Posts
A conversation I had today with my dear friend SiouxsieQ (I usually refer to her as Sooz since it's quicker and easier to type) reminded me of something I've been thinking about: Profanity. Bad language. Swear Words. You know what I mean.
Well, Sooz was commenting on having surfed around the blogosphere from my links here, and how she had found so many bloggers using Very Bad Language. I've noticed it too. (How could I miss it?) In fact, a few of the blogs that I find most entertaining are also the most potty-mouthed. Unfortunately, I'm thinking that I may just have to give up reading some of those because I'm picking up too many of the words I'd rather not be saying (or thinking). I have 6 kids to bring up into being Fine Upstanding Citizens, you know.
Sooz also said that she has sort of a Bad Word heirarchy, if you will. Some words are just merely *bad* while others are Bad and still others are BAD and then the VERY BAD. Can you identify?
It's fine with me for you to say what you say on your blog. That's the beauty of a blog. It's your place to say your stuff. Maybe some people vent their Very Bad Language on their blogs since it's safer that saying it in Real Life. (Comments, potty-mouthed bloggers?!) But that's not my point.
My point (and question) is: Who gets to decide what is a Bad Word? Obviously, I know that taking God's name in vain is a Big No, straight from the 10 Commandments. But other than that, how does this get sorted out? Why is it that in polite company I can say Heck but not Hell? How on earth did Hell get to be a Bad Word? What about Darn and Damn? Don't you think that some things do indeed deserve to be Damned, not just Darned? So many other ones.....just makes me wonder. How come some words get The Brand and others are OK? Do you suppose that Bad Words are just as evolving as the rest of the English language? Meaning--do you think that some words get downgraded (or would that be upgraded?) from Bad Words to OK words after some period of time or after being commonly spoken for so long? Or OK to Bad? I can't think of any examples, but I'm thinking that surely this is the case. (**I thought of an example: ASS)
In my thinking about The Bad Words I have found myself feeling kind of resentful. Not that there's some Bad Words that I'm just dying to use all the time. It's more that I'm annoyed that some one or some force or some thing has decided that there are certain Words I should not say, and that there is no intelligent or suitable use for these Words, and if I say these Words then I have done something Bad and I should feel Guilty. I will have been a Bad Christian Witness, for example, which is something I take seriously. But still, I want to know what the rhyme and reason is for this. Anybody know? I want your comments, people! :)
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Profanity: Who decides?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Well, it's me, She-Of-The-Hierarchical-Bad-Words. I have thought about your musings and have decided that since we are not the first people on earth, we are necessarily going to inherit some cultural norms and do's and don't's. (Those apostrophes just can't be right.) Does it bother you that there are bodily noises considered impolite in public? After all, didn't someone else come up with those prohibitions too? I actually spent a few minutes of my life surfing the net investigating this idea of where swear words came from. Didn't find much; so much for the wonders of the internet. But I did get my brainstorm later about the fact that those who have gone before us have come up with some stuff that we can either accept or reject. Just my 2 cents worth.
Post a Comment