Cussing

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I still can't quite wrap my head around it. It seems like the usage of so called "cuss" words is so serious, that one cannot usually air people saying them on television, the radio, and otherwise unless they are censored somehow. I really have no explanation of why this is, and after thinking about it for a long while, I figure posting it somewhere might provide me with some reasoning behind it all. This is what I don't get:

- The usage of any cuss / swear word is so serious, that it must be censored in most cases.
- These cuss / swear words generally have no definitive meaning, but are only used as filler in a sentence when trying to express extreme derogatory remarks at another person, place, or thing.
- These same words are also used at times to express good things, like "This is (insert cuss word) awesome!" or "This is the (insert cuss word) right here!" which contradicts their extreme derogatory premise.

In addition, if these forms of word usage are censored because of extreme derogatory premise, then WHY isn't EVERY instance of extreme derogatory premise censored on TV? If I say "fuck you", is that REALLY more serious than saying "You are worthless, your life means nothing, you should kill yourself right now because you are a burden on all society." I honestly don't think so, and the fact of the matter is, they would air that second quote in a heartbeat, while the first quote could have to be removed from the script or censored. Another thing is that a show such as CSI or Without a Trace could probably get away with airing the dead body of a suicide victim who fell off of a 25 story building onto the pavement...but a swear is just TOO much for the audience to handle? I just don't get it because they put something that is just so ludicrous at the top of the charts, but something that might actually deserve prenatal discretion or censorship usually can get right through. We can talk all day on TV about how a serial rapist shoves a tire iron into his victims vagina until it breaks through into their internal organs, where he swishes them around until the victim DIES...but the second someone says fuck....OH MY GOD THE WORLD IS GOING TO END.

If anyone could shed some light on why cussing is taken so seriously by most of mainstream society and big TV studios, that would be wonderful. I would have to assume it had to have originally have been lawsuit related, or something along those lines considering they want money, and they'd probably get much more if they could air everything they WANTED to on their networks. All I know is, because so many people take these words so serious, it has pretty much caused everyone to use them...and because of the censorship, people can just add random *beep* noises in videos and people will start laughing. As far as I am concerned, if they didn't censor stuff like that, it would probably be much less entertaining, and probably would be overall used much less considering it appears like the words aern't that serious anymore.

I've been waiting for this to come up. I'll show you why people take "swearing" so seriously.

http://www.snipeme.com/archive.php?year=2006&rant=swearing

Quote :

Look, swearing is simply another form of language and expression, that's all. It's not a "lesser" form of communication, just a different mode of speech! Why is it so bad that something is different?

Compare these two sentences:

If you post child pornography in these forums, you will be in a heap of trouble.

If you post child pornography, you will be in a SHITSTORM of FUCKING CONSEQUENCES!

Now which one do you think is more expressive? Which one shows more feeling? Obviously the second one. Some "swear" words are very versatile, like fuck and shit. I'll give an example of just fuck alone:

Fuck the fucking fuckers, all they do is fuck fucking fuckers who fuck fuckers who fucking fuck other fuckers because they are fucking fuckers!

This leads into a false assumption that society makes: That people who use these "swear" words lack a good vocabulary, and instead rely on these versatile words because they can't find an "appropriate" word to use. It even states this in the rant I linked to as well:

Quote :

I swear so much because THAT'S JUST HOW I TALK!!! I express myself on a daily basis to classrooms full of young children without ever using a single naughty expletive. I don't NEED to cuss to express myself; I LIKE TO! It's fun, expressive, and it gives me a wider range of expressive vocabulary than you have (since I have a massive array of non-profane words at my disposal as well).

I mean, rather than saying that a woman is a bitch because she isn't open minded and she's always concerned about "proper behavior", I could say she's an ostentatious bigot, but saying ostentatious bitch just flows so much better. Do you see what I mean?

It's just like America's views on nudity. Apparently seeing a tit (no, don't make the "titmouse" joke, get that out of your head right now) is worse than seeing someone get brutally sliced up in a horror movie. (In fact, this is another case of "colorful expression", I could have said nipple but I decided to use tit because I wanted to!)

Another reason why people take swearing so seriously: People have committed suicide because of cyberbullying. However, saying "you suck, the world would be a better place without you, go kill yourself, nobody likes you" is a lot worse than the word "fuck". Like I said, society's views on swearing are inconsistent and fucked up. It's a huge bandwagon; these versatile words are now considered "swears" and I think people are just jealous that they can be used in so many situations.

I tried explaining my view on this as best as I could. "Swearing" isn't bad, it adds feeling. It's just that these words are considered bad because they've been used in negative ways. People also don't like how they can be used in many situations (fuck can be used as a noun, verb, and even an adjective! it's great!).

Don't get me wrong though, it's irritating as fuck when people abuse "swear" words. I usually only use them to express something with stronger feeling. Some people just misuse it like morons and try using it as insults. Now that I can understand where someone can be pissed off. I voted "mildly serious", because like stated earlier, they can add much more feeling to something!

Well I read the entire article, and it certainly fills in a lot of the gaps I was trying to figure out.

So generally, any word that gains popularity when used in a derogatory manner has been and will become a "swear word", regardless if said word carries any negativity. Wonderful, I love how society can take something as simple as a joke word, and compare it to some super intense derogatory hell...that should not be allowed to be uttered for then rest of all eternity.

I just don't understand the serious levels on some of the things they do on any form of broadcasting...it's like:

1) Person says swear - Over my cold dead body
2) Person kills two parents of a small child they abduct and keep as a pet - A OK!

As for nudity, it makes me laugh. 80% of the commercials I see are trying to make me buy their product by showing it off with a female in some sexual manner, but the second the most tiny portion of genitalia becomes visible...it's suddenly wrong. It kind of makes me think people behind the scenes are being told just how MUCH sex they can sell to their audience or something, it's ridiculous in my opinion.

But yeah I can definitely agree that using cuss words can add feeling to a sentence, but a lot of the time it's used in a context that has no derogatory expressionism...like
"Holy shit, I can't believe I just did that awesome stunt!"
"Fucking awesome!"
"Damn dude, you've got some skills!"

I hear it used more for good things instead of bad things now a days, not to say they aern't used for negativity at all, probably around 60% - 40%.

Abusing swear words is just as stupid as saying the same thing over and over again. If someone goes about and says: "Holy shit you fucking piece of ass cunt whore bitch, shit sandwhich su...." they might as well be saying "You stupid failure I hate you stupid person for being stupid idiot all the time retard terrible person..." It doesn't sound good, it defeats the purpose of the insult, and it makes your outburst appear purely hilarious.

Dossar wrote:

If you post child pornography in these forums, you will be in a heap of trouble.
If you post child pornography, you will be in a SHITSTORM of FUCKING CONSEQUENCES!

Now which one do you think is more expressive? Which one shows more feeling? Obviously the second one.

If both were said to my face, the second one would be much more serious, but because it was posted in all caps on the internet, it instantly loses all meaning and is regressed down to "don't get so serious over the internet". It leads me to believe that they feel like they want to have full control over something on their website because they lack control over things in their own lives elsewhere. This is my opinion, but I think it's on pretty solid grounds.

Of course words have meaning. Most words have arbitrary meaning--somebody said it to mean this and so it does. (There's some correlation between sounds and meaning... Wikipedia) Shouldn't we try to use words to fit their meaning? Perhaps the disagreement lies in the meaning of the swear words themselves--are they meant to be used in rare instances of extreme anger, or should they be used in everyday experiences?

If swearing has developed into filler, and it doesn't mean anything, what's the harm in removing it? If it's just filler, then what should you say when you're really angry?
One of my concerns is that swear words are usually(?) used in contexts when you're really angry, and I don't like anger in the world. Isn't it better if we all get along and express our minds calmly? (I'm confused because you can swear when you're happy or angry. Maybe you should swear when you're ecstatic? There are more definitive ways to express a specific emotion.)

Furthermore, using swear words sounds like you're too angry to think straight. Teens (who are stereotypically young, naive, and inexperienced) tend to be angry and swear a lot, and so swearing puts the speaker on that perceived intellectual level. It's the same as using poor grammar and spelling--the presentation will affect the impact.

Bottom line, my aversion to swearing is because I believe the words ought to be used in rare circumstances--particularly circumstances that do not happen every day. Furthermore, if you're trying to express a point, there are usually more constructive methods to do so.

Swear words are considered bad because the public and the past considered them bad. It has set a standard that still stands today. But here's the thing, they have been loosened. Today's TV shows use the words hell, damn, whore, slut (on some channels), ass, dammit, and nigger (comedy central does, not sure about others). Back in the day, ZERO cuss words were said on TV because it said you were immature, low-classed, uneducated person. They were used between friends, families, and, of course, threats/fights. Cuss words are now getting to the point that they are common language. I swear. Not often, but I do out of anger, happiness, shock, etc. I have no problem with saying them. Only where I say them makes a difference. In school, deep trouble (if they report you, teachers never do, though), at an officer, considered disrespectful, and in front of your parents, "What did you just say?"

Brings me to another point,

Swearing is a double standard.

It's perfectly fine for and adult to say "What the fuck were you thinking?" or "Come here you dumbshit. I'm going to beat your ass for breaking the window!" In front of their children. So, if they use them, heaven forbid they speak their parents language. I cussed about a game because I got frustrated with glitches and she got irritated. I'm 17. Seriously? Apparently being an adult makes it a-okay to use them. I don't see the difference between "adults" and "chlidren" (age doesn't matter to me).



tl;dr: Cussing is just looked down upon because of the public and past standards. We're pretty close to just adding the words to the official dictionary and let them air on TV.


Also, I agree about the tits and graphic stuff on TV. I personally don't care about genitalia; it's part of humans and nature. Nothing special. But, the graphic stuff can seriously leave some disturbing thoughts. Boobs, vagina's, or penises: you see them in health class. They really aren't special after that once you mature.

Well what should you expect, Mikey? We live in an ageist world. It's human nature to want to feel superior over others. The biggest difference between adults and today's youth is that the adults don't have to go through ageist bullshit anymore and the advantage they have is that they can treat youth the same way they were treated and try using age as an excuse. They're the ones in authority (teachers, parents, etc.), and you bet they're going to use that power to their advantage! lol!

It's funny when you look at it with the above perspective, because adults think that the 'kids' swearing means they're "too angry to think straight", yet the adults can take their anger out on them. Like I said, all about power and control. If your parents are like this, they'll think that you're "back-talking" to them if you disagree with something.

Zyroplex, the stereotype you describe about teens (young, naive, and inexperienced) is another thing that adults want to use so they feel more powerful over the youth because they KNOW it sucked having to be bossed around when they were younger, and now they can do it to the youth. And coming with age supposedly comes wisdom, right? Well sometimes age just comes alone! These adults obviously associate experience with age, and if you're a "minor", you automatically have no experiences.

Teens have come to symbolize conformity in this current society. The stereotype is that they accept anything that they're old because it's coming from someone in authority and they don't question it because it's coming from someone older. But what adults are really afraid of is that the young ones have built-in bullshit detectors! They're very curious about what's going on! Adults, on the other hand, are mostly close-minded and have already made up their minds and not willing to change their views. When you're young, you're hearing others' views on certain things (races, etc.) and you're much more open minded in general.

So you know what conclusion I make from this? Because teens have come to symbolize conformity in this current world, "swearing" means that they're fighting back! The teens KNOW that the adults are able to use the words whenever they feel like it, and want to be able to do it too. Adults view younger people as impressionable and "innocent" because they're making them follow the views of the adults. Parents need to stop raising their children with "because I said so!" logic. This puts their children at a much higher risk of being impressionable.