Is SWEARING part of the English Language???

[Arthur Little]

If we were to examine Sars' question in its literal context ... "Is SWEARING part of the English Language?" ... then what would the correct answer be? Whether we like to admit to it or not, I daresay there are very few [if any!] Brits who haven't, at some point in their lives, sworn - uttering the odd "oath" or - (and I'm certainly no exception!).

Going back to when I was at school ... from 1949 to 1961 ... I seem to recall none of the Etymological English Dictionaries - with which we were issued - ever containing words that were then considered rude. (Not that it stopped us using them - for sheer devilment if nothing else!). But times changed radically over the intervening decades since ... so that nowadays virtually all reputable dictionaries define words that leave practically nothing to the imagination. And rightly so! And while I'm not condoning the toleration of *foul language to the extent where nowadays every second word that trips off the tongue appears to be a swear word, *its use (in a modified sense) can prove beneficial - even therapeutic - in appropriate circumstances, e.g. as an outlet for extreme anger or frustration.

[raynaputi]

saying things that fred pointed out (ie thank you, sorry, please, etc.), you would usually hear it depends on how the person is brought up. it's not a matter of if filipinos know when to say it but it's the person's attitude. the moment the kid can understand it's meaning (some as early as 2yrs old) it's been taught to them. thats what we did when we taught my nephew before about it. so if someone dont give a damn about these values then you'll rarely hear it from them. it's their upbringing.

about the swearing, i think it's how someone takes it. i used to swear a lot when i was in college coz me and my friends take it as a joke..but of course we dont swear when we're with other people. this changed when i started working coz i have to be professional. eventhough i still use some of them, rarely though, it still depends who i'm with.

[Arthur Little]

.

it still depends who i'm with.

... and I think that's the point! A lot does - or should - depend on the company we are in ... although, I have to admit to resorting to a few "naughty" words in front of my minister of all people ... during my three and a half years as his *Church Officer - *NOT an easy job when you're at the beck and call of every "Tom, Dick & Harry" in a large congregation!

[gWaPito]

I thought it was I, who brought about the ' please thank you and the pardon' bit Never mind. I think you are right Lady mod, its to do with upbringing. If the parents aren't going to say it, how does one expect the children to say it. The swearing bit, I too agree with Lady mod, if its a bunch of guys mates work mates then, of course it all fair game. I was meaning in front of women and kids in general. My cousins or, rather a couple of them, in there early 30's started swearing in front of my Mum on Christmas day It turn't my skin, I can tell you. I didnt say anything, my fellow siblings where expecting me to go off on one, i didnt of course, getting older has its good points, getting mellow!

[raynaputi]

yeah me and my siblings too cant swear in front of my parents and the old folks..eventhough these folks do it in front of us sometimes, we cant do the same coz we still respect them. we have to be careful too when kids are with us. and we just have to continuously remind the kids that whatever swearing they hear from other people aren't good.

[Terpe]

Rant warning.

Wherever you stand on swearing, it is, unfortunately, part of life in UK for many people.
It appears to cut across age, cultural and class barriers.

So why do I sometimes get wound up about foul language in public?
Well, it's because of the kind of mindless swearing I hear around me every day. Rightly or wrongly, to me it represent a discourtesy, a lack of vocabulary skills and almost a form of environmental pollution.

It seems that for every person, like me, who dislikes public swearing there is always someone else who views it as a modern, creative liberating force.

Should I should just chill out, relax and accept cursing as just another means of self-expression?

After all cursing has been part of the heritage of English literature for centuries.
Chaucer and Shakespeare, for example, were both enthusiastic blasphemers.
The religious swear words they used have now given way to the sexual ones use today.
Their popularity also driven once again, by writers, such as DH Lawrence or Dylan Thomas.

So is it an art form, a modern creative liberating force, a badge of social acceptability or merely the last refuge of the ignorant and linguistically challenged.

To be honest, anyone can punctuate their phrases with a few 'F' words. But I think it actually takes a connoisseur to make it both interesting and a statement of their individual personality. Unlike the prolific cursing and dumbing down of the linguistically tedious Gordon Ramsay, and many British comedians.

when it comes to swearing – context is everything.

No matter how liberated you are, I'm sure you don't want to stand at a supermarket check-out and hear the assistant shout: "Can you give me a price on this f***ing bread? I can't find a f***ing bar code."
It just doesn't sound right. Does it??

Or at work to be told "sorry I'm f***ing late, but the f***ing alarm didn't f***ing go off and the f***ing bus was f***ing late,"
Would feel anything?

[Tawi2]

F*ck
one of the most interesting words in the English language today is the word F*ck
Out of all the English words that begin with the letter F, F*ck is the only word referred to as The F word.
It's the one magical word that just by its sound can describe pain, pleasure, hate and love.
F*ck, as most words in the English language, is derived from German.
The word Flicken which means To strike.
In English, F*ck falls into many grammatical categories.
As a transitive verb for instance, John f*cked Shirley, as an intransitive verb, Shirley f*cks.
It's meaning is not always sexual.
It can be used as an adjective such as, John's doing all the f*cking work.
As part of an adverb, Shirley talks too f*cking much.
As an adverb enhancing an adjective, Shirley is f*cking beautiful.
As the object of an adverb, Shirley is f*cking beautifully.
As a noun: I don't give a f*ck.
As part of a word: Abso-f*cking-lutly� or In-f*cking-credible.�
And as almost every work in a sentence: F*ck the f*cking f*ckers.
As you may realize, there are very few words with the versatility of F*ck.
As in these examples describing situations such as,
Fraud: I got f*cked at the used car lot.
Dismay: Aww, f*ck it, Trouble: I guess I'm really f*cked now.
Aggression: Don't f*ck with me buddy.
Difficulty: I don't understand this f*cking question.
Inquiry: Who the f*ck was that.
Dissatisfaction: I don't like what the f*ck is going on here.
Incompetence: He's a f*ck off.
Dismissal: Why don't...

[gWaPito]

Nice one Terpe, I will give you a rep for that when I get to my home pc. Sorry Fred I have to agree with Terpe. As for the 'F' I find its at its most magical said in bed by your wife, while in the heat of passion, with the word, 'ME' on the end of it!

[JimOttley]

Sorry Jim I will have to disagree with you on that one. I dont think for one moment they are using there Tagalog versions. Fred's is spot on again. He does live there, after all.

That is not my general experience of the people over there gwap, I have found most checkout girls, restaurant staff and workers in general to be very polite, if I buy from a street vendor I almost always get a salamat po or salamat ho if the person selling is a bit older than me.

Now queueing etiquette is poor and "excuse me" is something I rarely hear over there.

Filipino's I have worked with here in the UK were excruciatingly polite to the point that it was embarrassing sometimes.

Again in my experience if I help someone out over there it is rare that I don't get a kind word in return.

Maybe my experience is atypical but I have spent over 400 days there out of the last 6 years.

[fred]

No matter how liberated you are, I'm sure you don't want to stand at a supermarket check-out and hear the assistant shout: "Can you give me a price on this f***ing bread? I can't find a f***ing bar code."
It just doesn't sound right. Does it??

Or at work to be told "sorry I'm f***ing late, but the f***ing alarm didn't f***ing go off and the f***ing bus was f***ing late,"
Would feel anything?

Thanks for that Terpe!! Made me laugh so much I spilt my tea and split my sides!! Great stuff!

[fred]

F*ck
one of the most interesting words in the English language today is the word F*ck
Out of all the English words that begin with the letter F, F*ck is the only word referred to as The F word.
It's the one magical word that just by its sound can describe pain, pleasure, hate and love.
F*ck, as most words in the English language, is derived from German.
The word Flicken which means To strike.
In English, F*ck falls into many grammatical categories.
As a transitive verb for instance, John f*cked Shirley, as an intransitive verb, Shirley f*cks.
It's meaning is not always sexual.
It can be used as an adjective such as, John's doing all the f*cking work.
As part of an adverb, Shirley talks too f*cking much.
As an adverb enhancing an adjective, Shirley is f*cking beautiful.
As the object of an adverb, Shirley is f*cking beautifully.
As a noun: I don't give a f*ck.
As part of a word: Abso-f*cking-lutly� or In-f*cking-credible.�
And as almost every work in a sentence: F*ck the f*cking f*ckers.
As you may realize, there are very few words with the versatility of F*ck.
As in these examples describing situations such as,
Fraud: I got f*cked at the used car lot.
Dismay: Aww, f*ck it, Trouble: I guess I'm really f*cked now.
Aggression: Don't f*ck with me buddy.
Difficulty: I don't understand this f*cking question.
Inquiry: Who the f*ck was that.
Dissatisfaction: I don't like what the f*ck is going on here.
Incompetence: He's a f*ck off.
Dismissal: Why don't...

Tawi.. Apparently you are not allowed to circumvent the swear filter!!
(Dont make me edit that lot!! It`ll take me all ******* day..You do it!)

[keithAngel]

Excellent Tawi i will show that to Jhean so she can see my command of the f word is awesome

[sars_notd_virus]

thank you guys for the good and more confusing opinions!!

In relation to my thread as far as I can read all your views..the nature/nurture has been a long debate for ages...for me, its not the nature (environment) that allows the human to be what he is..its nurture(care/genes/innate qualities) that makes a person who he is or who he comes out to be.

In nature there is ofcourse aggression, but where swearing is more prevalant in the nurture I guess it will carry through.

[gWaPito]

Hi Jim Im refering to your post 39. Im not doubting you for one minute! Like Fred said, 'in Manila the Malls have improved but not in Bohol' What I have experienced is the opposite of what you have. Jim, you will have to tell us your secret. Is it smiling more?, please do tell us Jim.

[JimOttley]

Hi Jim Im refering to your post 39. Im not doubting you for one minute! Like Fred said, 'in Manila the Malls have improved but not in Bohol' What I have experienced is the opposite of what you have. Jim, you will have to tell us your secret. Is it smiling more?, please do tell us Jim.

Fair enough, I can't comment on the southern islands we've only been down that way a couple of times.

I'm not really talking about just the malls, it's something I have found generally in my travels round Luzon and yes I do tend to smile a lot but it also helps a lot that Ana is great conversationalist

Our son James was also often with us and he is and was very very cute maybe that helped melt the ice on a lot of occasions I don't know it's just what I experienced.

[Sim11UK]

Jim I would agree with you, I've found most people to be polite...I'm talking down on Mindanao now.
...Probably true, about check out girls, being miserable when you're buying groceries, but they are here too, so it's probably a worldwide phenomenon?

What I don't much like in the Phils is instead of saying excuse me, they say 'scuse & push through...Just a British thing I guess?

...As for swearing, yeah why not...not blatant, but just as a release valve.

[fred]

In nature there is ofcourse aggression, but where swearing is more prevalant in the nurture I guess it will carry through.

I never ever heard my parents swear so there goes that theory!!

[JimOttley]

What I don't much like in the Phils is instead of saying excuse me, they say 'scuse & push through...Just a British thing I guess?

...As for swearing, yeah why not...not blatant, but just as a release valve.

Yeah queue etiquette is a British thing I guess

As for swearing, well if I ever accidentally swear during an argument with Ana it's instant Tampo and usually lasts a week or so I try not to swear where possible but as you say as a release valve it can be useful.

[Arthur Little]

Jim I would agree with you, I've found most people to be polite...I'm talking down on Mindanao now.

... my own view IS, they could teach the British a thing or two about manners and politeness in general.

...As for swearing, yeah why not...not blatant, but just as a release valve.

... my point exactly!

[gWaPito]

Good post Steve L. I grew up watching the late 60's 70's tv. Man from Uncle, Kojak and Starsky and Hutch was about American I watched, pretty tame to todays fare! I agree Steve L The UK has gone to pot Never to be the same again.

[grahamw48]

**** !

[fred]

my own view IS, they could teach the British a thing or two about manners and politeness in general.

Im sorry Arthur but I completely disagree.

[Arthur Little]

Im sorry Arthur but I completely disagree.

Again ... this opinion of mine is based on how I - like Simon - found the folk down in Mindanao.

[marlyn&kenny]

Ok,so we have a couple of swear words in the Philippines that we use when we are very angry but here In England I have noticed, you have a multitude of swear words and they are used for every occassion, Anger, Pleasure, Happiness, Sadness ...

Is this just normal?? or am I in the wrong crowd as i find myself starting to use it more frequently now as well

Oh yes mari!!! this is very NORMAL to them hahaha..... i always try to stop my hubby swearing you know but it just hard for them coz they are used to it....
and they got lot of franks huh?!!

[fred]

Again ... this opinion of mine is based on how I - like Simon - found the folk down in Mindanao.

I realise that Arthur...
But I still completely disagree!!
We are allowed to do that sometimes..

[Arthur Little]

I realise that Arthur...
But I still completely disagree!!
We are allowed to do that sometimes..

... to disagree!

[sophiamarie]

For me it is always like, "you tend to do and say what you always hear & see"...so its the upbringing that has a lot to do with who you are in the end!

[sophiamarie]

In relation to my thread as far as I can read all your views..the nature/nurture has been a long debate for ages...for me, its not the nature (environment) that allows the human to be what he is..its nurture(care/genes/innate qualities) that makes a person who he is or who he comes out to be.

I completely agree with you!...thumbs up great one!

[sophiamarie]

Hi Jim, my husband feels the same way too...I have sympathy for him as it irritates me too, which sometimes ruins your shopping day!...

[fred]

I parked in a disabled car parking space today. I got out of the car and there is traffic warden there immediately telling me i'm not disabled. I shouted "I've got Tourettes you **** now **** off"