Are there situations where using profane language is socially acceptable? Countless people would argue that no circumstance justifies using profanities, however, if they were to say that they have never sworn, they would be lying. Profanities have a time and place, but you have to be aware of where and to whom you use them on. Sometimes when people are angry or upset noting can sum up how they are feeling quite like a swearword. When teenagers and young adults socialize, profanities are not far behind, however, it is often in good natured fun.
The key is to identify situations when it is appropriate or inappropriate to use profane language or situational awareness. In formal situations such as an in a work place environment the usage of profanities is frowned upon, and may lead to the termination of your position. You should also refrain from using swearwords in a class room setting. If you do this it could give your classmates and instructor an unsavory perception in regards to your character.
So when is it appropriate to use profanities? Informal social gatherings among friends, verbal confutations, when upset or angry are times that people often use this language with little or no damage to their reputation. When Bill O’Reilly said “fuck it we’ll do it live on the air, is an example when situational awareness was neglected. Another example is when Paula Deen acknowledged to using racial slurs in the past. This resulted in Food Network canceling her show, and lost many of her celebrity endorsements.
“Fuck” is a versatile word and can be used in a variety of situations. It can be used to indicate anger, depression, excitement, shock, and in some cases fear. The Oxford Dictionary defines the f-word as having two meanings. Fir...
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...tored below deck and unavoidably got damp. Once it got into contact with water the fermentation process is able to begin. Through this process the byproduct of methane gas is created. Methane began to build up below the deck of the ship, and the first time a sailor went below at night with the aid of a lantern, a massive explosion ensued causing damage to nearby ships. To prevent this from happening in the future the bundles of manure was stamp with the label “Ship High in Transit” or S.H.I.T, this indicated to sailors to store it high enough off the floor of the lower deck to prevent water to contaminate the explosive volatile cargo, and to eliminate the production of methane. The Online Etymology Dictionary sheds some light into the original origins of the s-word. This word began in Old English, meaning “purging diarrhea” and dates back to the 1580s.
In the modern society, millions of people realize that several offensive words with insulting taboo meanings heavily disturb their daily lives and break some special groups of people’s respect to push them to feel like outsiders of the whole society. As a result, more and more people join some underway movements to eliminate the use of these offensive words in people’s everyday speech and writing. However, these offensive words themselves are not the culprit, the bad meanings people attach are the problems and some other functions of the words are useful in the society. Christopher M. Fairman the author of “ Saying It Is Hurtful, Banning It Is Worse” also argues that although
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
In American society the “F” word has been deemed a cuss word, a dirty word. It’s a simple, four letter word that shouldn’t be used. In Firoozeh Dumas’s essay, “The ‘F Word’”, she gives a new light to a different “F” word with the same context in our culture today with the help of her Iranian background. Firoozeh Dumas criticises the American ability to adapt to different and unfamiliar cultures through humor, empathy, and metaphors.
Swearing has the ability to get someone in a whole load of trouble at the dinner table with their mother but could also be their choice of words when they accidently stub their toe on the coffee table in the living room. Natalie Angier discusses this controversial topic of words that shouldn’t be said in her article feature in The New York Times, “Almost Before We Spoke, We Swore”. Provoked by a recently proposed bill to increase fines for using swear words on television, Angier analyzes not only the impact of swearing, but also where the desire to speak obscene words comes from. She references many credible studies and sources as she unfolds her argument. She uses a diverse slew of studies, experiments, and famous pieces of literature and
Freedom of speech is one of the most necessary and most commonly exercised rights allowed to the people of the United States. It is also, sadly, one of the most abused. I believe strongly that more should be done to stop our citizens from bringing filthy language into our streets and businesses. I believe this for 3 reasons: 1.) Works of media or art are diminished by the use of profanity. 2.) Children exposed to profanity in a public setting may come to believe that profanity is an acceptable form of language, rather than the gruff set of exclamations and insults that they are. 3.) It makes the American people appear less intelligent and, to be put simply, crude and uncivilized.
...es not turn our society toward violence. There are other possible solutions though, like making a list of words that are indecent, meaning offensive to community standards. This would illiminate harmful curse words that are derogatory.
The U.S. Supreme Court has defined “fighting words” as words "which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace” and are words that are "likely to cause an average addressee to fight." Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568, 572
One example is the use of the word “fuck”. In my house hold growing up I attempted to use this work once when I dropped a plate. It was the angriest my father has ever been at me. This word is often considered the worst of the curse words in modern English. This simple utterance has been in use since the early 16th century. Fuck often evokes strong emotion and response, considered one of the seven dirty words that can’t be said on American broadcast
The first reason I think curse words are supposed to be used when you are mad or angry is because you are trying to get all of your anger out on someone.According to Antelope Valley Times it says, “Those words make them sound unintelligent and unprofessional. Using curse words isn’t cool; it’s actually really annoying and rude.”In my opinion, I agree
In order to effectively communicate with those around us it’s important to understand the context of a given situation. We can usually recognize these connections right off the bat and when it comes to cathartic swearing this is especially so. These expletives are very straightforward and are frequently referred to as the ‘stub-your-toe’ class of swearing because with yelling, “FUCK!”, you unleash a healthy amount of pent-up emotion or anger that may have even been causing some stress. The only issue seen with this variety of swearing is the commonness in which it occurs. Toddlers and small children will often pick up the words and phrases that are being said around them. As Wajnryb states in chapter 3, “The fact is that kids swear because they copy the modeled behaviors around them, usually in the home. You stub a toe, you swear. Your child overhears and learns how to react in similar circumstances. It doesn’t matter what the phrase is, it becomes the language associated with the emotion of anger or frustration” (pg. 89). The most interesting thing about this is that when the child first repeats a
If a person curses it is only because they have nothing really important to say. A person's words can define a person but words are words especially curse words. A curse word is just another word an expletive to use like “ow” and “yay!” “Cursing can indicate that you have an extensive knowledge of words” as stated in the article “Science Proves That Swearing Makes you #!$%ing Smarter” by Paul Seaburn. Marist College and Massachusetts College of liberal arts did a study to prove that curse words are just typical words. In the study the patients had to list as many curse words as they could then as many animal words as they could. There were more curse words listed than animal words but each patient had a sufficient number of animal names. The study also found that the people who curse did know the difference between a cuss word and appropriate words. “A voluminous taboo lexicon may better be considered an indicator of healthy verbal abilities rather than a cover for deficiencies” (Seaburn). So the statement an unintelligent person has nothing good to say is a total misconception because smart people curse
How can I ever forget a time when I said a swear word in front of my mom. I was at the grocery store shopping with my mom and cousin. I was already upset because I got in trouble at home already. My cousin just kept messing with me and making fun of me and I just told her to “shut the fuck up.” Don’t you just hate those nagging little cousins that laugh at everything? I tried to say it as low as possible but my mom has ears like a hawk. Man I swear I never got slapped so hard a day in my life. From that day forward I swore that I wouldn’t say any swear words ever. Do you ever wonder where swearing words originated from? Or even people views on how they feel about them? Barbara Lawrence has an issue with swearing words because people use different terminology such as: “Broad”, “chick”, “piece of tail” and other sorts of harmful words to downgrade women. Bill Bryson on the other hand says that swear words are merely considered bad because they are considered bad. A similarity that both Lawrence and Bryson have is when they mentioned the word “ficken”, which is a German or Latin word meaning f***. The difference between the two are that Bryson explains the different words the Romans created and used over 1,500 years ago and Lawrence explains that some
One reason why racial slurs would be made illegal is it's a form of harassment. Harassment has a very low tolerant in the court system. When harassing someone who repeatedly means that you giving them discomfort and causing emotional distress. So if harassing someone is against the law so should racial slurs. For an example
For example, when someone is talking about children being whipped with belts, and saying it is abuse, I usually comment on it saying something along the line as, that’s what I would have done. I have been getting better about this and biting my tongue when what I was going to say was not appropriate. Occasionally I will say something that I believe in about a situation, but try to be more appropriate. I understand how this can potentially get me in trouble, especially if I say something to the wrong/right person and they see it as unprofessional and fire me or write me up for it. I am learning through DSS when it can be appropriate to do so, and I am also practicing holding my tongue when I know, or even think, it could be
Words can be used in a variety of different ways from giving somebody a compliment, making an observation, singing a song, or simply just talking to a friend. Words are extremely powerful, and they can be used to accomplish great things such as inspiring millions like Martin Luther King Jr. did during the civil rights movement. However, not all people use words in a responsible, respectful manner. Along with all of the great things people can achieve through the use of words, there are many cases in which words have proved to be dangerous. Words have started wars, been used to bully people, tell lies, and even discriminate against entire races of people. Despite how powerful words are; people often misuse them, or say