Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Blankety blank blank bleep!
Swear words don't offend me.
Even though I rarely use curse words myself, my indifference is something that has long been true, and that I have noticed before. In fact, the last time I remember being distinctly shocked or offended by a swear word was in the sixth grade when I first heard the uncensored version of Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know". At that time I was attending Catholic school and associating with a group of girls who were, for the most part, as innocent and "good" as I was. That summer, however, I spent most of my time clinging to the fringes of a cooler, older crowd and crushing on a geeky (but still cooler and older) eighth-grader. That's probably the point when I became officially desensitized to the cruder aspects of the English language.
It's in more recent years, though, that I have noticed the tendency of people, especially those of my generation, to needlessly saturate their language (both spoken and written) with a variety of curse words. It still doesn't offend me, but I have to wonder, what is the point?
I understand the tradition of crude, rude, and taboo language: it's wholly informal and often perceived as more "real" or down-to-earth, part of the language of everyday people. Those who don't "deign" to speak it may be seen as haughty or goody-goody. Through these perceptions, foul language also develops a certain emphasis, as versatile utterances that can be used to stress a point; to express rage, frustration, or other great emotion; and to shock the reader/listener. I have something of a respect for the role and function of swear words, especially as emphatic language.
But with the current trend of over-use, foul language is losing its emphasis and shock-value. I hear and see curse words used as filler words, or as catch-all adjectives. Such words are euphemistically known as "colorful language" -- but I don't think this description really applies any longer. As people become more and more desensitized to it, its color fades, and its emphatic role disappears as well.
Swear words are still considered "foul", for the most part -- but much less so than in the recent past. One wonders whether this will eventually lead to an overall acceptance of what is currently considered foul language, and if a new set of taboo words and phrases will emerge.
On a tangential note, I think language needs a new subdivision. Before the Internet, language could be divided into oral and written. I think now it should be divided into oral, written, and online. Online language is an interesting phenomenon; one wonders whether it shouldn't be considered a dialect of sorts -- a virtual dialect for a virtual place. And with the instant message, I think the pattern of language is something of a combination of oral and written usages; many people will IM just as they talk, and can possibly make a tactless faux pas if they don't "think before they type". But you can also premeditate a reply before hitting the "send" button, and so in those instances the language tends to follow written conventions -- and so online language is often a hybrid.
Hm. Two serious posts in a row. This must be a Time of Profundity for the blog...
| 7:38 PM |
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