On abusive language
Even if many individual expletives have lost their potency through overuse, the issue of swearing divides the nation into those who see it as the last refuge of the ignorant and linguistically indolent and those who regard it as an art form and a badge of social acceptability. Cursing has a proud heritage in England, going back to the days of Chaucer, who – unrestrained by the dead hand of the censor – sprinkled his work with obscene words such as ferte, erse, pisse, shiten, queynte, collions (testicles), and swyve, the precursor to f***, which arrived around 1500.
And although vulgarity is often associated with shipyard and factory workers, it has long had its middle-class exponents, particularly in literature. Shakespeare was an enthusiastic blasphemer – his plays containing plenty of religious obscene words such as zounds- or God's wounds- which were in common usage at the time.
Gradually, as the world became more secular, religious swear words gave way to the sexual ones that are in use today, their popularity driven, once again, by writers, such as DH Lawrence, James Joyce, Henry Miller and Dylan Thomas. Since the 1960s, rock stars have rallied to the cause, with the likes of Bob Geldof, Madonna, Liam Gallagher and Lily Allen: all doing their bit to make them more acceptable- foul language is so integral a feature of today's culture, it barely registers. Native English users may be able to bring about an effect by the right timing of those words.
On a personal level, I tell you, swearing gives a poor impression, endangers relationships and sets a bad example. On a broader level, it contributes to the dumbing down of society and can lead to violence. The reason is that swearing still offends many people, influences the way they judge your intelligence and character, heightens conflicts at home and at work, and represents a decline in civility. So stay away from using profanity and mind your words for you live in a civilized society.
See also,
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Seven_Dirty_Words_WBAI.jpg/220px-Seven_Dirty_Words_WBAI.jpg
Thanks.
And although vulgarity is often associated with shipyard and factory workers, it has long had its middle-class exponents, particularly in literature. Shakespeare was an enthusiastic blasphemer – his plays containing plenty of religious obscene words such as zounds- or God's wounds- which were in common usage at the time.
Gradually, as the world became more secular, religious swear words gave way to the sexual ones that are in use today, their popularity driven, once again, by writers, such as DH Lawrence, James Joyce, Henry Miller and Dylan Thomas. Since the 1960s, rock stars have rallied to the cause, with the likes of Bob Geldof, Madonna, Liam Gallagher and Lily Allen: all doing their bit to make them more acceptable- foul language is so integral a feature of today's culture, it barely registers. Native English users may be able to bring about an effect by the right timing of those words.
On a personal level, I tell you, swearing gives a poor impression, endangers relationships and sets a bad example. On a broader level, it contributes to the dumbing down of society and can lead to violence. The reason is that swearing still offends many people, influences the way they judge your intelligence and character, heightens conflicts at home and at work, and represents a decline in civility. So stay away from using profanity and mind your words for you live in a civilized society.
See also,
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Seven_Dirty_Words_WBAI.jpg/220px-Seven_Dirty_Words_WBAI.jpg
Thanks.
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