Do bad words exist?

a pandora’s box you’ve opened methinks

“Damn” has a literal meaning. It means to consign to hell. That is an appropriate subject for a preacher to speak of in some religions.

When we say “damn,” it is normally short for “God damn (it, him, someone).” That means “May God consign him to hell.” It is a curse and is language that many consider to be out of bounds, calling upon God to send someone to the punishment of eternal damnation. Of course that is not what most of us are really saying when we spill our coffee and say “Damn!” But there’s a meaning behind the words, and the prohibition is tied to the meaning.

So that particular question is not really about “bad” words at all but about the meaning of the words.

When my kids were little, I didn’t tell them not to say “bad” words. I told them that they should not use any word until they both know what it means and know what the effect will be on others when they say it.

“Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, CockSucker, MotherFucker, and Tits”

We’ve had a number of bad words in my household. The only one I really remember is “duh.” My son said it over and over, and finally I had it. I banned the word from the house. Except each person could say it once a day. The other words were pretty much the same—words repeated so often that they became meaningless. There were there to annoy.

I have not forbidden my kids to say the seven words banned from television, according to Carlin. (I can never remember them—what is it? Shit, piss cunt, fuck, and I don’t remember the rest. I could google it, but it’s not that important). Ok, damn it! I had to look it up: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. I can hear him saying it in my head like a mantra. (Tits McGhee, you are banned from TV :()

Anyway, we never banned those words, but the kids think they are bad, anyway. They don’t like it when I say them. Also, my wife banned hell and damn, too. They love to find other ways to say hell: hades is used most often. Oh. I just looked up at uberbatman’s post. Shit! well, I started before him. As you know, I tend to be long-winded. Some people really don’t like that.

Anyway, to make a long story short, yes, there are bad words, but they aren’t the ones you think they are.

@uberbatman. Thank you for George Carlin’s answer. Just because you can’t say them on TV doesn’t really make them bad though, does it?

@toleostoy IMO there is no such thing as a bad word. We have the ability to decide what we find insulting or derogatory towards us as humans. Words only have as much power as you allow it to have and soon you’ll realize its just another fucking word, so who gives a shit.

Words aren’t bad. It is the whole emotionally charged meaning that we give them with intonation, gestures and expression that makes them “bad.” Hence my son’s ability to say “have a nice day” and turn it into an insult.

We don’t ban George Carlin’s seven words specifically from our household. What we attempt to ban is the attitude of disrespect towards others that saying those words can represent.

its the social connotation associated with the words that is frowned upon. if you can change society’s view of the words then alright.

Yes, and when they misbehave they should be sent to their rooms with no supper.

Sure they do along with many other bad categories that exist in life. Bad luck, Bad Company, Bad karma, Badminton, Bad asses, Bad blood, and many more.

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
—W. Shakespeare

My mom slapped me in the mouth once for saying “Buster”

LOOKY HERE BUSTER

Words are just a string of our own personalized grunts and clicks. It’s the ideas conveyed by these grunts and clicks that can be damaging.

I feel a human being has the right to say whatever they like but words like cu#t and the “N” word have devolped some powerful mojo over the years. Use them at your own risk.

While my kids were young, we had several ‘bad’ words that they were not allowed to use: Stupid, Shut-Up, and Butt were among them. There were absolutely indignant when they later found out that those words aren’t considered ‘bad’ by the general public. : )

@uberbatman That’s a Blink-182 song, isn’t it? :)

And we never thought they were bad words, considering they said “butt” on Jimmy Neutron, and Spongebob Squarepants, just as we knew the shows “Spongebob Squarepants” and “Rugrats” were not bad shows, even though you insisted they were and that we weren’t allowed to watch them!

Oh yeah, and my answer. :)

I think there really aren’t any bad words. If one day, someone decided “Dog” was a bad word, and told everyone, and they went along with it, “Dog” would become a bad word, like “bitch” but neither words are bad, we only conceive “bitch” as bad, God knows why, because it means the same thing. It’s all how society perceives it.

@mangeons it may have been one, but i was quoting carlin :)

Lol, yeah, I heard, but it is a Blink-182 song. ; )

Interesting related article: How Swearing Works

@MacBean Interesting stuff!

@uberbatman

George Carlin :)