[A note from management: After reading this post and being severely offended, the management at It’s Kinda Confusing Right Now (IKCRN) deemed it prudent to censor the profanity contained in the following post. The offending words have been removed and replaced with a non-offensive equivalent. Brackets have been added around the non-offensive replacement words to avoid confusion. May God have mercy on the author’s soul for attempting to corrupt the youth of the world with such filth.]
One of the favorite expressions where I work is “Jesus Christ.” Now, your initial reaction to that may be to think, “How nice for you, Tom, that you work in such a caring Christian environment.” Sadly, when the name Jesus Christ is spoken at my work, the speaker is rarely talking about the savior of mankind. What the speaker really wants to express is frustration or anger. Why they don’t just say, “I am well and truly frustrated,” is obvious. It just sounds stupid. Honestly, “well and truly”? Who talks like that?
Putting aside the blaspheming of the Alpha and Omega for just a moment, I can’t help but wonder why we* use any of the swear words we use. I’m a fan of examples, so, rather than talk vaguely about the problem in general, I thought I’d give you some specifics.
Example 1: [excrement]
Literal meaning: (verb) to defecate; (noun) what’s left after you (or your dog) defecates
Common usage:
-I disagree; example: “That’s [excrement].”
-I find that distasteful; example: “That’s [excrement].”
-The item in question is of low quality; example: “That’s [excrement].
-This is going to be unpleasant/painful; example: “Oh [excrement]!”
-That person is quite adept at his occupation; example: “He’s the [excrement].”
Example 2: [intercourse]
Literal meaning: (verb) to copulate. It infers the act of sex with no emotional involvement. In other words, [intercourse] is copulation without love.
Common usage:
-I disagree forcefully with your statement; example: “[intercourse] you.”
-I find that distasteful; example: “That’s [intercourse] up.”
-The item in question is of very low quality; example: “That’s an [intercourse] piece of [excrement].”
-This is going to be very unpleasant/painful; example: “Oh [intercourse]!”
-That person is supremely adept at his occupation; example: “He’s the [intercourse] [excrement]. I mean, [intercourse], that man is [intercourse] good.”
Please note that in the examples above, the word used has little, if anything, to do with the meaning trying to be expressed. What the speaker is trying to do in the examples used is provide extra (one might say excessive) emphasis to whatever was being said. To do that, the speaker adds an offensive word. The logical question is, why do offensive words express stronger meaning than their non-offensive counterparts?
Personally, I think it’s the taboo related to the word. Using words that you would rarely use shocks your listener. It’s a way of letting them know that you’re especially serious about whatever it is you’re talking about. Before you decide that this means that swearing is a bang-up way to provide that much needed pop to your oration, I have a word or two of caution. You’d be better off just sticking to saying what you mean to say. After all, if we only said what we meant to say, we really wouldn’t need to convince our listener that we’re serious. Furthermore, if we always swear, than there’s nothing taboo about our word selection and we lose all the emphasis we were trying to gain by swearing in the first place.
As a side note: The use of Jesus Christ as a swear word works for the same reason that [intercourse] and [excrement] do. That is, it’s being said by someone who would not generally say it, thus making it taboo and bringing attention to the speaker.
In short, swearing to add emphasis is a fairly ineffective way of adding any real depth to your conversation. It would be better if we just spoke plainly and let the fact that we said we were displeased be enough to announce our displeasure. But, failing in that, it would be better to say a string of profanities than to use the name of the savior of mankind as a makeshift swear word. He’s said that He doesn’t much care for it.
*When I use the first person plural in this post, I’m obviously not referring to myself or my readers. Neither you nor I ever actually swear. But the rest of humanity does it, and we (that’s you and I) are human. So, for the purposes of altruism and community, I included the verbally sinless with the rest of the verbally sinful humanity.
One of the favorite expressions where I work is “Jesus Christ.” Now, your initial reaction to that may be to think, “How nice for you, Tom, that you work in such a caring Christian environment.” Sadly, when the name Jesus Christ is spoken at my work, the speaker is rarely talking about the savior of mankind. What the speaker really wants to express is frustration or anger. Why they don’t just say, “I am well and truly frustrated,” is obvious. It just sounds stupid. Honestly, “well and truly”? Who talks like that?
Putting aside the blaspheming of the Alpha and Omega for just a moment, I can’t help but wonder why we* use any of the swear words we use. I’m a fan of examples, so, rather than talk vaguely about the problem in general, I thought I’d give you some specifics.
Example 1: [excrement]
Literal meaning: (verb) to defecate; (noun) what’s left after you (or your dog) defecates
Common usage:
-I disagree; example: “That’s [excrement].”
-I find that distasteful; example: “That’s [excrement].”
-The item in question is of low quality; example: “That’s [excrement].
-This is going to be unpleasant/painful; example: “Oh [excrement]!”
-That person is quite adept at his occupation; example: “He’s the [excrement].”
Example 2: [intercourse]
Literal meaning: (verb) to copulate. It infers the act of sex with no emotional involvement. In other words, [intercourse] is copulation without love.
Common usage:
-I disagree forcefully with your statement; example: “[intercourse] you.”
-I find that distasteful; example: “That’s [intercourse] up.”
-The item in question is of very low quality; example: “That’s an [intercourse] piece of [excrement].”
-This is going to be very unpleasant/painful; example: “Oh [intercourse]!”
-That person is supremely adept at his occupation; example: “He’s the [intercourse] [excrement]. I mean, [intercourse], that man is [intercourse] good.”
Please note that in the examples above, the word used has little, if anything, to do with the meaning trying to be expressed. What the speaker is trying to do in the examples used is provide extra (one might say excessive) emphasis to whatever was being said. To do that, the speaker adds an offensive word. The logical question is, why do offensive words express stronger meaning than their non-offensive counterparts?
Personally, I think it’s the taboo related to the word. Using words that you would rarely use shocks your listener. It’s a way of letting them know that you’re especially serious about whatever it is you’re talking about. Before you decide that this means that swearing is a bang-up way to provide that much needed pop to your oration, I have a word or two of caution. You’d be better off just sticking to saying what you mean to say. After all, if we only said what we meant to say, we really wouldn’t need to convince our listener that we’re serious. Furthermore, if we always swear, than there’s nothing taboo about our word selection and we lose all the emphasis we were trying to gain by swearing in the first place.
As a side note: The use of Jesus Christ as a swear word works for the same reason that [intercourse] and [excrement] do. That is, it’s being said by someone who would not generally say it, thus making it taboo and bringing attention to the speaker.
In short, swearing to add emphasis is a fairly ineffective way of adding any real depth to your conversation. It would be better if we just spoke plainly and let the fact that we said we were displeased be enough to announce our displeasure. But, failing in that, it would be better to say a string of profanities than to use the name of the savior of mankind as a makeshift swear word. He’s said that He doesn’t much care for it.
*When I use the first person plural in this post, I’m obviously not referring to myself or my readers. Neither you nor I ever actually swear. But the rest of humanity does it, and we (that’s you and I) are human. So, for the purposes of altruism and community, I included the verbally sinless with the rest of the verbally sinful humanity.
Comments
But I'm confused about more and deeper things.
Also, the motorcycle to God relationship is a good one. There's nothing like two wheels and a ridiculously loud engine to bring you closer to the Divine.
Very good post, even if a little porky piggish. I know the feeling!
I prefer to shout "freakin' gopher" when I get frustrated. Jennyhaha and Oh, the Joys had a funny convo about this once. But I'm too lazy to find it for you...
And you do look a bit like Billy Bob in that hat. I like the fireside look better.
Glad you liked the post. And I'm glad I don't actually own the cowboy hat. Billy Bob is really not a guy I want to model myself after.
What does the other really say? It gives no indication of the situation, and the Lord could still fly forth with the old lightning strike if He gets fed up enough. We are blessed that He puts up with us. But along with being a God of Love, He is a God of justice. Or in more worldly parliance, "What goes around comes around."
Sorry to get carried away.