The Power of Swearing: Has It Lost Its Effect?

The best way to describe these two schools is through the use of examples. If we take the traditionally insulting word nigger we can show where the two thoughts separate. Now it is a given that unless you're Quentin Tarantino (his famous "dead nigger storage" line in his film Pulp Fiction did not result in any negative press) the use by a white person of the word nigger to describe a person of African descent in the company of this race of people would cause great offense. It is not true that within the group itself, as a general social rule, the word will cause any offense. Fellow black people call each other nigger or offshoots of the word (nigga etc.) in social occasions frequently. They have absorbed the word into their colloquial speech.

The first school of thought argues that this circumstance is a positive advance. The word has no power to degrade or stigmatize. By absorbing this word into black culture it has lost its power to offend. It has become a simile for friend. It is a word of inclusion into a group. When one black person calls another nigger he is stating that the person is not only a friend but also a member of the brotherhood of the black race. White people do not call each other nigger as a general rule. They are on the outside.

The second school of thought argues this absorption is a negative development. Offensive words such as nigger are offensive for a good reason. Although they can offend they also place a line between what is proper and not. Using these words should identify you as a person of low character. With the word nigger, they argue that the absorption has lowered the character of black people. Instead of being offended by the word whether spoken by a white person or black, they have internalized its meaning into their collective consciousness becoming in a small part what the original recipients of the insult hated about the word in the first place.

We see these two schools of thought appear in many areas other than black culture. The woman's movement, gay rights movement, and many other groups have taken traditionally offensive words and absorbed them into the culture. Dyke, fag, slut, and other words have lost their power to offend within theses groups and outside of them.

The absorption of taboo words has occurred in the general population as well. The only area where this penetration has not taken root is in the political sphere. You may hear the occasional outburst, but the negative career ramifications for any politician bringing traditionally taboo words into their speeches and interviews continues to be numerous. Other areas do not hold on to this tradition of verbal etiquette.

If we are to review the entirety of taboo words in the English language and show how some have lost their significance and ability to offend, it would take an amount of space not consistent with an article of this size. But taking the more popular ones should suffice as proof that many have become mainstream additions to the regular speech patterns for most North Americans.

Swearing - Page 1 | Swearing - Page 3

Article by:
FS Staff

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