41–50 of 101 posts
I don’t swear anymore, I read somewhere in the bible, that you should not swear, so I stopped, although I am not a Christian.
There is a thing about not taking an oath in vain, but that's not the same as bad words, that's about keep a promise if you make one. (It's too bad the same words "swear" and "oath" is used for both intents.)
The problem is that swearing is losing its strength, since everybody already uses interjects like "f * it" and "wtf" all the time.
I even remember the non-Human character Kira in Deep Space 9 being assigned it in dialogue, it was really jarring. It's as if it had just been reduced to a sequence of syllables and the writers didn't think about what it meant.
Tossing wanker slag cheese eating surrender monkey bastards of daft cow arsehole barmy chav dodgy gormless git of a manky mingers. Muppet naff nutter pikey pillock plonker prat scrubber trollops uphill gardener twit knobheads. Piss off you bell end lazy sod skiver knob wazzock ninny berk airy-fairy ankle-biting arse-licker arsemonger chuffers, daft as a bush, dead from the neck up, gannet, gone to the dogs ligger lik…
I tried to translate this to American slang, and failed miserably. Thank you, I laughed so hard
>While sometimes viewed as lazy or boorish, swearing actually requires substantial verbal facility and skill. When used correctly, in other words, profanity is expressively complicated I'm glad they pointed this out -- as I always say, swearing is the inevitable linguistic crutch of the inarticulate motherfucker. However, this article missed out on one of the more important beneficial aspects of swearing, namely pain…
It's a case study in how a few words have wildly different meanings and implications depending on the context they're used in and how they're applied to the topic at hand. Even the delivery has a huge impact on their meaning.
There's a big gulf between someone who just drops f-bombs for effect and someone who's using their familiar language to convey emotion and meaning that other words cannot possibly hope to measure up to.
There are newer editions with more words added, but the original edition has the highest concentration of funny, in my opinion. If you get/have the hardcover edition, look for the easter egg under the back cover.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Rogers-Profanisaurus-Viz/dp/075221507...
The problem is that swearing is losing its strength, since everybody already uses interjects like "f * it" and "wtf" all the time.
And very often they've no idea that they're swearing. 'Oh My God' was insanely popular in the 1990s even amongst people who had no belief in a deity, which really annoyed me even though I don't identify as a Christian. I even remember the non-Human character Kira in Deep Space 9 being assigned it in dialogue, it was really jarring. It's as if it had just been reduced to a sequence of syllables and the writers didn't…
And for all practical purposes, it has. Sometimes, sentences used very often lose their meaning and become interjections. "Goodbye" comes from "God be with ye", and of course it's used by atheists as well.
Valorizing language is silly. I remember in like 5th grade they moved the goal posts on us and made 'sucks' a 'bad word'. I was so thoroughly confused. How did a previously okay word become bad? They're tools in a box. They aren't inherently good or bad - the intent and meaning created by them are what matters. I similarly think it should be impossible for a word to offend someone. I think it's possible for meaning t…
> I similarly think it should be impossible for a word to offend someone. I think it's possible for meaning to offend and really only if you respect the person enough to provide some weight to that meaning. This strikes me as curious, as offense is a feeling, and thus not much "thinking" must be involved. If by 'should be impossible' you mean everyone should not allow themselves to be offended, that is a very differe…
I find it funny an article on swearing is going to be discussed on a site where the general users will deride you and hold you as unprofessional for swearing on it. Perhaps we should have an article on the healing power of humour next.
While HN is publicly searchable I don't imagine many people will swear. It's not only the users here that could read them; it's anyone who Googles your username.
See also: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=fuck&sort=byPopularity&prefix=....
Swearing is like putting a spice on your sentence. Overdo it and you'll come across too bold and brash. Use is carelessly for anything and it loses its significance. But use it just on things that deserve emphasis, and it shines in a pretty good way.
Stephen Fry, whose intellect and vocabulary are way beyond mine, on swearing. The bleeping on the second video is so deliciously germane. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_osQvkeNRM [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ0Ny6WhfLU