Why are certain words, 'swear words' or 'bad words'

reply to post by Clark W. Griswold


Your type of house is the type of house I want, just wanna make sure that if I do have kids they won't be saying that when I'm on a business call

I think some time in history, some one used a common word, then compared it to something else. Giving it a new, derogatory meaning. So here is one of my theories, couldn't really think of any other that made sense.

Say the 'B' word, which is essential a female dog. I'm sure some one figured out a new way to denigrate a woman by referring to her as the 'B' word. I'm sure the original (derogatory) meaning of the 'B' word would of been comparing a woman to an animal, a dog. As the normal meaning of the 'B' word would still refer to a female dog. But now it would have a negative side to it.

But now, I'm sure if you were to look it up, the meaning female dog will still be there, but more derogatory definitions referring to a woman will have been added.

I'm sure more derogatory definitions will be made to once 'clean' words as time goes by, more will be created to suit a situation, or to convey a message of anger or something negative.

reply to post by Forest


Yeah I have seen the dictionary (Well the online ones) changed every so often to include a new meaning to a word such as the 'B' one you have mentioned. Other than that I do not know as I haven't looked, but that certainly is probably a plausible theory a lot of words seem to be re-adjusting or able to re-adjust.

Leviatano:
Why are certain words, 'swear words' or 'bad words'

Ahhhh!

I can explain!

Swear words are not simply an arbitrary list of words that are "bad." It has nothing to do with the words themselves, nor the sounds or letters associated with them, nor even the actual literal things that they represent.

The "badness" of swearing relates to how they interfere with and manipulate the thoughts of people who are exposed to them. Very simply, when you hear somebody swear, it interferes with your brain function. To explain, let's first ask the question, what are swear words? What do they all have in common?

There are two types of "swear word." Those that relate to the chakral functions of sex or excretion, and those those relate to religious belief.

The key here is that these words are used as metaphors. When somebody says "F you" they obviously don't mean anything to do with sex. However, the subconscious mind is not very good at distinguishing this. Very simply...when you say or hear "F you" with an intent to express anger, hatred, etc. your subconscious mind hears that and creates an association between these ideas.

Just like Pavlov's dog.

If I ring a bell every time you eat, over and over again, eventually you will come to associate the ringing of a bell with eating. And, every time you hear a bell ring you'll tend to think of eating or food. So...what happens when time and time again you hear people use words relating to sex to express ideas like anger, hatred, pain, insult, etc? Very simple. You tend to associate sex with these ideas.

This is unhealthy, and I think a lot of the reason our society is so twisted in its views of sexuality is that amount of negative and bizzare reinforcement we're subjected to as a result of swearing.

Now, interestingly, as you can see, the actual "problem" with swearing has nothing to do with the words, and nothing to do with the literal meanings of these words. It is completely a matter of the way their use metaphorically is interpreted by the subconscious mind. So, I would suggest that there's nothing wrong with using the word "F" as long as you're actually talking about sex. It's not "swearing" if it's being used literally. "I want to F you" and "Would you F me please?" are not destructive statements. No improper association is being created in your mind.

Now, just to mention it, there is the other type of swear word, those that are related to religious belief. For instance, "damn it" it literally a command for something to "go to hell." You've probably heard people who say "Jesus Christ!" as an epithet. While this sort of swearing probably isn't as directly damaging as chakra metaphors, it's worth noting that in the Bible an entire commandment is dedicated to the claim that doing this is sinful. Why? Because it associates religious ideas with negative emotions. Clearly not something that's in the interest of the church.

cancerian42
I don't see why derogatory cuss words are any worse than derogatory non-cuss words, though. If I called you a retarded, ugly, poopy head, gay, old, incestual pig. Why would other more socially unacceptable words that may mean some of the same things be any worse?

Given my explanation above, now do you understand why?

However, isn't it interesting that several of the metaphors you listed above do relate to lower chakral functions? "Poopy head" is conceptually the same as #head. "Gay" is a reference to sexual function. So is "incestuous." I would suggest that derogatory metaphorical use of these words is potentially just as damaging as their more traditional counterparts.

But...people on the whole don't understand why swearing is "bad," so most people simply have an arbitrary list of words that they think they're not supposed to use.

Now, that does leave metaphors that aren't "swearing." For instance, if you call someone a pig, clearly you're speaking metaphorically. But the associations that are created by this are not as damaging as those created by swearing. If I use words that encourage someone to associate sex with anger, clearly that has the potential to devastate their sex life. If somebody is fat, so I call them a pig, I'm associating pigs with the idea of being fat. Whether or not that's a good association, it's not likely to cause any more damage to the listenerthan directly calling them fat would have.

That was awesome.
I love the F word when used sparingly and judicously,
there is most often, not a better or more fitting word and it makes the desired impact.


Edited to add:
Replied to Techsnow, thanks for the history page.

[edit on 14-11-2008 by cindymars]

reply to post by LordBucket


Ah, Thank you very much!
the way you explained it made it sound simple in one way yet complex in another (Although the outcome was still well enough for me to understand) no longer do I have to rack my brain on this, thank you very much

reply to post by N. Tesla


then y isnt poo poo head a bad word. lol it still puts images in your head doesnt itt?