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Monday, April 21st, 2008 08:32 pm
Okay, history question: has swearing always carried a social stigma? (Bearing in mind the usual class-related caveats, of course.)
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Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 02:09 am (UTC)
Define 'always'...
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 02:14 am (UTC)
Good question!

"For a long enough period (and/or a large enough percentage of periods for which we have sufficient records to judge) of historical time that it is reasonable to extrapolate as far backwards as early agricultural societies."
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 12:18 pm (UTC)
I would probably say yes. And, in my personal opinion, rightly so. Swearing made common cheapens the language, and reduces its effectiveness. Personally, I swear very rarely, so that when I do, people notice. For example: a young female co-worker back at Dominos, who had quite a foul mouth, whirled around in shock and nearly dropped what she was carrying the first time she heard me swear, after three years of working together.

Compare that to people who pepper their speech with curses, to the point that they fade out as mental static.

Hallan
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 09:27 pm (UTC)
Yeah, I can agree with that.