Foul language

[rowyn]

Quick question: what's your vote for the most foul word in the English language -- a word so offensive you wouldn't even be inclined to think it, much less say it or write it? Y'all can just put down the first letter and ---.

Funny thing is, I know what word gets TREATED most often as unspeakable ... but I don't think it's any of the words people usually think of in that context.

Comments

[gen.livejournal.com]

The word I find the most insulting is c*nt. Really most profanity is so overused that it doesn't mean what it used to or just sums up as adjectives. But for some reason that particular profanity, even leveled against what might be the most horrible of people, still riles me.

[rowyn]

Yeah, that one gets me, too. I mean, I got a little twinge just seeing the expurgated version above. Sets my teeth on edge. It's an insult; a lot foul words are not used purely as insults, but often just for emphasis. When it's something you can say like "Rats" or "Darn", directed an event and not a a person, it takes some of the offensive edge off of the word.

But c--- is used almost exclusively as an insult AT people, and that makes it worse, I think.

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

Huh! I hadn't really thought of that before! Yeah, if it's just some random noise uttered in general frustration, that's one thing, but when it becomes an accusation or an insult, then that's quite another.

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

You know, this may sound odd, but the word that gives me the most heebie-jeebies is the "n" word; I'm embarrassed even to make any reference to it. I suppose it's because I hear the other forbidden words so frequently that as much as I dislike to be around someone who uses them, it really tells me something about that person if they use something quite like that.

I do have to say, the whole concept of "naughty words" strikes me as absurd. We can't say some particular word, but it's all right to use another word that's a synonym of it, but has more syllables. But the thing is, if some little kid figures out this "almost naughty word" and keeps repeating it and giggling, I'd still want to wash his mouth out with soap. (Reminds me of a rather disagreeable scene in "Kindergarten Cop." Yes, I saw that, when I worked at the drive-in. I still adore Arnie anyway.)

I think the phenomenon is largely that, you can take just about any word and shout it as an epithet, and it's going to be unpleasant. It's just all the more so if it happens to deal with bodily functions, or involves some sort of accusation not made in polite company. But when kids start using unpleasant language, it's much easier to just treat it as if there are magic words that they should not say. And it's unlikely that they're going to use one of those synonyms as serious curses, because while it may provoke giggle-fits to children, they sound downright stupid as a teenager or older trying to use such words as curses. (It's just not cool.)

All that said, the standard has been set. I have no particular need to make use of such words, and so I'd rather not. When I'm around someone who occasionally uses such a word as a matter of accident (just hit his thumb with a hammer, etc.) I don't make a fuss about it. But when I'm around someone who knows that I don't like foul language, and yet spews it out anyway, that definitely tells me something about the character of that person.

[rowyn]

That's the word I was thinking of. The WSJ was refering to it, and they wouldn't even write it. It was just "a racial epithet beginning with 'n'." That's how foul it is. I can't think of anyone I know who I've heard use it. It's pretty rare even in films.

I think it's rather heartening that the nastiest word in the language (as used in America) is something that's not sexual or religious, but purely insulting. It's just a word intended to anger and infuriate. It ought to be a dirty word.

And it is.

I think the reason a lot of obscenities and profanities are "bad words" should have more to do with the inappropriateness of their use than the word itself. It's not that it's wrong to use a word to describe Gehenna, or to talk about sex or bodily functions. The offense lies (or at least should lie) in using the words to describe something TOTALLY OTHER. You are using language meant for one purpose in a way intended to demean or degrade. That'd be offensive, even if you weren't using the 'naughty' version. The 'naughty' versions just get packed with more power. But not a lot more, in our society, because they're used so casually. Pretty well worn out, really. :/

[level-head.livejournal.com]

It is a common form of informal address between young black people. It is contained in a very large number of rap music lyrics. It is the subject of a great many routines by black comedians.

And... it is very sad. But the word is hardly rare in the United States.

Personally, I'm more inclined toward Genesis_W's view, I think.

===|==============/ Level Head

[rowyn]

Rare was the wrong word. It's much RARER than any other "bad word" I can think of, even given common usage in certain circles.

Re:

[level-head.livejournal.com]

It is not part of my lexicon--but some black friends managed to surprise me. I would say that the word is common among many young blacks--male and female--but I am not able to assess "relative commonness" among the many profanities and epithets.

And I remember the John Lennon song as well...

===|==============/ Level Head

[ceruleanst.livejournal.com]

Still, there are dangers in stigmatizing a mere word no matter how bad it is. When I think about the "n" word, my immediate reaction is exactly the sort of fear we should be trying to prevent cultivating. I've been well-trained: I remember walking through the student center back in my college days with a friend, a fellow Monty Python fan, and when he enthusiastically quoted the Grail line about "silly English k-NIG-hts!" my instincts silently screamed "Holy shit, he just followed an n with a hard g sound really loud, and in public. Let's get out of here before those black guys across the room beat us up."

And this was even before that congressman got in trouble for using a certain word meaning "stingy" which is itself now more unspeakable than any four-letter word for this reason.

[rowyn]

I refuse to find "niggardly" an offensive word. Its origins are wholly other anyway.

But your point about language is taken. It's like the way some women label themselves "bitches" with pride. Or the way homosexuals embrace the word "queer" which was, once upon a time, an insult. You tame a word, use it casually, to take away its power.

In some sense, I like the idea that certain words are imbued with power. If you almost never use obscenities, then when you do, people sense the seriousness of it. I remember Touchstone, I think, had a guideline that they could only use f--- twice in any given movie, and one producer saying, "it's a good rule, because you end up saving it for the time when it'll have the most impact."

OTOH, this particular word has a lot of power for no good reason at all. If the young black men who use it casually manage to tame it, and take away all its power, I will be quite happy about it.

Why words are offensive

[telnar.livejournal.com]

Most foul language in some way makes an ordinary part of our lives vulgar through the connotations that a word has come to carry. Expletives generally deal with things which are blasphemous or would be inappropriate in public (genitalia, excretory functions, sexual activities ...) making the link to an offensive meaning seem natural.

One of the things which I think makes the "N word" so offensive when used by someone who is not African-American is that the insulting connotation implies that one's race alone is justification for attack. This mechanism could also explain level head's information about how it is used regularly by young blacks, since the implication that race alone is justification for an insult doesn't have any bite to it if you're a member of the race being attacked by your expletive.

Also, I think that this mechanism might explain why some of the posters found c--- so offensive. When I've heard it used, it tended to be in a context that suggested that someone was inferior simply for being female (e.g. by implying that someone's stupidity could be explained by her sex). In contrast, I've generally heard the male analogs (d---, d---head, sch---k) used in contexts that implied criticism of the person's behavior. Perhaps that's a fluke of a small sample, though (people don't swear much around me.)

Re: Why words are offensive

[krud42.livejournal.com]

(It's times like this that I wish I had the option to not have a picture next to my comments, because this coming from a cartoon dog might lose something, I think.)

I have a morbid fascination with this topic, since my first word ever was S---, picked up from my parents when they were mad (burned their hand, dropped something, whatever), and unveiled for the first time (to their horror) during prayer in church, when I dropped a hymnal I had been playing with. I was like 14 months old at the time.

Was that offensive? Yes and no. Yes, it was, because it was generally considered an inappropriate word, especially under the circumstances. But at the same time, it wasn't otherwise offensive, because I didn't mean it. I was just mimicking the sound I'd heard uttered when things fell. I don't think I was referring to excrement, and I don't think I was trying to emphasize my emotions. I was still just a baby. But it became an infamous anecdote, and my parents never let me forget it.

Fast-forward to third grade. I'm on the playground, and some bully shoves me hard, causing me to collide with a girl named Valerie. She didn't know what was happening, other than that I'd ran into her. She responded by digging her fingernails deep into my arm, drawing blood. It hurt very badly, and in my anger and frustration I yelled, "You b-----!" (I am not proud of this, and if I could go back in time and undo it, I would.) I was again mimicking what I'd heard, but this time it was very offensive because 1.) There was anger behind my words, and 2.) I targetted her gender.

I didn't understand this all at the time. I did recall that neither she nor the bully got in trouble for the events that led up to my epithet, but I got detention. In hindsight, I'm glad. (Not that they didn't get in trouble, but that I did.)

To me, it's not so much the word as it is the meaning or purpose. If you're trying to be offensive, or intending to put emotion or other meaning behind it, it takes on a whole new tone. On the other hand, I can't stand it when people start using swear words like they were Smurfs, using it as adjectives, verbs, adverbs, etc.

But I don't think that any word should be considered inherently vulgar or wrong. (Even, believe it or not, the "N" word.) What I mean is, I think that out-of-context use should not be so cumbersome. One should be able to refer to a word without being accused of "using the word", if that makes any sense. The only reason I "refer" to words with asterisks and the like is because people are more comfortable that way, and also to avoid whatever text-search routines root out inappropriate online content.

What gets me is why certain swear words are deemed "less vulgar" than others. What I mean is, why is cr*p generally regarded as being less offensive than s***? It means the same thing and has the same uses. So what's the difference? Who decided that one was more okay than the other?

And ordinary words and phrases start to get tainted, when used in certain contexts. I'd give an example, but...

Okay, this comments has gotten too long. Sorry about that, Rowan. To answer your original question, to me the most offensive words are the compound ones of the "noun-verber" variety. (Where the noun and verber are vulgar, that is. I have no problem with "nit-picker", however.)