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Taboo Words! Discuss

Victor FrostVictor Frost
edited February 2011 in Everything Else
So most of us have seen the George Carlin skit, but why do some words make us mentally cringe? What makes those words different than others? Many say "nothing", but, depending on what cultures we were raised in, clearly there is something about specific words that strikes a chord within us that tells us "BAD WORD".

Also, and not to put too fine a point on it, please fill out this survey, if you please.
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Comments

  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    depending on what cultures we were raised in
    There ya go. That's your answer.

    It's worth noting that most swear words are very terse: "fuck," "cunt," and "shit" are all short words with hard, terse sounds. They're snarled and spat very easily. That intonation probably has something to do with it.
  • RymRym
    There is no word in any language that personally and viscerally offends me.
  • JasonJason
    edited February 2011
    There is no word in any language that personally and viscerally offends me.
    The issues of whether a word offends me and whether I would use it in a business setting are entirely different.
    Post edited by Jason on
  • AprecheApreche
    There is no word in any language that personally and viscerally offends me.
    The issue of whether a word offends me and whether I would use it in a business setting are entirely different.
    That's what I'm saying.
  • SailSail
    edited February 2011
    Context is everything.

    [Edit] To clarify, when people say "shit" as an exclamation, most people here are going to say they wouldn't be offended. But if someone told you that "you are a piece of shit" and meant it in a non-joking way, you would probably take at least some offense.
    Post edited by Sail on
  • Jack DraigoJack Draigo
    Not much offends me, and I cuss like a sailor at times, but I try and keep it clean in a workplace setting, at least until I'm sure it'll be all right.
  • Dr. TimoDr. Timo
    There is no word in any language that personally and viscerally offends me.
    Belgium!
  • JasonJason
    edited February 2011
    Context is everything.
    I'm trying to cut back on my verbalized use of such words. This is because my kid is going be a learning machine, and it will learn language before it learns social context. It will be a very dumb machine for the first few years. I have to decide what data to feed it.
    Post edited by Jason on
  • gomidoggomidog
    Belgium!
    Belgium is not offensive to him, for he is most Belgian.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    I think "cunt" carries one of the biggest taboos right now. People who you wouldn't identify as racist are willing to use the n-word, due probably to its prevalence in pop culture, but VERY few people will ever even think of saying cunt even if they have mouths like sailors the rest of the time. Curb Your Enthusiasm illustrates the point pretty well (NSFW):

  • KapitänTimKapitänTim
    I dont like the word moist.
  • DromaroDromaro
    Words are given power by many things. Culture is a big one, but personal experience plays a factor as well. I think of culture as the collective "consciousness" of all the individual experiences.

    Personally, I fall into the camp of Rym. No word shocks me to the point of offense. Some do perk my ears and minorly annoy me, however.
  • ChurbaChurba
    I think "cunt" carries one of the biggest taboos In the US right now.
    FTFY. It's not a big deal here. It's cursing, but it's no more severe than Fuck or shit. Though, unlike Larry David, we know how to use it with a bit of flow and creativity.
  • RuffasRuffas
    To be fair, non-U.S. English speaking countries are almost universally better at swearing than we are.
  • WalkerWalker
    Swearing only bothers me in how repetitive it can get. "Fuck" is a really annoying verbal tic in a lot of people.
  • trogdor9trogdor9
    Today's Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal is incredibly relevant to this discussion. I'd just embed it, but it's a really long image.
  • KapitänTimKapitänTim
    But it is such a versitile word.
  • WalkerWalker
    But it is such a versitile word.
    Fuck is a damn fine word, but if you replace everything with it then you could definitely stand to be more creative.
  • KapitänTimKapitänTim
  • Li_AkahiLi_Akahi
    The only word I do not say is the n-bomb, but that's because I have no context to ever say it in without it sounding completely racist.
  • KapitänTimKapitänTim
  • trogdor9trogdor9
  • ChurbaChurba
    edited February 2011
    The only word I do not say is the n-bomb, but that's because I have no context to ever say it in without it sounding completely racist.
    I use it amongst friends, but rarely outside of that context, simply because there is too much potential for others to get particularly aggro about it - and I'd rather not get into a fight if I can avoid it.

    However, we also don't really use it as a descriptive of anyone in particular, but as an occasional nickname(For example, we all have our titles which are stuck on the front, apart from myself. Dan is Little, Nick is Big, my father is Old, so on). That's about it - we don't really have much other reason to use it, that isn't filled by another word more effectively.

    Edit to go along with below - We don't really use Faggot at all, instead, we tend to say Poof or Poofter, ie, "Aw, diddums, you get a cut on your finger? Get back to work, ya fuckin' poofter." I don't think we've ever used it to actually seriously insult someone.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • progSHELLprogSHELL
    The only word I do not say is the n-bomb, but that's because I have no context to ever say it in without it sounding completely racist.
    I also don't ever say or type the world fa**** unless I am starting a fire and then I usually use the word "kindling" instead.
  • trogdor9trogdor9
    I don't know why you guys are so reluctant to say the words you don't normally use. It's always okay to say a word when you're talking about that word in a meta context. I honestly had no idea what progSHELL was talking about until I saw Churba's post.

    Okay:
    "I don't normally say the word faggot because it's a very strong word and I do not like to offend people."

    Not okay:
    "Shut up, faggot."
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    edited February 2011
    It's always okay to say a word when you're talking about that word in a meta context.
    Agreed.
    As Rym said
    There is no word in any language that personally and viscerally offends me.
    I'd say it's theoretically possible to have a word where the only possible contexts for its use (short of discussing the word itself) are inherently offensive, but I haven't heard of one. In order to be inherently offensive it would basically have to be a single word that is, in itself, an entire phrase.
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • MattMatt
    edited February 2011
    @Trodgdor: Agreed. One if the podcasts I listen to, Do Nothing But Read, had this exact discussion because one host did not want to use the actual word nigger when specifically discussing it in the context of debating censorship in Tom Sawyer.
    Post edited by Matt on
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    Intent/meaning and context is everything in these situations. A person could make a hateful statement without ever using a word that is seen as taboo or make an incredibly loving statement including multiple "curse" words.
    For instance, I was beating myself up for making a mistake and to snap me out of it Adam said, "You're not just a stupid bitch, you're my stupid bitch." It made me laugh and feel loved.
  • MattMatt
    Taboo word used in inappropriate context:
  • AprecheApreche
    Taboo word used in inappropriate context:
    OMG! Flashback to the year 2000.
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