Don't be afraid, I'm not going to go on a cursing tirade here. I am a person who loves words. And names. But we'll get into my name obsession some other time. I love it when I hear new-to-me words, I love words that have tons of different meanings, I love words that just sound cool, language fascinates me.
What I don't get, is how some words become bad words, or even offensive. One of those words is "douche". This one's at the forefront of my mind after last night's episode of the Bachelorette. Even if you take the word douche at its worst meaning, it is just a feminine cleansing product. How is that bad? It cleans. Would it not be more pointedly rude to call someone, say, itch cream? "Douche" is also the French word for "shower". I like showers. "Hey, that guy just called me a shower-bag!". Wow, you told him.
And who decided, for instance, that another word starting with "p" is somehow much worse than being "ticked' off at someone?
They mean the same thing, don't they?
I wonder, are you closer to heaven because you called someone a frickin' anything? Everyone knows what you meant.
English word for cigarette and innocent little pansy flower, when did you become derogatory names for a gay man?
I love the word "jackass". I love saying it, I love hearing other people say it, and yet I hesitate to say it (depending on who is around), which is ridiculous since I have never once hesitated to use the word "donkey" around anyone, ever.
Who decides which words become off-limits? When is that pivotal moment that it goes from a noun or adjective minding its own business to something so taboo you can't even say it out loud to your kids to teach them what not to say? Now that the chicken and egg question has been answered for once and for all, I'd like somebody to get back to me on this whole thing.
3 comments:
So, my Grandpa had a rule about this sort of thing. If you could find it in the bible, then it was fair game. Consequently, jackass (though I don't think it appears exactly that way in scripture) was one of his favorite expletives. I knew I had to clean things up when my first baby was 18 months old and dropped his shoe in church. He simultaneously dropped a certain four letter word with it and that was the end of my potty mouth. But, I still like my Grandpa's rule.
Don't let Mariah fool you. Whenever we sit near her family at church, my ears are melting by the time Sacrament meeting is over. For such a little woman, she's got a lot of frickin' spunk.
(Sorry- for the triple post. Had to clean up my language for you.)
Hi Wendy,
I was just reading Jeremy's website and loved his words about your blog so I popped in. (it's been a LONG time, HI!) :) Anyhow, I just went to a youth retreat where the word PROFANITY was discussed. You might like it. Pro, means before - or outside of. Fanity comes from Fanu which means, temple. So the literal translation of profanity is "outside of the temple". I suspect in that case, when the words we use cause us separation from the temple (of ourselves or of God) - then they are indeed profanity. (and I like what Mariah said too) I must say, coming from a family of VERY SALTY tongues - sometimes those words cause such a release of racous, fabulous, and yes, heavenly laughter, that even though we deem them as such, they do not seem to be profane. Therein, I suppose, possibly that intent must somewhere fall heavily both upon the matter and God's own disection of it. (I myself don't have the gift of a salty tongue that provides humor so I have to distance myself from the words, but my Mom, Oh sweet Mom! She can bring you to your knees with a good translation of poop) ... Give a hug all around. Love your stuff!
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