F@#$! Broke My Pencil!

Now, I don't know about a lot of you, but I personally swear like a freaking sailor (though I'm toning down the swearing significantly due to my respect towards the others in this class who may not like curse words). Since I was a child, swearing has been totally off limits. If I so much as uttered "damn" under my breath, my parents would lovingly plop my butt in the bathroom and gently wash my mouth out with soap. The thing though is that, swearing is as much a part of language as asking for directions.



It doesn't matter what language you look at, they all have swear words. I know for a fact that there are a lot of high school kids whose main interest in foreign languages is to learn all of the curse words and the best way to cuss someone out. What is it about cursing that's so bad though? Aren't they just words, after all? The subject has intrigued me (and led to several arguments at the dinner table) since I could actually understand what those words I had heard on the playground meant.



The video goes into a little bit of detail about the history of swear words and how they've changed over the years. Some swears disappear while others become more prominent. In my own lifetime, I've seen the death of some swears (words that are no longer considered "bad" or "vulgar") as well as the rise of some others (which even I won't use). Why is it that language changes in these ways? I wish that the article had gone a bit deeper into the subject, but alas! I shall be left to wonder! Or I can use my curiosity about the subject to go and do further research!



Another thing that the video goes into that makes me chuckle is how swearing actually makes us feel better. How is it that by yelling a few choice words into the sky will accomplish some form of pain relief? Yet we've all done it; whether it be when we broke a bone, or at 3 am when your pinky-toe decides to make sweet love with the corner of the door. Cursing feels good! If the world were more accepting of cursing (instead of shielding their children's ears when someone trips over the air and scuffs their leg) wouldn't it eradicate the usage of curse words anyways? It's these questions that keep me up at night, but that's besides the point! The point is, if we as a society were more accepting of cursing, perhaps it wouldn't be used as much by curious children.



Anyways! Enough of my rambling about the oddities of swearing! I believe that I covered most of the topics we were supposed to focus on (a bit jumbled and out of order, but it's all there)! So, I believe I shall leave you with this... Signing off!