No No Words

Image from Dimitri Otis for GettyImages

As much as some would hate to admit, swearing is part of how people communicate in everyday life, most likely to communicate some strong emotion. But weren’t we all taught, in one way or another, at an early age that these same words were too… bad… to say? Well, why are these words considered bad, and are these reasons valid? (And yes, this article will keep it PG)

First, why do we laugh, gulp, or start yelling whenever somebody pulls one of these words out of their back pocket? Well it’s pretty simple: we were taught to by adults, that cool kid in Pre-K, TheAtlanticCraft, etc. As we mature, those rules mature with us, which is why “gadzooks” would have stripped this article of its PG-rating in the 1700s, while we today just find the word mildly funny. But a good rule of thumb to follow is that most swear words will describe what happens in your average bedroom, bathroom, or church, or they’re just slurs, which do count as swear words.

So, swearing is a social construct, but is it actually bad for you to swear? A common concern is that little kids won’t be able to develop a good, robust vocabulary if they start swearing at an early age, but it appears that the opposite might be true, which I find absolutely hilarious for all the wrong reasons. To be clear, this is not to say that kids swearing will lead to them understanding Hamlet in sophomore year, but just that kids that swear a lot tend to have a larger vocabulary, or that it’s a correlation rather than a causation, for our beloved Seminar folk. (Source)

And this doesn’t mean to start showing kids episodes of The Wire either, since swearing used in a negative context, such as calling someone a slur, will harm children, as negative thoughts have a tendency to do.

On a more positive note, there is evidence to suggest that swearing while in pain actually boosts a person’s pain tolerance, especially if that person doesn’t swear much normally. (Source)

So, swear words are bad only because we think they are, and while there’s nothing absolutely dreadful about saying them to each other, we should probably avoid cussing around toddlers, and just let them learn these words on their own. Swearing is a part of language like anything else. So go out there and mind your context, ladies and gentlemen.

By: Kevin Cho

Sources:

Buonadonna, Carl. Personal Interview. 12 May 2022.

Click to access swearingPain.pdf