Are curse words REALLY all that bad a thing?

[AppleGearRising 525]

Title speaks for itself :3

 

So yeah, I've not really got any idea as to why profanities are seen as being such a bad thing, sure they may be vulgar but other than that what's so bad about them? Anyone got any ideas?

[MLPForums Phanact 1,374]

No they're not.

 

Words are given meaning by those who read them, until a word is given meaning it has none. Curse words are not offensive in the slightest, they're given a negative meaning only by those who CHOOSE to give them that meaning.

[Scootaloo Is Best Filly 576]

This is kind of a hard subject for me to answer. Because it really does count on what word we are talking about. Some of the swear words have a much STRONGER impact than others, So, it really does depend some of the swear words are So STRONG that they do count as a bad thing, but, since there are so many "swear" words, it's hard to say, some are a lot more harmless than others.

[PoniesPlease 365]

Well, cursing is shown to increase one's pain threshold, so I guess the real question is "Should the use of curse words be taken into context?"

 

For example, I believe "Sh*t, that hurt!" to be fairer to say than "That's f*cking hillarious!"

 

All in all, though, Curses don't bother me.

[Everleaf 541]

Well no some parents take it really bad for there child to swear/cuss but they are just words as long as it is not said in a harsh way yes it is bad like all harsh meanings  but if it was a mistake or just a word as i say it's not so bad....just what I think soo..

[Discordian 6,013]

The words themselves are programmed into our minds as being bad which is why people often substitute it with something more innocent like fudgecicles.

 

The problem is...they still mean the same thing. Whether you're using the preprogrammed words or not you're still using them for the same purpose, and that is to curse someone or something. It's often a negative response to a situation which usually does not do well for the mentality of the one saying it or the people around them, particularly when spoken with aggression.

 

Conversely the same words are used as positive monikers as well and mean completely opposite of what they did as a curse but they are still considered bad because of the original, or at least more common, use of those same words.

 

In the end, they are all just words and their meaning is more important but in our society words can be powerful in spite of their meaning so it's safer to use "innocent" wording to teach children how to handle a situation without relying on generic words, which generate negative and generic thoughts towards a situation rather than a more complex and colorful way of thinking about it.

[Shanks 10,811]

I think context is king here, if you call someone an asshole that is bad but I fail to see how that is so much worse than calling them an idiot. With that said I do think that swearing is overused sometimes and this is coming from a guy whose favorite word is the f word. Even the best words can lose their pizazz if you over them, the only time I swear on a regular basis is at work because that is where I have the most amount of things that really really piss me off.

 

Well, cursing is shown to increase one's pain threshold

Yep, they even did an episode of Mythbusters where they tested that and it is true. They even tested out substitute swear words and they did not have the same effect as the real deal. In other words "holy moly that hurts" is not really the same as "holy shit that hurts".

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

My grandparents would say

 

"Cussing is the reason why English is breaking down and failing as the dominant language of the world, ruined by profanity."

- Lightning Bliss's Grandparents

 

Personally for me, everypony does it, even I do though I try to avoid it when possible, just out of respect and being proper or professional in public. But when I'm with family or my husband, now and then it will slip, such as "holy sh*t I died in the game again this sucks!" innocent indirective profanity.

 

But what I hate about people who cuss on a daily bases, believe its ok to do so in public where there are children around that shouldn't be hearing it. For instance my little sister drops the F bomb in every sentence all the time, as simple as saying hello or thank you. Infact I would argue that thank you and your welcome is dying out as fast as the F bomb is used. My point is, theres a time for it and a time NOT for it...and you certaintly don't need to cuss in every sentence to get your point across.

[Venomous 18,816]

I don't think that swear words should be labeled as well... Swear words.

 

It's just a word like any other word in the dictionary.

[Shanks 10,811]

and you certaintly don't need to cuss in every sentence to get your point across.

That is exactly the point I tried to get across with my previous statement it annoys me when people cuss in every sentence for the same reason it annoys me when people overuse any word whatsoever or when textspeak is overused. It speaks to a severely lacking vocabulary and can sometimes sound like someone is just saying stuff for shock value or to seem "cool". There are a lot of very intelligent people who do cuss though, they just tend to rotate the words a bit more and know to not overuse it.

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

Curse words are an illusion. It's the meanings we assign to words that makes them bad.

[Seaweed-Headed Dragon 356]

No I don't think so. They're not that bad depending on the context

[Treble Bolt 1,122]

Curse words aren't bad at all. In fact, in certain forms, a curse word is not even a curse word at all....

like this....

 

Now I don't need to explain that, but if you see what I mean, context is everything. Curse words are bad because we make them bad socially.  If you come from a family who doesn't see them as bad, you won't think they are so bad, but if you swear in front of a family who is extremely reserved, they will be in shock and probably get mad.  Words are just what they are, words.  It's society and culture that dictates the meaning(s) of words, and if most people agree, then that word now has an image to uphold, even if it is not a very good one (such as swear words)....

[Rift enchanted 378]

We gave curses their meaning of being bad. If we had a different impact on swear words they could be used as compliments! Swears have different meanings depending on how they are used.

[Wade Barrett 111]

When it comes to swearing, I don't even need to debate it. There's just one quote that pretty much sums up my entire attitude towards swearing:

 

"Swearing is a really important part of one's life. It would be impossible to imagine going through life without swearing and without enjoying swearing... There used to be mad, silly, prissy people who used to say swearing was a sign of a poor vocabulary -such utter nonsense. The people I know who swear the most tend to have the widest vocabularies and the kind of person who says swearing is a sign of a poor vocabulary usually have a pretty poor vocabulary themselves... The sort of twee person who thinks swearing is in any way a sign of a lack of education or a lack of verbal interest or -is just a fucking lunatic... I haven't met anybody who's truly shocked at swearing, really, they're only shocked on behalf of other people. Well, you know, that's preposterous... or they say 'it's not necessary'. As if that should stop one doing it! It's not necessary to have coloured socks, it's not necessary for this cushion to be here, but is anyone going to write in and say 'I was shocked to see that cushion there, it really wasn't necessary'? No, things not being necessary is what makes life interesting -the little extras in life." - Stephen Fry

[FancyHorse 1,208]

http://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=Dd7dQh8u4Hc

 

Behold at the top! Vsauce holds our answers! :3 My opinion on the whole swearing, is the needing replacement for shorter simpler words to express emotions and for definition for actions and objects.

[Lady Leopardess 393]

I think people use them way too excessively. It's one thing to say it out of pain or when you're using it's old school use when they actually had real sorts of definitions (of the ones that did). But it seems most people just throw it in there as an "enhancer"  where it actually makes little to no sense literally. It works as a " I can't think of any better words at the moment because I"m not able to think because of anger" kind of a thing. Which is what it used to be mostly I think , now people just sprinkle them in their sentences , making them even more kind of pointless. 

[SparklingSwirls 21,263]

Well, I think they've kinda lost their value. People at my school say them all the time, even when something only slightly bad happens. I don't say them though - makes me feel weird.

[Ribbonfree 2,383]

For me they honestly have no impact anymore, and I just sort of throw them around because they flow so easily into sentences. At least, some. Some derogatory words, I think, still need to be avoided in this socially tenuous time.

[~Silver Essence~ 2,621]

No, they're just verbal actions of anger.

 

Ironically, most bad words are a definition of something common, like b**ch is a female dog.

 

So if wise enough, most words shouldn't bother you.

[GhostPony750 958]

I don't mind them, they are actually quite intertaining.

 

BUT... I hate seeing kids putting tons of swears in a phrase, probably just to bring attention. I hate that. But common swearing is fine to me.

[Tigerpop198 696]

I don't like it, so I only swear when really angry. That being said, when people do it in public, that is why I start to question, is that all necessary.

[BayoUni2847 528]

I personally think they're only bad if they are used in a situation where they are not necessarily the best choice. But that's just my opinion.

[Koelath 444]

"Curse" words are no different than any other word.

 

The broadest definition of "profanity" is "offensive language". Language, however, is not inherently offensive. Ergo, the entire notion of profanity or 'curse words' is utter nonsense.

 

If I call you an asshole, you perceive it to be an insult. Yet if, in my head, 'asshole' carries no insulting intent then it is not an insult. And as a matter of fact, "asshole", "faggot", and "[racism 1]" are all terms I've used regularly to describe friends (note: I've also used all of these terms negatively as well so context is key as always in language). Point is that there are no offensive words, only offensive ideas. If I decide to swap out "idiot" for "f#cking moron", the idea is exactly the same, it's just the impact that changes. But somebody who wouldn't have a problem otherwise might call me on profanity. I'd then have to call them on hypocrisy because frankly, I find their unthinking knee-jerk reaction to harmless language far more offensive than any alleged profanity.

 

And while we're on the topic of profanity: People who say "f-bomb" or "the n word"...Or "fudge"...Or, really, any other stupid "clean" version of these words... These people need to grow up or shut up. We all know what you mean. Either man up and say it or don't say it at all, but don't be a little wuss and do it halfway. Using a euphemism doesn't make what you're saying nicer, it just makes you a coward.

Edited March 7, 2014 by Koelath

[Khaoios 1,970]

Pretty much verbal actions of anger.  However, if your like Tony Montana or Revy......then you got something, .