The Anatomy of Swearing
Please be warned: this article is peppered…no…imbued with barely concealed profanity and vulgarity. Those of a sensitive disposition…please go elsewhere.
Swearing is one of those things that is encoded in our genes. It’s been here since the dawn of man. You can bet that Caveman Bo cursed the first time he accidentally kicked his foot against a rock. Of course swearing covers a whole lot more than just that, but that’s the bit that is really interesting for me. By that, I mean the act of saying “s**t!”, or any of the other choice words we might use when stuff goes wrong (or right even). Why use that word? Why not “daisy!” or “flower!” or “Lord love a duck!” (read that one in a P. G. Wodehouse book). What’s so special about the curse word in a particular scenario? What would happen if you yelled out “frog!” instead? What are the psychological implications? Does it even matter what word you use? Why are there curse words anyway?
Profanity stems from the word “profane”, which basically means something that is outside of the church. So, something profane back in the day would be something that was not allowed in the church. The church had a prominent role in civilized society back then (and now still?); so, a lot of what was considered as profanity at the time was anything that was offensive to religion (Christianity) e.g. blasphemy, taking the Lord’s name in vain…that sort of thing. As time went on, I suppose this gradually changed to mean anything that was not accepted as “decent”.
People cursed back then, as they do now, for a variety of reasons. There is cursing to abuse (f**king idiot); cursing as a response to some event (s**t, my husband came home early); cursing to add emphasis (that’s f**ing fantastic); cursing to attack (think “Charmed” and the Power of Three…and I didn’t watch the show, honest). Shakespeare was hugely popular at least to some extent because he had a dirty mouth. Almost all of his original works contain significant amounts of profanity…particularly of the religious kind. He took stuff that was sacred and violated it in clever ways. That is the way it was. Anything religious was fair game. Think of the word “bloody”…as in “that’s bloody great”, for instance. This word tracks back to the crucifixion of Christ. As you can imagine, swearing on Christ’s Blood was hugely offensive…so naturally people thought it would be a great way to express themselves.
All of this foul-mouthedness was concentrated around certain subjects. These include Religion (the original), Sexuality (the most fun), Race and other Human characteristics (the most offensive in present society). In the olden days, Religious “swears” where the absolute worst, because they were in defiance of God. It meant you were going to hell (this seemed to be what the people wanted, ‘cos most of them cursed anyway). However, we are seeing a shift now, and swears that are abusive to people are now regarded with much more negative sentiment. It’s probably a reflection, in some ways, of how much more secular society is becoming.
In any case, words like the aforementioned “bloody” no longer pack the punch they used to. That particular word, like some others, seems to have run out of steam sometime in the last century. This happens as times change; society evolves, people discover new things. However, some curse words have been around for ages, and they are still going strong. Ass and f**k both date back to the 16th Century. G. D. (can’t write this out properly on paper…still scared of going to Hell) follows closely. Heck, even b*tch was used back in 1400 (“a malicious, spiteful, promiscuous, or otherwise despicable woman”).
Staying power in some cases has much to do with the subject matter the curse word references. The human derriere seems to be an interesting subject for an alarming amount of people. And sex…well, ditto. Thus, such words have been supplying pain, ridicule and humor across the ages…and they are not about to stop now.
We are cursing more than ever today in response to…life. Adulthood is often marked by being able to curse without being berated by a teacher at school (which is why kids at 10 are adults in New York). For young ones, it’s another thing that adults do that they can as well. In groups or at work, it takes on another dimension. I remember working in a supermarket and feeling really left out because I couldn’t go in the smoking room when others (including the boss) did. I believed “deals” were brokered in there. And I’m not just being bitter about being passed on for a promotion for a guy who knew nothing, simply because he smoked with the managers. I’m not bitter at all. I did spend quite a while learning to smoke, sure that it would come in handy as a social tool…only to end up employed at a company where no one smokes. No one.
Still, being able to curse around people often implies a level of comfort. It’s almost akin to letting your hair down. Take a load off, pull up a chair, say s**t. It’s a way of identifying with the group. So, yes, it could mean a promotion is easier to come by if the boss “identifies” more with you than someone else. It could also be a badge that says you belong.
There’s guilt attached to it for some people. I use the term “heck” quite a bit in my writing…which is just a pseudo for Hell. Pseudos are a useful way to swear without really swearing. People come up with…interesting replacements. Shite or shoot for sh*t, darn for damn, BS for Bulls**t. There are those that think this sort of thing is pointless. They say “if you are going to curse, just do it already. Don’t cover it up. God knows what you were really trying to say. You are going to hell anyway”. Might as well go the distance. In some cases, the pseudo does actually end up being as bad as the original. Crap was a pseudo for s**t when it first came out…now it’s regarded almost the same.
But when it really comes down to it, nothing really beats a proper swear word to deliver the message clearly. Saying shite just isn’t as powerful as the real thing. Stuck in traffic and late for a flight; work project going all wrong; a major fight with your partner; money invested with Bernie Madoff…all of these seem to call for powerful expletives. Some studies have shown that cursing can increase endurance. It seems that humans are wired to swear, at least in such situations. The urge to swear in those circumstances comes from a primitive part of the brain…it’s instinctive. It might be somehow tied to emotions, thus the reason why it might help to reduce pain as well as just letting off steam.
It is so because, psychologically, it is a way of…de-stressing. To put it simply, it’s better for Tommy to swear loudly than for him to stab someone. Tommy has an idea what a curse means. This idea is shaped by perception of the word and the context of the application. When applied in the appropriate context, it’s sort of like therapy. The word, once uttered, triggers the appropriate response that means, you know, release of some sort.
So, it’s not just the act of voicing a word that implies anger, frustration, excitement etc. It’s actually THAT word in particular. This is why pseudos just don’t cut when it hits the fan. S**t wouldn’t be s**t if it was s**t, you see?
The other thing that was found (which might be a bummer for you folks that swear every time you trip over yourself) is that swearing seemed to help to dull the perception of pain in some groups more than others e.g. women more than men. They believe that this because men tend to swear more often than women, so the words aren’t just as effective. They have reduced punch because they are common place.
So swear (more when you slam your finger in the door, than when you lose a one dollar bet) and it could help you. Over do it and it loses it’s potency. Anything done in moderation…
All in all, as long as you don’t do it every two minutes, it would seem that it might not be such a bad thing.
The whole thing has one thinking though…could regular words we know today become curse words in future? Maybe a hundred years from now, someone will yell “fish!” when their toes are stepped on.
