Our sensitivity about 'curse' words has changed with the times

Deseret News ^ | Saturday, September 6, 2003 | Elaine Jarvik

[ChemistCat]

Alex Nabaum, Deseret Morning News

Put me in the stubbed-toe-violation category. I'll be working on it!

My spouse claims that he doesn't think cr*p is or ever has been a bad word, but I bet he never used it around his grandma.

[Non-Sequitur]

Profanity is the crutch of the conversational cripple.

[stuartcr]

Aren't they all really just words? Sticks and stones, etc....

[Eagle Eye]

It's all just so gay...

[Texas Mom]

Profanity is the crutch of the conversational cripple.

Good one. I like that.

[Gorzaloon]

I think some of the slangs are somewhat funny when they are strung into phrases. A friend was changing a tire yeterday. A State trooper had just gotten off shift at the barraks when he saw my friend and stopped to make sure he was all right.

A carload of kids went by, saw my friend and did not see the trooper, and shouted out, "Hey Dude! It must suck to be you!"

The trooper said, "If you have this under control, I think I shall take off, and give them a ration of crap, OK?"

Fellow came to Work laughing about it.

[ppaul]

It's all just so gay...

Yes.

[ChemistCat]

I realized yesterday that I have been in Oklahoma long enough now that "yeah" has two syllables and "something" is pronounced "sumpin."

Oh, dear.

[Jonx6]

I remember Dr. J. Vernon McGee saying crap on the radio. "And may I say to ya, that's a bunch on crap!
I don't find it offensive. It’s just like the words feces or excrement, IMO.

[joesnuffy]

But Omary doesn't agree. If a person becomes desensitized to the f-word, she says, it means becoming desensitized to the disrespect she believes it embodies.

Given the current rate of rape, STDs, and pregnancy...she may just have a point.

[rond]

I realized yesterday that I have been in Oklahoma long enough now that "yeah" has two syllables and "something" is pronounced "sumpin."

Yeah, but are you fixin' to do sumpin?

[cricket]

"Aren't they all really just words? Sticks and stones, etc...."

All words are not equal - words mean things. . .putting them on the typical equal playing field of Liberal life disempowers a language just as equal playing fields disempower individuals.

[El Gran Salseron]

Well, F*** the author of this column. She S***s. :-)

[dhuffman@awod.com]

The topic and comments that I have so far read are symptoms of the decay of our language. Profanity takes the name in vain. Obscenity refers to bodily functions and 'I'll know it when I see it.' A vulgarity is merely 'common' speech. In every case offense, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder. In this day and age of hyperbolic speech, a good 'curse' cuts through a lot of PC bull shit.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

HOO rah! Bump to the top! Well said.

[marsh2]

As I understand it, when the Normans (French) conquered England, Anglo Saxon words were relegated to the vulgar. Ergo it is ok to use the word "intercourse" but not to use the "F word." Same for many other bodily and social functions.

When one mulls that over, it makes it more uncomfortable to accept some of the divisions between "proper" and not.

[southernnorthcarolina]

It's not just curse words, of course -- words of all types are constantly being "devalued" to the extent that new words must be invented to convey the original sense intended.

For example, awful once meant, and in fact is still defined in my dictionary (among other definitions) as filling one with terror or dread or worthy of solomn respect. Most contemporary use of the word, however, is in a much more trivial framework, as in "that was an awful cup of coffee."

Mary Poppins' word supercalifragilisticexpialidocious will probably soon mean not bad.

[Agnes Heep]

Casual vulgarity simply isn't pleasant, which, I think, is why people use it with such alarming frequency. To my mind it's like sitting down to a formal dinner and finding a dehydrated lump of dog feces on the table.

[freedumb2003]

words of all types are constantly being "devalued" to the extent that new words must be invented to convey the original sense intended.

The word "Hero" is lost and there is no substitute. "Hero" has come to mean anyone we like, leaving no word for TRUE Heros. Thus, there is no ability in English to differentiate and discern.

This is true for many other words such as "Impact" and "Overview."