(no subject)

[packbat]

Okay, history question: has swearing always carried a social stigma? (Bearing in mind the usual class-related caveats, of course.)

Comments

[feech.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, it's the class / race the word is coming from that creates cursing in the first place. The terms we use now that are considered gauche or brutish are Anglo-Saxon, and the more socially acceptable parallel terms are Norman. Only I don't know the source for the information I was given.

[packbat.livejournal.com]

Hmm ... regardless of the source, that hypothesis should be testable by examining the etymologies. Thanks!