Comments on: Word

By: Queen Bee

Queen Bee — Fri, 02 May 2008 02:00:18 +0000

[quote comment="159234"]To be honest, the only words that offend me are G.D. and J.C…Everything else is…whatever. Just words. I can’t say that I don’t swear…I just think that in public it sounds uneducated. I also can’t stand when people use the F word like a filler. Although, I did hear a man tell Bible stories using the F word as a filler…He really got his point across and he was a very faith filled man![/quote]

I agree, this is where I have the biggest issues with profanity. Swearing in general though doesn’t cause me a great deal of distress (unless my children are subjected to it).

By: Jojo

Jojo — Thu, 01 May 2008 23:52:00 +0000

Awesome Post! I really enjoyed it.

By: Queen Bee

Queen Bee — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:30:43 +0000

Wonderful piece Rita! I don’t take to swearing regularly myself (mostly in response to high levels of pain, although ironically never during childbirth LOL!). I do think you have made some solid, valid, points here, and I would bet your writing class was incredibly inspiring. I do wonder though….am I crass for adjusting my bra in public because I try to tug discreetly LMAO! Thanks for a great read!

By: smja2a

smja2a — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:30:28 +0000

To be honest, the only words that offend me are G.D. and J.C…Everything else is…whatever. Just words. I can’t say that I don’t swear…I just think that in public it sounds uneducated. I also can’t stand when people use the F word like a filler. Although, I did hear a man tell Bible stories using the F word as a filler…He really got his point across and he was a very faith filled man!

By: Friend

Friend — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:34:16 +0000

To each their own….word gymnastice to me….

By: Rita.

Rita. — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:26:56 +0000

[quote comment="159094"]The C word is very offensive to me because it’s always used in an offensive manner to insult women, it’s never used in a positive way, how can it be used in a positive way? It’s an insult plain and simple. I can’t see me using it as another term for women “hey C, how are you doing today?”. Doesn’t work for me. People swear too much nowadays, I can’t stand being somewhere, library, football game, whatever and feeling like I need to explain to my kids “this is not how you should talk, this is not how I want you to grow up and behave in public”. They hear it everywhere they go, I don’t want them to think it’s ok.[/quote]

1) Which is actually addressing the second point, lol–Yeah, people who swear all over the place like that are just being rude. It’s just bad manners. I mean, there is proper public behavior, a standard we hold ourselves to. It’s not OK to fart, burp, scratch yourself or rearrange your bra out in public and it’s not OK to use certain language in situations where the is mixed company, either. I do swear in front of my kids, but not other people’s kids. And, I don’t go around assuming that just because someone is over 18, it’s OK to use whatever language I feel like in any context.

2) Oh, that word! Yes, it’s insulting. Yes, it’s an insult to part of the female anatomy. But, so are “prick” and “dick” insulting to a man’s anatomy. Asshole is just genderless, which is why it’s a favorite on everyone’s list. I don’t find “cunt” to be any more or less of a word than those are, and they don’t get hardly any raised eyebrows at all. Cunt isn’t even a favorite of mine for that use, I prefer “twat,” it has a better ring to it, don’t you think? I just don’t find those terms to be woman-degrading really.

Now, words like “slut” and “skank” and “whore” I find to be totally misogynistic, because they insult an idea rather than a person. And they’re insulting ONLY to women (there is no real male equivalent). It’s taking the assumption that a woman who sleeps around is bad and that being called a woman who sleeps around is an insult. So, it’s not even the words that are offensive, it’s the mindset behind them, you know? I find those trappings to be a lot more troublesome than slinging out another word for a part of the anatomy.

But, that’s just me!

By: Allison J

Allison J — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:31:07 +0000

Rita, I LOVED your article!

I have a wonderful “trucker mouth” as my older sister and I call it. We also both happen to be teachers. Do we speak that way at school, hell no! Do I swear in front of parents or when in a professional setting, absolutely not! Do I regress to using a 5 year old’s vocabulary in front of my grandfather, yep!

But when in the company of friends (and for some reason, certain friends bring out the extreme-trucker in me), I speak how I want to. Maybe it is the writer in me — I use nearly every word in my arsenal to express my thoughts. I do however have 2 words that I deem horribly offensive and derogatory — and if I hear students use them they are in for a lengthy discussion with yours truly. Hypocritical, maybe. But as you said, I’m the adult!

By: Kristy

Kristy — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:29:42 +0000

A-fucking-men!

By: Ann Marie

Ann Marie — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:10:10 +0000

I enjoyed that Rita. Yes, I swear too but not to my kids or in front of them. And they better never to it do me or in front of me, out of respect for me. The C word is very offensive to me because it’s always used in an offensive manner to insult women, it’s never used in a positive way, how can it be used in a positive way? It’s an insult plain and simple. I can’t see me using it as another term for women “hey C, how are you doing today?”. Doesn’t work for me. People swear too much nowadays, I can’t stand being somewhere, library, football game, whatever and feeling like I need to explain to my kids “this is not how you should talk, this is not how I want you to grow up and behave in public”. They hear it everywhere they go, I don’t want them to think it’s ok.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:10:10 +0000

Beautifully worded!
I live in a state that makes up words for swearing.. isn’t it still swearing? Didn’t you mean the same thing? Who do you think your kidding? Its a word, with a meaning, an expression that sometimes no other word can fill!
As for the dreaded “C” word.. I have never been offended by it, and after the vagina monologs, I own the word its just another name for woman and I personally embrace it. Although I understand so many others do not see it this way!
Thank you!