# How did the concept of 'bad words' originate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530 "2001-10-20T01:03:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530/1 "2001-10-20T01:03:52Z")
Like George Carlin says in the Seven Words You Can’t Say On The Air routine, it does seem strange to quarantine a short list of words and phrases because they’re inherently bad by themselves. So how did swear words get to be swear words? Why is, say, “cunt” considered vulgar and “vulva” considered polite? (It was just an example - let’s please not get into that weird theory about “cunt” meaning “goddess” or whatever it is.) ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530/2 "2001-10-20T01:21:15Z")
Cunt vs. vulva. Shit vs. excrement. Dead vs. deceased. Piss vs. urine. What do the nice words have in common that the bad words don’t? They’re derived from Romance roots instead of Anglo-Saxon. The theory I was taught in college a long time ago (and which might be bullshit for all I know) was that after the Norman conquest of England, the upper classes all spoke French, so their words for things came to be considered more high class than the Anglo-Saxon words that the commoners used. This seems to be generally true for English, but it doesn’t explain why bad words exist in the first place, just why these particular words came to be taboo. What is it that makes people everywhere reflexively say forbidden words when they get mad? ---
**Author:** ![geepee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@geepee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geepee)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530/3 "2001-10-20T01:51:03Z")
I do know fuck is For Unclean Carnal Knowledge and originated out of religion , and words you can’t say on TV is fear that people will complain = bad , however when its on after 9pm its ok (recalls a story when this comedian on TV swore it was like you know \*\*\*\* \*\*\*\* \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* \*\*\*\* \*\*\*\* \*\*\*\*\* \*\*\*\* \*\*\*\* \*\*\*\* \*\*\*\*\* \*\*\*\*\* etc and a parent complained then he said well you are an irresponsible parent why’d you let you kid stay up till 11pm to watch my show? , which the parent promptly STFU) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530/4 "2001-10-20T02:02:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by geepee \* > I do know fuck is For Unclean Carnal Knowledge and originated out of religion… Snopes debunks this: [http://www.snopes.com/acronyms/fuck.htm](http://www.snopes.com/acronyms/fuck.htm) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530/5 "2001-10-20T02:06:02Z")
The link listed above seems to be outdated. Try this instead: [http://www.snopes2.com/language/acronyms/fuck.htm](http://www.snopes2.com/language/acronyms/fuck.htm) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530/6 "2001-10-20T02:59:30Z")
While we’re at it, I’m interested to know if “swear words” exist in all cultures and languages, especially ‘primitive’ cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530/7 "2001-10-20T06:02:58Z")
I assumed they did. I was asking how swear words got to be taboo in all languages. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530/8 "2001-10-20T11:50:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarlGauss \* > \*\*While we’re at it, I’m interested to know if “swear words” exist in all cultures and languages, especially ‘primitive’ cultures. \*\* I don’t know about _all_ languages, but I have a couple of links: [The Alternative Dictionaries](http://www.notam.uio.no/~hcholm/altlang/stat.html) (79 languages) [Canonical list of international swearing](http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:BZz2Pvdz98k:www.oraclehumor.com/TextIndex/HumorText/ListOfInternationalSwearing%22&hl=en) ---
**Author:** ![Cooper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Cooper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cooper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530/9 "2001-10-20T16:05:11Z")
If we take for granted that necessity is the mother of invention, then to find the cause of swear words we would first try to determine why they are necessary. I’m not sure I can argue that they are in fact necessary, but they are pretty useful. I’m sure it is not news to anyone that for almost any given pair of synonyms, there can be differences attributed to the two words in their connotation and typical context. The choice of one word over another can be a clue about the speaker’s frame of reference, and help to express the context of their phase in a way that the simple definition of the word would be unable to do. Perhaps it is no different with “swear words” - they simply fill a verbal niche that is small, but widely recognized. Sometimes swear words provide the most expedient means of expressing just how we feel about that fucking idiot that just cut me off to get on the exit ramp and nearly killed me. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2001, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-concept-of-bad-words-originate/88530/10 "2001-10-20T19:50:31Z")
The question as stated in the OP is asked [here](http://students.washington.edu/laurenem/fourletter.html) in the final paragraph, at least in relation to the phrase _Anglo-Saxon_. Sadly the piece doesn’t answer **Daowajan** ’s query and the reader is left with the impression that no source exists which can provide a satisfactory resolution. One of the cited works is _Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language, Oaths and Profanity In English_ by Geoffrey Hughes. Mr. Hughes is inclined to blame the Germans for the English habit of swearing. Without reading his work of reference, I suggest that English use of profanities as a result of German influence reached a high water mark in Mexico in 1970, when we surrendered a two goal lead and lost 3-2 after extra time.