Bad Words

Here's something I wrote for English class. It's something I believe is very true.

George Carlin became known as “that dirty comedian” mainly because of his use of “swear words.” But he had a point about those words: “There are no bad words. Bad thoughts. Bad intentions. And words!” I myself cannot figure out why some words are labeled as “bad,” while other words that mean the same thing are considered to be acceptable. Such as the word “darn.” It means the same exact thing as the word “damn,” with the same feeling and intention, but somehow has less of an effect. How can this be? To quote Carlin again, “The reason this is, is that a long time ago, certain ladies said ‘Those are the two I’m not going to say!’” So are our mothers the ones who decided these strange, contradictory rules of speech? One thing is for sure: our mothers (and fathers, occasionally) are trying to keep it that way.
Acceptable alternatives for children, as told by www.practicalparent.org.uk/swear.htm, are to say “I’m mad at you,” or “I disagree with you.” While these may make some people happy, I myself am offended by how these words are suppressed. Why are these words bad? I’ve tried to find the reason, but none of the people who are trying to stop these words from being said seem to know why the words should not be said. All that is said is how bad the words are. One thing that has been said is that swearing is “abrasive, lazy language.” Why are these words considered to be abrasive or lazy? Or how does swearing “contribute to the decline of civility”? This is all as stated by the Cuss Control Academy at http://www.cusscontrol.com/swearing.html. Yes, there is an organization dedicated to ending the use of these words. It cites the dirty words as displays of ignorance, disrespect, hostility, violence, and signs of a bad attitude, just to name a few. What surprises me the most is that there are people in this country that consider words to be one of the most important problems to curb and regulate. There are books about how to stop swearing, and can even be hired to help a client to stop swearing for $1,500 in the Chicago area and $2,500 plus expenses if travel is involved. $1,500 for a thirty-minute presentation about how to stop saying a handful of words. Strange? Yes, very strange. (source: http://www.cynical-c.com/archives/002884.html ) That man who performs that pricy presentation happens to be James V. O’Connor, president of the CCA. I tend to wonder if there is really any problem with the words at all. There must be, otherwise, there wouldn’t be any people helping other people “kick the habit” of swearing. There are other people starting to worry about swearing on the channels of Xbox Live. (source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showthread.php?t=464726 ) All these people are missing one important point: no one can control what other people say or do. To try and end swearing completely would be equivalent to trying to convert America to the SI measuring system. No one would want to change, and everyone would want to stay the way they are. True, some people wish they could stop swearing at least in front of their kids, but most do not find anything wrong with swearing casually.
All in all, there is not anything wrong with swearing unless someone has distaste for it. I, for one, believe swear words are just regular words that can convey emotions, describe how something happened, generalize on something someone cannot quite remember the name of, and maintain honesty in speech. So, these people who have decided to ban words from use for no reason have contributed to belittling those who use the words. The verdict: Swearing is acceptable!

Won't you agree?