It seems to me we have "CLEAN" talk, and "UGLY" talk....

What is the standard for all of that?

Most of the "UNACCEPTABLE" words have to do with obvious parts of human bodies that we all know about anyway. Most schools teach us about those parts... (Publicly - it's their job!)

So why as a topic are they unacceptable?

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

 

From my observations the people I deal with who use profanity in their conversation are the less educated in the group. I can’t recall the last meeting I was in that was mostly people with many acronyms behind their names where there was any profanity. Nor does this same group of people use profanity in their normal conversation. But this is just my observation.

 

cause Taboo is cool....(according to society)

more fun to smoke a cohiba here, or in Cuba?
more fun to get smashed when 20 or 50?

 

jake nailed it. It started out as a kindof 'set of words' that you just don't use that are refined to sailors/etc. No one respects sailors & thier types, so they refrain from talking crudely like them. There are many sexual and violent references. That sort of thing probably drew the 'dirty' line.

Now the kids just do it to be 'badass.'

Ryan

 

saying, "bloody" and "fanny packs"s may get a gasp in England.

 

Mostly agree, but you need to go golfing with that PHD or PE when they slice one into the trees....most people have it in them to some degree. Of course, this is just my observation, too.

 

Profanity helps drive your point home in some cases. For example, when you are tired of telling someone to hush up, or quit talking in a movie theater, STFU!!! always seemed to work better for me.

 

I have extensive experience in the application and even invention of profantiy, and therefore consider myself an expert on the subject. My own research has led me to conclude that profanity exists entirely in the mind of the person who hears it. What is considered appropriate language depends on the setting, and articulate people use appropriate language for the situation.

Is profanity an indication lower intelligence or education? If you study candid moments and private writings of many people who are well educated, eloquent, and/or generally considered intelligent (Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, many of our american presidents) you may find that many also use/used profanity.

I use different language in the presence of my mother than I do my dad and brothers. I use different language at work in the presence of union members than I use when in the presence of managment members. I have heard people that I never imagined would ever used profanity utter it when properly provoked, and alternately have heard people accomplished in the art of profanity speak eloquently without the use of vulgarities/profanity.

Ready for a funny story?

Once when I was a kid My Dad was lecturing me for uttering a profanity (which I had learned from my him, by the way). The part of the lecture I will always remember went "Your (GD) profanity is going to stop right now!"

 

Y'all need to try driving in our traffic for a while- you'll find out what profanity is! Working in a machine shop, a lot of the guys can't complete a sentence without a few f-bombs in it. They don't even think about it anymore. I've trained myself to refrain from ugly language, and I've been pretty successful. What bothers me is when a one-time vulgar expression eases into the public lexicon, and people seem to forget how rude it is (was). The expression 'sucks' is a prime example. I refuse to use that expression since I remember what it's original meaning was. Now I hear women and children using it!

 

With me it's more a 'frequency of use' issue more than anything.

When my Physician rattles-off that rare 'F' word while commenting on the lack of compitance in a previous diagnosis, I know it must be SERIOUS doo doo.

Conversely, listening to some guy down at the bar use the same word 50 times in a 20 word sentence will make me disinterested in anything he has to say. There is a balance.

 

Hey Bub, watch the Sailor comments!
I don't always curse, especially when I am around ladies and kids, but get me around the squadron spaces, now thats a different story.....hahahaha

 

ha, I hope you know I wasn't talking about y'all. I meant more like back in the old days with wooden ships, and the guys that shipped for a living.

Ryan

 

ok, we will let it slide this time, but don't let it happen again..........lol
And remember, in the Navy, its not profane, its just part of our vocabulary, just like bulkhead, galley, and the head. And the F bomb is usually the first word before describing anyone that is a flyer!

 

> What is the standard for all of that?

When it is used to degenerate the object or subject being spoken about.

As an example, certain base Latin words are not swears and simply mean
to make, until someone decided to make them swear words relating to
recreation.

> So why as a topic are they unacceptable?

Answer not suitable for this forum.

 

Profanity adds colour to our language.
It certainly has its place.... such as in the men's locker room, at the thursday night poker table, or at the hunt camp.
It can make a boy feel like a man when he's included in one of these places, or it can make a man look childish if he uses profanity in the wrong setting.

Check out Robin William's bit on golfing. THe language is what makes this hillarious
WARNING: COARSE LANGUAGE!
http://www.break.com/index/robin_williams_on_golf.html