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This. People who swear do it so frequently it looses the power. It shows a lack of vocabulary more than any sort of moral failing. If you only swear rarely you

This. People who swear do it so frequently it looses the power. It shows a lack of vocabulary more than any sort of moral failing. If you only swear rarely you get a lot more impact when you do, vs. the person who cannot avoid every 3rd word being a blue one. Also, there are some truly eloquent swears out there!

GuB-42 6y ago
TV Tropes has an article on that: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PrecisionFStrike https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PrecisionFStrike Contrast: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClusterFBomb https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClusterFBomb
umvi 6y ago
Words are vulgar because they are overused. It's the original definition of "vulgar" - "characteristic of or belonging to the masses." Hence, it became taboo for the upper classes to utter vulgarities, because it signaled lack of learning.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
Yup, some people swear so much it becomes a stop- or filler word, padding out a sentence unnecessarily. I mean you could insert a variation of "fuck" half a dozen times in the above sentence and it would add nothing of value to it.
- mtrower 6y ago
  Emphasis. Am I suggesting you should do this with all your sentences? Absolutely not. However, I would certainly not read the two sentences the same. (Food for thought: spices do not generally add nutritional value to food. Yet, each has their own preference as to whether, and how heavily their food should be spiced.)
mtrower 6y ago
> It shows a lack of vocabulary more than any sort of moral failing. Here, now, I call nonsense on that one. I (probably?) swear more than most of my friends in private, casual communication circles. I also have a much greater vocabulary than any of them (this is not hubris --- I'm frequently told to explain words I use; I chalk this up to being better-read throughout my life). It just doesn't follow that because a person favors certain words, that they must not understand or feel comfortable with others.

GuB-42 6y ago

TV Tropes has an article on that: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PrecisionFStrike https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PrecisionFStrike Contrast: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClusterFBomb https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClusterFBomb

umvi 6y ago

Words are vulgar because they are overused. It's the original definition of "vulgar" - "characteristic of or belonging to the masses." Hence, it became taboo for the upper classes to utter vulgarities, because it signaled lack of learning.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago

Yup, some people swear so much it becomes a stop- or filler word, padding out a sentence unnecessarily. I mean you could insert a variation of "fuck" half a dozen times in the above sentence and it would add nothing of value to it.

mtrower 6y ago
Emphasis. Am I suggesting you should do this with all your sentences? Absolutely not. However, I would certainly not read the two sentences the same. (Food for thought: spices do not generally add nutritional value to food. Yet, each has their own preference as to whether, and how heavily their food should be spiced.)

mtrower 6y ago

> It shows a lack of vocabulary more than any sort of moral failing. Here, now, I call nonsense on that one. I (probably?) swear more than most of my friends in private, casual communication circles. I also have a much greater vocabulary than any of them (this is not hubris --- I'm frequently told to explain words I use; I chalk this up to being better-read throughout my life). It just doesn't follow that because a person favors certain words, that they must not understand or feel comfortable with others.