Did you know that smirk and smile come from the same root? Green and grow, horse from current and to run, god from that is which invoked, shoe from cover, nigger from brown, profanity from things outside the church, and shit... the most debated of origin and meaning. Perhaps the most offensive word is no longer fuck, but Cunt. Cunt is derived from PIE, the oldest of our ancestor languages and means hollow place, queen, to cut, to hide. I know it's very offensive, but what about it makes it so wrong in polite company? I notice that the more offensive the curse word, the easier it rolls off the tongue in a gasping, forceful way. But why is bitch, which is ok for TV but shit, the most common thing we all do besides breathe and eat not ok? Definetly, by far, cuss words define society, culture, and the opposite.
An interesting observation comes when looking at different cultures and how many different words are used for the same meaning. Think of the word money. How many synonyms for money can you come up with? The thesaurus is by definition culture: i.e. cash, currency, change, wealth, capital, funds, riches, mullah, dough, bread, bucks, chips, coins, gravy, jack, greenback, hard cash, legal tender, loot, pay, riches, roll , treasure, specie, wad, wage, cold cash, buckaroos, benjamins, big ones, smackers, clams, cha ching, booty, loot, cheese, chedda, lettuce, and other green condiments. Don't even get me started on booz and the boggie woggie. Mandarin, Hebrew, Arabic, Swahili, Tagalog and much more dedicate many meanings to what is considered most common in the respective culture. How many different derivatives of sex can you come up with? What is important for the American culture? Extremely related, what does it say for Suomi and Welsh, Mandarin, Japanese or even Latin, who at the elementary level have no direct translation to Yes or No? This aspect is complicated but I digest.
Back to profanity, cunt is mentioned by the potty mouth Shakespeare in Hamlet, nigga is slang among blacks, and wop stands for wood oven pizza. Profanity boils down to tabooness amongst the listeners. There are racial slurs, blasphemy (gadzooks), fag slang, and words we don't say around our parents (which is an anomaly that in many cultures it is less profane for an adult to curse than it is for a child, who may be reprimanded for cursing). Most basic curse words boil down to something stupid... bitch, fuck, shit, damn, pussy. And what other cultures consider very offensive, we don't. Understand bravo charlie or golf delta? Don't forget the severity of curse words either; crapola versus shit, bitch versus beotch, that blows versus that sucks. I mean is arsehole really that offensive to you and me? Apparently it is to our blokes across the lake from which our language comes from. Better yet, would you even understand the American Sign Language curse of 'Go Fuck Yourself?' Well that's a bad example.
I may never understand the full power of curse words, but I'm glad we have something to express emotion with!
Sincerely,
Motherfucker (Incest in its most literal terms)
"Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, Tits, annnnnndddd, Fart, Turd, Twat" - George Carlin
Shakespeare's Topics: A fair helping of sex, violence, crime, horror, politics, religion, anti-authoritarianism, anti-semitism, racism, xenophobia, sexism, jealousy, profanity, satire, and controversy of all kinds.
http://www.socyberty.com/Education/Evolution-of-Profanity--How-Swear-Words-Came-to-be-.17433
Music: Zero 7, Waiting Line
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