swearing - why?
We all do it. (Even me). I'm not referring to the odd word that we say when we're annoyed, but about the gratuitous swearing that peppers practically every sentence of some people's conversation. Why?...
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The 'real' meaning? Perhaps he did not know the origins, but he surely knew the meaning of the word as it was in common use... and the word would not be considered by most persons today to be...
View ArticleRe: swearing - why?
I think 'sheesh' made it to cultural universality back in some 60s era cartoon - Murgatroid or Huckleberry Hound or some such. Your point is interesting: If you learned a "bad" word in an era when it...
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When it comes to the f-word, certainly the meaning hasn't changed, but for many people it no longer has any shock value and is simply used as an intensifier. I routinely hear 20 something women use it...
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When it comes to the f-word,And now "freaking" is used generously without any of the compunctions associated with the word to which it obviously refers
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I'm just waiting for the "f-word" to make the papers, unexpurgated. Only then will know that the revolution is complete.The Washington Post has.
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When was the last time you saw a woman spit in public? Even the athletes don't-amazing! That will really be a sign of liberation. I don't think much female expectoration happens outside a dentist's...
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Quote:I'm just waiting for the "f-word" to make the papers, unexpurgated. Only then will know that the revolution is complete. Yes. it's used frequently in the Guardian and Independent in the UK. The...
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I'm with Westover on this subject.I don't like to hear swearing and I try not to use it.As for folk who's every other word is "F-ing" - surely this just demonstrates a limited vocabulary?I try to...
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scumbag ... The 'real' meaning?This is analogous to the issue of "berk" in Britain. Everyone so often you get someone pointing out the origin in rhyming slang - "Berkley Hunt" - but that stronger...
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I know it's an old-fashioned attitude, but it's how I was brought up and I still get very embarrassed if a colleague swears when ladies are present, although I have to admit, most women these days...
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I am with you. I feel very honored when offense is taken to fowl language being used in front of me. I too find bird-calls annoying, and will often ask those practicing them in my presence to stop;...
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" most women these days don't take much notice."I would have thought most women these days use foul language anyway, but perhaps it's just the people with whom I associate.
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Again, I think this is a question of social convention in different English-speaking areas. MoMac has assured us that use of bad language is extremely widespread among both sexes in Ireland, and I...
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I'm just glad you've heard of Howard! His opponent in the upcoming election (Latham) is known for his foul mouth and gob-smackingly indecent ad hominem comments, so JWH's musings are a good way of...
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One of my employees said to me " THE FUCKIN ,FUCKERS ,FUCKED " I assumed it to be broken .
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Broken English, yes! For an employee addressing the boss, totally out of order, in fact. Such a phearfully, phruity phrase, probably even considered phashionable, is a sad rephlection on the phellow...
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Thiggy was a backwoods North Carolina Mormon. He didn't chase women, drink coffee, or swear, all rarities among late '60s Navy men. One day he came up to Radar10 after checking out the SPS-29, our air...
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For a 1917 comment on the increasing prevalence of swearing, see www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=classic&s=phelps100617
View ArticleRe: swearing - why?
Did Phelps really use the word "intelligentsia" in 1917?His comments do speak to the question : has swearing increased or does it just constantly evolve, ever finding new and fresh offense?I've always...
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