invoke evil such as eunochian chants done in withcraft so I don't know where folks get that idea that they are "curses".

Sometimes, there just aren't enough "regular" words to describe how you feel and "curse" words say it so much more accurately.

Lol I joined the Air Force fresh out of FundyU. The military is a good escape route from the IFB.

[laurat99]

When I was younger, my mom would tell me that "Ladies don't swear." I try not to swear, especially with little recorders (kids) around to copy and repeat what I say. My 9-year old challenged me on the use of the word "sucks," why I could say it and he couldn't. I don't want him going around saying "Everything sucks," so I toned it down.

That being said, some situations require the use of a few judicious swear words.

[elfdream]

Oh Bolsheviks!

I don't swear because its trite and not creative. Make up your own curse words like I do. Take any word and give it the right amount of emphasis and inflection and voila! Swear words. Plagiarism! Apostasy!"

The Cherokee language has no curse words btw. Anything goes....but to my ears the whole language sounds like one big curse although I've thought of learning something unoffensive like 'trees' and shouting that when I'm angry.

And no I do not correct people unless they get vulgar.