No, I am not disputing the need for invective and/or profanity as it's means, but what blows my mind is the accepted hierarchy, the unwritten line that you cross when you go from one bodt part to another, or from one way of describing an act or substance to another...that makes little sense to me, yet we all accept it as a natural standard.
Also without wanting you to do so, nevertheless, can you expand? Are you saying that some terms for ethnic minorities are across the line whereas some aren't? If so, I do think that the history of some word's usages has an associative negative history with an intended human victim , whereas I have yet to see a pile of dung complain about how it's portrayed in popular culture... If that's not what you're saying, or even if it is, please elaborate...
I hate the idea of people classifying certain words as "dirty or bad" words. It's just another word, s***! Swears are used to show displeasure or extremity, so who cares??? The fact that some words aren't deemed appropriate at certain times just annoys me. ***k that
Sort of. Scatology was not offensive (except directly) until the introduction of courtly manners. I suppose you could find other cultures that developed an effete hierarchy, that became afraid to mention their own chamberpots, but I haven't looked. I think the sexual taboo is more tied up with religious disapproval (and the consequences for the avg. serf or lettered man who wants to yack about it.) Every romance language has the same word for $hit - merde, mierda, merde - but they each have different words for F&ck - Basia, Cogida, Scopata etc (with many variations and euphemisms). I rather like the french intransitive imperative - va te faire foutre. . F&ck is a simple transitive verb - you don't need love to f^%!; but you could have it, too. So its the religous or cultural demand to tie the two that demands we not mention a possibly untied action. Genetalia scat I'm not sure what to make of. It ususally seems to be some playful euphemism. In ancient greek you Get Lucky if you get to visit a girl's "little hedgehog". Cute. Don't know exactly why some animal words are considered more course than others - i suppose that develops over time.
Oh boy...I don't know exactly what I was thinking...I guess that ethnic slurs are as offensive to some people as dirty words are to others. My grandmother would think me hellbound if she heard me say "work was a pain in the ass today." She would draw conclusions about me and my character in the same way that Ricky, a cuban buddy of mine, would if he heard me call him a spic in a non-jesting manner when I didn't know he could hear me. I s'pose we should add a whole host of words to the traditional list of profanities.
Be careful mr. gootan...I understand ASCII. anyways, this post reminded me of a short essay I had to write for a course in college last year discussing the difference of "S***" and "Excrement" and their usage.
I was definitely raised in a family where any form of swearing was absolutely outlawed, so in some ways I still wince when other's swear. It is a very interesting topic, though, and it's a subject I've breached with my father many times, since he was the big anti-swear person in my life. Of course, his mentality is that it's the intent behind the word that makes it bad, and not the word itself. I was raised to believe that if crap and s**t mean the same thing, then you shouldn't say crap either. And if you do say crap, you shoulda just gone ahead and said s**t instead, cause you meant the same thing, and you're gonna get in just as much trouble. Oh well... maybe that didn't help much.
****ING ASTROS ARE ****ING BLOWING THE ****ING **** GAME ****ERS **** I'M SO ****ING FRUSTRATED TO ****ING HELL THAT I'M GOING ****ING CRAZY WATCHING THE GAME. **** THE CARDS AND THE ****ING GIANTS AND ****ING WADE MILLER, ****ING JIMY WILLIAMS, ****ING ROBERTSON AND THE ****ING ASTROS ****ING LOSING THE ****ING DIVISION. ****ERS **** POO **** I'M ****ING FRUSTRATED TO HELL. ****ERS. ****. OH AND **** YOU TOO KENT. *************************************************************************************************************************************************
Somebody told me today that Fu*k is an old acronym that stands for "Fornication Under the Consent of the King" because back in those days, only with permission from the king would one be allowed to consumate one's relationship! Although I quickly dismissed it, I did find it interesting.
To elaborate. Read this link about Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/unlawful+carnal+knowledge I was under the impression that people who were caught "in the act" were chained up and taken prisoner or somesuch. So that people would know why they were taken a sign was placed around their neck stating that they were taken "for unlawful carnal knowledge". Again... this may be an old wives tale as well.
Hmm.... aparently they're related. According to this... they're both false... although it doesn't elaborate much. http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/12/messages/997.html
Okay... last one.. I promise... I hope all this over-posting doesn't get me banned or anything... Here is the actual origin. http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/f*ck.htm You'll, uh... have to replace the *.
i told you already...God told me saying jackass was fine...but as i mentioned to you earlier...He also told me he's "really concerned" with you." do with that what you will.
