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COLUMNISTS:
HANK |
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Hank
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insidecostarica.com.
Write Hank at: sky_boy@swbell.netBe
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The Power of Profanity
Recently I was chided for using what was perceived as inappropriate language.
Besides responding to this accusation, I decided to not only reply but to include the “F…” word as well. Although the profanity in question was the “S…” word, I could not resist the temptation to add one.
Four-Letter-Words are part of any language and often the first one gets acquainted with when learning a foreign tongue.
The “F…” word is and always has been one of my favorites.
It allows you to express so much with so little.
What is a profanity anyway?
It covers a very wide range. Depending on the use and interpretation, meanings and descriptions vary from religious blasphemy to basic obscenity.
Profane can also mean ‘not belonging to what is sacred or biblical…”
Not an easy one to pin down.
You see, what is perfectly acceptable in one religion is hopelessly evil in another. If you don’t believe me, just ask a Shiite Muslim about certain Judean Christian aspects.
Better leave that Pandora’s box unopened.
Now there’s another one, if my name was Pandora, I would be offended by complete strangers trying to open my box…
But that is just in one language…or is a profanity in one language an equal offense in another?
I am multi-lingual. That does not mean that I am smarter than someone who only speaks one tongue, it just means that like everything else, the more you learn the more profound the realization of how little you really
know.
With it comes a deeper understanding that nothing is black or white, good or bad.
Take, for instance the English word “cut”. Gales of laughter went up in my initial English class in Holland when we were first introduced to this one. It allowed us, for the first time, to blatantly use the derogatory term for female sex organ publicly and in the presence of adults.
It was great!
In certain regions of France, the Dutch for “Thank you”, which is “Dank U”, is used like “Dans Q!”
But instead of a polite acknowledgement, it suggests to stick it where the sun does not shine…
Thank you…very much!
Years ago, during some European soccer event held in Bulgaria or Yugoslavia, I’m not sure which one; an interesting conflict of language took place. As you well know, at the edge of soccer fields, below the stands, is where commercial like billboards are placed and they separate the audience from the field. The cameras pick up all these displays and it makes for great advertising.
It so happened that some of these billboards were rented by a well-known Dutch coffeemaker by the name of Moccona. It also happened that this was the hosting country’s local jargon for “my vagina” but in the worst offensive way.
Do I need to mention PUSSYwillows, the COCK in the henhouse or my friend DICK?
It makes the planet Uranus an innocent bystander…
What is even worse are some people, apparently those with the strongest urge to spout foul language, who manage to find alternatives. And thus words like “fudge” and “darn” enter the realm of correctness.
I know that Marie Osmond honeymooned at the Hoover Darn but I say to these fakers: “Fudge you, fudge you all to heck, you gall darned mother
fudgers!”
Well, the long and short of it is that many of the terms that some label profane, undesired and inappropriate manage to evoke strong emotional responses and create reactions beyond a writer’s wettest dream!
I know, I know, this previous sentence is filled with obscenities…”long, short, wet”… if you look hard and deep (sorry) it just goes on and on…
To willfully eliminate scores of words from one’s language just because some find them ugly is ridiculous and very dangerous. If you don’t like certain words, don’t use them, but do not burden others with this self-inflicted handicap!
It is as close to burning books as you can get…
Hank
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