Why do we have words that we “aren’t supposed to say”? What decides what makes a swear word a bad word?
It can’t be meaning, because “poop” is fine and
“shit” is not. Or “sex” or “ruin” is fine, but “fuck” is not.
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Each swear is slightly different, but almost all of them usually have a long history that has to do with the evolution of language.
For example, a lot of swears used to be “poor people words,” in the same way words like “ain’t,” is often seen today. Back then they weren’t something to discipline your kid over saying as much as the parents were more likely to just encourage their children to use “proper,” words instead.
Over time, those words evolved into being seen as “dirty,” and shouldn’t be used in polite/official company, and therefore required some restraint when adding those words to your vocabulary. Thing is, children are horrible at showing restraint, so to stop your 6 year old from swearing up thanksgiving dinner thinking it’s funny, it became culturally common to not expose children to these words in the first place, and to heavily discourage their use.
Now, as with a lot of things from language to religion, the ideas we raise children with often become more extreme from generation to generation. Kids being raised that “swear words are bad (but when you’re older they’re fine in the right environment),” are more likely to grow up thinking those words are bad, and just teaching their children “swear words are bad.” Rinse and repeat for a few generations, and you get a generation of adults who think of swearing the same as slapping someone across the face.
There’s also religious swears which are bad due to them being “blasphemous,” against a certain religion’s god or allegedly invoking evil entities in one way or another, but that will of course vary from religion to religion.
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