It’s really interesting how many uses swearing can have.
It so much more than a way to be offensive and express
distain for others, in fact it can actually be a way of communicating positive
feelings to others which is interesting. Some trade professions have this
culture of swearing that is used to increase solidarity in work groups. I think
this is because it a language that they can take as their own. Also swearing
seems to also be an indicator of intimacy because it seems like you can only
swear in front of those you’re close with. So that could be another reason that
swearing is so popular in some social groups and not others. It all depends on
the level of intimacy between those that are engaging in everyday interaction.
One of the most interesting things about swearing is its
ability to be ‘autocathartic’ - In that swearing allows us to express anger and
surprise and so on without the need for someone else to hear it.
Also I believe
swearing in all forms is unavoidable. You may be able to avoid expressing
swearing vocally, but gesturing signs that are parallel to saying words like ‘fuck’
i.e. middle or rude finger are just too easy and feel too good not to do at one
point or another.
So, in conclusion swearing is an amazing linguistic phenomenon
that should be studied further because of its ability to allow humans to express strong
feelings in a very unique way. Swearing is humans at play!
Burns, M 2008, 'Why We
Swear: The Functions of Offensive Language', University
Linguistics Papers, vol. 6, no.
1, pp. 61-69
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