what the fuck is up with the taboo on 'swear words'

[Slarti]

swear words...
cussing..
profanity...

WHO CARES?

i don't know if this is how it is in the _/ real \_ world, but i'm sick of the taboo that everyone around me (besides most teenagers) has on words like { fuck, shit, asshole, son of a bitch, cocksucker, pussy, hell, etc }. When you say one, it's like the world explodes... who cares.. it's not armageddon.... it's just a word. When i mention this, most 'adults' retaliate with "well, the word stands for something bad"- that's not good enough for me. Words only have meaning that we assign to them, and, um, i ran out of things to say.

Verily so! or not!

[DJ Zelian]

The taboo is a great source of amusement when devout fundamentalist Christians flip out and start swearing... and then apologize to the rest of us in the room who really couldn't give a fuck.

[Out of the Wasteland]

swear words...
cussing..
profanity...

WHO CARES?

i don't know if this is how it is in the _/ real \_ world, but i'm sick of the taboo that everyone around me (besides most teenagers) has on words like { fuck, shit, asshole, son of a bitch, cocksucker, pussy, hell, etc }. When you say one, it's like the world explodes... who cares.. it's not armageddon.... it's just a word. When i mention this, most 'adults' retaliate with "well, the word stands for something bad"- that's not good enough for me. Words only have meaning that we assign to them, and, um, i ran out of things to say.

Verily so! or not!

Profanity is fine, but it seems a shame to dilute it via excessive use.  It should be savored when used...used seldom, but in eruptions much like a volcano, when it IS used.

[Trollax]

Lots of words are offensive to different people...

Like rationality to UFO freaks.
Or Possibility to scientists.

Like Faith to fundamentalists
or Question for that matter.

Accountability to Politicians
and Progress to Environmentalists.

All important concepts (like fucking, shitting, Jesus and all the others) we'd prefer not to think about because it countermands our straght-jacketed view of reality.

[Guido Finucci]

Profanity is fine, but it seems a shame to dilute it via excessive use.  It should be savored when used...used seldom, but in eruptions much like a volcano, when it IS used.

Amen! It is good to have some words that carry unusual force, that can shake Greyface with their mere utterance. They should be treasured. Sure, like all words, they're arbitrary but the ones we've ended up with aren't too bad - they roll off the tongue nicely.

[Z³]

Word taboo is hilarious.
Even people who dislike word taboo sometimes shudder at the word "Nigger", and many others depending on the person. Its built in psychological conditioning that causes this, because of the cavalier way people use words like "Shit" and "Cunt" and "Fuck" do not phase people the way they used to.

I say its time to overcome those built in automatic responses.

Communication is not about the words themselves but the intent and meaning behind them. (IE Whether or not somebody is using the words for emphasis or whether the person is actually accusing another of fucking their mother.)

[Horab Fibslager]

Word taboo is hilarious.
Even people who dislike word taboo sometimes shudder at the word "Nigger", and many others depending on the person. Its built in psychological conditioning that causes this, because of the cavalier way people use words like "Shit" and "Cunt" and "Fuck" do not phase people the way they used to.

I say its time to overcome those built in automatic responses.

Communication is not about the words themselves but the intent and meaning behind them. (IE Whether or not somebody is using the words for emphasis or whether the person is actually accusing another of fucking their mother.)

i agree.

[Slarti]

very good post, z^3.

[Out of the Wasteland]

Word taboo is hilarious.
Even people who dislike word taboo sometimes shudder at the word "Nigger", and many others depending on the person.

Yep.  I do.  I also get a little angry, having been called "spic" and "wetback" a time or two.

Try it on the receiving end, bro.

[Bella]

Word taboo is hilarious.
Even people who dislike word taboo sometimes shudder at the word "Nigger", and many others depending on the person.

Yep.  I do.  I also get a little angry, having been called "spic" and "wetback" a time or two.

Try it on the receiving end, bro.

Actually, racial slurs piss me off royally.

S'one of the big reasons I left the ex......too many years of
listening to him sit there belittling people he didn't even know
on the basis of something as superficial as the color someone's skin
of the shape of their eyes.

[Out of the Wasteland]

Word taboo is hilarious.
Even people who dislike word taboo sometimes shudder at the word "Nigger", and many others depending on the person.

Yep.  I do.  I also get a little angry, having been called "spic" and "wetback" a time or two.

Try it on the receiving end, bro.

Actually, racial slurs piss me off royally.

S'one of the big reasons I left the ex......too many years of
listening to him sit there belittling people he didn't even know
on the basis of something as superficial as the color someone's skin
of the shape of their eyes.

I like you.

[Bella]

Thank you. :P

[Z³]

I can understand the personal distaste for racial slurs, thats really just something that varies between social groups. Its pretty much a sure bet that whenever I hear them, or use them, its entirely for comedic value amongst people who get the joke. I'm not a big fan of getting shot, and I'm usually not a big fan of pissing people off over something which I deem as being incredibly petty. (A lot of humor is blatantly offensive. )

Then again, I also know tons of people who use the word "faggot" without discretion, but get pissed off at racial slurs as a general principle... so really that argument is more directed towards that mindset.

[DJ Zelian]

Offending people because they are too uptight is a different thing than insulting them because you think they're a lesser subspecies of human.

[Bella]

Offending people because they are too uptight is a different thing than insulting them because you think they're a lesser subspecies of human.

Yup, that it is.