Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Taboo and Swear words


My post is based on a chapter from David Crystal Encyclopedia. It is about taboo and swear words in English. Before starting, I would like to apologize, for using some taboo and swearing words in order to make my post more descriptive.
Taboo language comprise a special category of words, which people avoid using in polite society, either they feel them harmful or feel them embarrassing or offensive. According to David Crystal Encyclopedia there are hundreds of taboo words and phrases, but the semantic range of referents that are considered taboo is limited in scope. They represent a specific category of taboo for example we should avoid using taboo words when talking about sexual acts and its consequences, body parts, serious health issues like cancer, death and dying and religion.
The offensiveness of the words depend on the context, as one word in one context can be a taboo but in another case it can be used without displeasing anyone. There are several ways of avoiding a taboo item.

In older writing the taboo words were part-spelled (f__k, bl__). Now, everyday method is to express the taboo topic in a vague or indirect way, which is called euphemism. For example, fall asleep (die), after a long illness (cancer), adult video (pornography), tired and emotional (drunk). Words that are taboo in one locale can be acceptable in another. In the 1830s the words like corset, shirt, leg and woman were taboo, while in Britain they weren't. Woman was considered to be addressed only to lower or less refined classes of female human-kind (An introduction to language, Fromkin, Rodman, Hyams,2007). This shows that taboos change over time. Now woman and other taboo words of that time are acceptable and are used in America.
The language of taboo, the language of abuse (invective), and the language of swearing sometimes may overlap and coincide. For example, to call someone shit is to use a taboo word as a term of abuse, and if it is said with emotional force it may be considered as an act of swearing. But this is not true for all cases. There are certain differences between these three types of language. For example, wimp is a term of abuse which is neither a taboo word nor a swear word.

And Heck is a swear word which is neither a taboo nor a invective. Thus, we may conclude, that swearing is an emotive outburst, which gives relief and relaxation. A lot of swearings do not have any meaning. They are used only to express wide range rather than making sense (e.g. fucking hell). It is important to mention that swearing reduces stress: those who swear suffer less from stress than those who do not (After H.E. Ross, 1960).
After reading this chapter and during writing this post I started to think about my health. I don't use such words, but maybe it's time to start using some. Maybe in future the stress will accumulate in me and cause some health problems? Please, leave feedback, as I am very interested in your opinion.

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