whats the point of a swear?

Agreed, Set. But don't forget, please, he's just a kid.

Well, if you've got a nasty mouth on you, don't be surprised if you are paid in your own coin.

Setanta has indeed provided plenty of historical tidbits in some of his posts. I have found all of them that I've read interesting. I know you two are having it out now but I suggest that you look beyond that and find them interesting too. A good understandng of these little details of human history might prove helpful in answering some of the questions you have posted on this site.

I for one am sick of bullshit human traditions. At best they are an annoyance (elbows off the table, some words are bad words, I'm rude if I don't acknowledge somebody's sneeze). At worst they can keep humans from equality and have some trying to kill each other. As if there weren't already enough reasons.

Prick and **** became bad words by the same means. There is, or once was, an academic journal of "bad words," Maledicta. I'll go look.

Yep, they're still in business. Click here to visit the Maledicta Journal home page.

I tend to think of some words, such as those, as curse words, while swear words are directed at no one other than the MFing flat tire that is pissing me off.

Hamiliton,

What word do you use when you are talking about testicles? I am also curious if you agree that "vagina", "anal" and "clitoris" are not swears.

... then there is the word "santorum" which I don't consider a swear because there is no other word to describe it.

im talking about the other ones. ****, ass, ****, damn, bastard, bitch.

i worked with a bunch of french canadians, most of their worst curses were religion based, "tabernacle" (pronounced phonetically ta-burr-knack), was the one i remember most, the one girl could use **** 4 or 5 times in a sentence, then chide the old man for using "tabernacle"

Words such as prick and **** have become pejoratives, and are offensive for that reason, but for no other good reason. The word ass as a pejorative is comparing someone to a donkey, and not any reference to anatomy. I see no reason to consider ass offensive in an of itself. The objections to anatomical terms arises from the growing hysteria of the would-be social superiors in society, which reached its peak in the so-called Victorian era (the prudery, however, came from her husband Albert). It got so bad that a man would not refer to a chicken leg in the presence of a "lady," as being offensive. People would speak of a chicken limb. That was carrying the sublime idea of a separate vocabulary for the elite to the extreme of the ridiculous.

I suggest that the idea that a word can be a "bad" word arises from the use of a word as a pejorative--regrettable, but understandable; or from the hysterical prudery of those who would use langauge to display their social superiority, which to my mind is not acceptable. **** and ass are perfectly acceptable words which clearly state what the speaker means to say.

(Hamilton, this post is addressed to Wayne and Maxdacona. Don't get your little lacy panties in a twist over it.)

holy tabernacle...

im not going to get my lacy panties in a twist over any thing you say. its not worth it.

That was once true in English, too. Modern euphemisms such as gosh (for God), jeepers (for Jesus), criminently (for "for Christ's sake") are relicts of the effort to suppress "blasphemy." I don't believe that most people any longer bat an eye at the use of god or Jesus as an exclamation.

true

It's along the same lines. The words that you're talking about are considered to be "vulgar" and the words that maxdancona has outlined also fall into that category as well. I once had a teacher that considered the word "fart" to be a vulgar term and forbid us from using it and similar words. So this really leads more to the question as to what is actually suppose to be considered "vulgar".

i find it obscene that members of Parliament in Canada are referred to as "Honourable" simply because they are elected to an office, with no proof what so ever that they are honourable in any way

Even I consider the H-word too offensive to use in public.

I'd be happy if any of you ninnys ever started to study latin.

Hey, George, translate that for me. I figure you'll get stuck on ninnies but can do a workaround.

Has the notion of the curse as actually that -- uttering a desire and, if you believe in hexes and the like, actual intent, that someone come to harm? Surely that plays into the idea somehow. When and where people have believed in witchcraft and the like, this must have been/be a truly egregious act, tantamount to assault.

Perhaps the prudery we've inherited in our relatively secular society is, to some extent, a redirection of the horror that some must have felt upon the utterance of, "A pox on your house!" Which, if the utterer or their agents have the wherewithal to make it happen, is very serious indeed.



(straight from the Department of Redundancy Department.)

That raises the question of why so many words related to the human body and it's functions have been chosen for use as pejoratives.
I'm guessing but it appears the function of a pejorative is to instill shame.
Which says something about the role that shame, in our own bodies, plays in society.

On that basis, the OP's question, in terms of swear used as pejorative, could be answered as "to cause shame".

Along this line, a few years ago I found a bumper sticker, which I gave to a friend, "You say I'm a prick like that's a bad thing"