Who actually decided that a word would be a “curse word”? I mean, anybody can make up a word and say “it’s a swear word.” Who invented these words? Why are they taken to be bad? Who ever said that the middle finger meant “f you”? There must be some explanation out there…
Here are some links that are relevant:
What’s the origin of “the finger”?
What’s the origin of the “F” word?
The Straight Dope is searchable and very comprehensive - sometimes questions have already been answered. It’s just a matter of finding the right search terms.
Yeah, but what about other words? I mean, who decided that those would be considered swear words? It just seems like someone just decided that they would make them swear words. Why isn’t butter a swear word?
Do any of these questions get at what you’re wondering –
Are there languages in which there are no “taboo” words?
Are there languages in which words that we would consider innocuous are taboo?
Are there languages in which words we would consider taboo are innocuous?
ascenray, I don’t know about other languages but even within English there are discrepancies.
Consider the name Randy - the Brits interpret this as meaning ‘sexually aroused’ not an innocuous name.
Rubber = eraser. Asking for a rubber in the states may raise some eyebrows.
Fag = cigarette. Again, this might get you into trouble, particularly if you ask to bum one.
Fanny is not your ass in the UK and men don’t have one.
I think this answers your second two questions.
Because nobody gets upset when you say “butter”. If enough people got upset, that would make it a swear word. Try saying “I’m gonna smear butter up you before I fist you to the elbow”. People may get upset about the idea, but not the words themselves.
There’s no General Committee for Words that Will Mean What We Say they Mean From Now On. Why would you think otherwise?
Thanks, quicken, I was aware of all those examples, but I don’t think that they really get to the heart of the matter.
Perhaps, I should have been more specific, but I think the issue that the OP has brought up – and it’s a reasonably interesting one – is really about the concept of offensive words.
Why does English have taboo words? How did the concept of taboo words develop? Does this concept exist in all cultures? If not, what might be the reasons for one culture having taboo words and another one not?
What makes a word taboo? How does it come to be that a particular word is considered offensive?
It doesn’t just have to do with the meaning of the word – consider – sexual intercourse, coitus, mating, vulva, fellatio, defecate, urinate, breasts, penis – these are all exact synonyms for English’s worst words.
And it doesn’t just have to do with the word qua word – consider – cock, pussy, ass, bitch, hell, damn, screw, nuts, weiner – all these words can be consider perfectly ordinary, reasonable, acceptable words depending on a particular meaning.
Or as George Carlin once said, “Even in a Disney movie, you can say, ‘We’re going to snatch that pussy and put it in a box.’”
I’m just saying, why do people get offended at these words? I mean, who exactly said “shit” was offensive? Someone somewhere had to say, “Hey, this word is offensive and should only be used as a cuss word, not a word of everyday usage.” Or am I just imagining that’s what happened, because it had to start somewhere.
This thread asks pretty much what you’re asking. Don’t forget that the message board is also searchable.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=129362
Just to paraphrase the thread I linked to above, almost all curse words are associated in literal meaning with either sex or some sort of bodily evacuation. No one decided that “shit” should be offensive; they just used it that way. People picked up on it and perpetuated it. Because “shit” has no meaning beyond referring to excrement, it is only used when someone wants to be offensive, and after awhile we stopped needing context clues to be offended by it. For this reason, we can now say “Fuck.” and “Shit.” and people will know we are cursing. Other more milder curse words (such as “screw” or “bang”) refer to the aforementioned taboo subjects, but since they still retain their original meaning we need context to realize they are meant to be offensive. (“Screw.” or “Bang.” gets you nowhere.)