• Max-P@lemmy.max-p.me
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    3 months ago

    English is my second language, and culturally where I’m from swearing is pretty normal and nobody gives a fuck anyway.

    It’s only swearing because at some point someone decided it was bad language, and if you pay close attention, a lot of them go with “taboo” topics like sex and religious items. And then everyone proceeds to substitute them like fuck/fudge, shit/shoot, bitch/bench which IMO, you might as well have said it, everyone knows that what you were thinking.

    Language is language and sometimes a good choice of colorful expletives is what drives the meaning. Getting offended by swears is a sign of fragility of the mind.

    • 1984@lemmy.today
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      3 months ago

      People honestly get offended by someone having a different opinion these days even. Fragile minds everywhere. Or perhaps more like fragile egos.

  • Zier@fedia.io
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    3 months ago

    Swearing is actually normal for all people. Any word can be classified as a “swear” or “bad” word. That’s how language works. There is nothing wrong with using a word that is deemed a cuss word. The actual “bad” part is always the context the word is used in. If you smacked your foot into a chair accidentally and you called the chair a Bastard, you used the expletive correctly. But if you walked into work one morning and walked by your boss and said to him, “Good morning you Bastard.”, that’s going to get you in trouble. The context matters.

    You can make any word a cuss word in the context you use it. You can ask a person if they like Bananas, “Are you a banana eater?”. Or you can accuse a person, “What kind of a sick banana eater are you? What is wrong with you?”, ‘banana eater’ is now a bad phrase/thing.

    Context in language always matters, regardless of the taboo of a word/phrase.

    Words only have power over you if you let them. Language is to be used, enjoyed and laughed at.

    • morrowind@lemmy.ml
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      3 months ago

      You can’t entirely remove a word from it’s main meaning and there’s a reason all popular swear words are negative or taboo things, fuck, damn, hell etc

      • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        Well gosh darnit the study of etymology is gonna want a word (hehe) with you. a faggot used to be an old unpleasant woman who was like baggage, as difficult to carry around as a bundle of sticks which was also called a faggot. Brits smoke fags.

        Literally is another example. Through use, it now has a secondary definition which is exactly the opposite of its primary one. (figurative, emphasis)There are less popular examples but your premise as i understand it is just wrong friend

        • morrowind@lemmy.ml
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          3 months ago

          I didn’t say the main meaning can’t change, just that you can’t remove it from said meaning by using it in a different context

            • morrowind@lemmy.ml
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              3 months ago

              The main meaning of a word can change, but at any given time, you can’t use the word in a different context, and expect how people receive it to be completely divorced from its current main meaning

              • Zier@fedia.io
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                3 months ago

                This is true, which is why context matters. Like if you love a song so much and say, “That’s sick!”, people might think you mean “ill” and assume something negative.

  • gerryflap@feddit.nl
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    3 months ago

    Because words have different weight for different people. I feel like Americans are so sensitive about words like “fuck” (and many other words). Here in the Netherlands I grew up with much more liberal use of swear words. So to me it’s way less harsh to say “fuck this rain” or something, it’s just a way to communicate my feelings about the rain, just like I’d say “kutweer” in Dutch. Saying it in a more eloquent way, i.e. “this rain is pretty suboptimal” would not accurately convey my feelings.

      • scoobford@lemmy.zip
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        3 months ago

        Except violence, supposedly.

        I’m american, so I obviously wouldn’t know. Overseas travel is fuckin expensive…

    • Bob@feddit.nl
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      3 months ago

      “Fuck” and “kut” don’t have the same weight and it’s as simple as that. I can go around saying “kanker” everything and I won’t feel a thing, because Dutch isn’t my mother tongue.

  • dactylotheca@suppo.fi
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    3 months ago

    From a historical perspective, it’s stranger that swearing isn’t normal for some people; it seems to be a universal feature of human languages throughout history and around the world.

    The exact swear / taboo words vary of course, but in general it does seem like just about every culture ever has had and used swear words.

    • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Many “bad words” have roots in other countries or cultures and are a half translation, this is why many words are labeled bad or rude, when they really mean “that’s an immigrant word” or foreigner slang.

  • Tazerface@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    I’ve read that swearing is the sign of an honest person.

    Studies have shown that swearing makes dealing with pain easier.

  • Donjuanme@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Never swearing is as weird as swearing constantly. They’re words, they have meaning and context.

    A number of women I know would rather use any word besides “moist”, it’s quite funny.

      • Donjuanme@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I’ll try dropping it at Thanksgiving dinner, I’m giving even odds that I get asked to leave, especially if combined with moist.

    • Jackie's Fridge@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I have random stupid hangups and for who knows why profanity is one of them. I’m fine with it. I barely notice when others use it. But I just can’t. It doesn’t sound right in my context or in my voice.

      Of course I hate my own voice with a fiery passion, but that’s another hangup.

  • Mobiuthuselah@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    As I understand it, shit, piss, and fuck were common words in Old English. When the French-speaking Normans invaded the Anglo-Saxons, they made the people and their language lower class, crude and dirty. Defecate, urinate, and fornicate were substituted as the proper way to speak. This was a way to continue oppressing a conquered and occupied group of people. These views have persisted for hundreds of years and been adopted by various groups over time. Something to consider when you find yourself viewing the words others use as crude.

    Based on this history, you might also see why saying “pardon my French” is ironic as fuck.

    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I mean there’s was a difference in the language of the rulers and the ruled, which is why this difference came to the language.

      That’s why the foods you eat are mutton, pork, beef, etc whereas the animals are sheep, pig and cow.

      The former words only refer to the meat of the animal, because that’s what the French rulers were served.

      So I’m not disagreeing with anything you’ve said, just elaborating on the cause-effect relationship.

  • magnetosphere@fedia.io
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    3 months ago

    It’s even weirder when people self-censor memes , posts, and whatnot. Like F*CK. You’re allowed to swear on the internet, people!

    • Zak@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      It seems to me this became a thing when social media algorithms started downranking content with profanity in it. It’s weird when people do it elsewhere.

    • skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de
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      3 months ago

      i’ve seen possibly one of more egregious example of this like three days ago. gopro video of a trench warfare, cameraman (ukrainian) shoots two intruders (russian) one of which has no face attached by the end of video with bits of it dripping to the ground. audio track is bleeped out and subtitles are **** out too for some reason

      or anything involving youtube, or gods have mercy if that nipple hating son of a bitch zuckerberg notices something. then you can say goodbye to your account

  • Susaga@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    Fun fact! Swearing actually reduces pain perception, thus increasing pain tolerance. There are scientific benefits to swearing.