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.

[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.

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.)