I don’t get it. These words restrict what can be on TV and radio. They change the ratings of games and movies. We go through all this effort to keep these words hidden away from our children, even though the second they hit school they are going to pick them up from another kid most likely.
Why is it that we treat these words like black sheep?
In: Other
Pssst – here’s a secret – lots of people are prudes. Not all people, but enough of them are that they’re willing to let other people tell them what they can and cannot say. And of course there’s a religious element to it, at least in the US, where many Christians believe (or at least act like they believe) using certain words is somehow an affront to God. These prudes and religious whackjobs don’t want to have to explain things to children (like what “fuck” or “cocksucker” means), so they not only restrict their own use of these words, they support policies and practices to ban others from using the words in large swaths of public spaces and communication. Of course it doesn’t work in the modern world except in insular communities, but they’re gonna keep trying anyway.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XByiHpUvrj0
Nicholas Cage can tell you on Netflix.
https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Sh-Brief-History-Swearing/dp/019049168X
Or there’s books on it.
In short? There’s 4 kinds of swear words. Excrement or body functions. Sex. Religious. And racial, but that gets into slurs over profanity.
Humans have always found bodily functions gross and humorous. Sex is usually used as a stand in power dynamics. Religion has been found “not for humor” for a long time, so it becomes a target for excited utterances. Slurs I’m sure you can figure out.
Why those words? Depends on the word. Different words have been not for polite company at different times. Religious people don’t like their god mocked. Most people don’t like to be reminded they poop. Rules change depending on the group.
Sometimes they sound funny. Some similar to another word. Usually, people use them as proxies when they’re happy or sad or angry. We yell when we’re in pain and swearing helps you overcome that. Sometimes we’re calling the gods to right a wrong. Some it’s being childish with a silly body noise.
edit: I realized part of your question was why in America… because America is prudish and allows religious conservatives an outsized amount of control on public life. European countries versus American values show how much more of an effect religion has on all Americans.
Many people just don’t like it. If I hear your kid swearing that’s an instant negative judgment against them and you.
You may as well ask why isn’t hardcore porn on daytime TV since it’s already available for free elsewhere.
Isn’t the USA the only country that restrict specific words on TV/radio?
Not a prime example 🤷♂️
Generally they refer to taboo things like body waste, sex and genitals or religious blasphemies. Taboos are taboo no matter how you say them.
Hate words like the n word have power behind them because of usage and history. You evoke that when you use them.
Why some are stronger than others is cultural and influenced by usage and changes over time like fashion.
Words have meaning. And words can have impact.
Curse words are a bit like knives. They have their use, but one should be careful when wielding them, as they should be used responsibly. Because if you’re careless, you might hurt someone.
Presumably, a grown up will know what words to use and what to avoid. I could probably string together a few words that if said to a specific friend would end the whole damn friendship. So i don’t use those words on those friends.
We try to teach kids those words are bad and should not be used, so that they learn how much impact those words can have. And later, when they’re grown up, they’ll be able to responsibly use them, having learned how impactful they are.
Whether this means we should censor or bleep curse words or strike them from the radjo all together is of course another thing, and i suppose christianity has a lot to say about that. But the rules on that differ from place to place
You can’t say swear words because someone’s child might learn it and then they will blame YOU, hypothetically.
It’s the same reason people are afraid of interacting with other people’s kids in general, they’re afraid of being judged by the parents. Rational thinking like children inevitably learning swear words anyway isn’t even part of the picture because it’s entirely about adults interacting with adults.
Think about your question for a minute. Why do we have language at all? If certain words are not elevated to seldom, extreme usage, then that need for them is left unfilled and will get filled by something else. There is a polite word that you can use for any curse word – but curse words still exist as such. The commenters in here can dunk on religion and the US all they want, but language is meant for communicating and if we don’t follow the loosely agreed upon rules then our communication gets more difficult.
Every language that I’m aware of has curse words. When we use them out of context we’re looked at oddly because we’re violating our social contract as social beings. By limiting usage and exposure just for shock value, we are keeping their communicative value intact and expressing to others that, in this one small way, we can be participating members of a shared culture.
We’re not protecting our kids from bad words, we’re teaching our kids how to interact with others so that they can live and prosper in a society.
There are no bad words, only bad intentions. Authoritarians and religious parties want to control us, and so decided arbitrarily what words are “bad”
The only exception here are Slurs as they have been injected with ill meaning
John McWhorter can explain this better than any redditor:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?511507-1/nine-nasty-words
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