Where did "bad words" come from??

[JB]

Most of the words we are not allowed to use in polite conversation can be replaced by other, acceptable, words that mean exactly the same thing when taken at face value (not as part of an angry outburst).

If you have ever heard those words referred to as "Anglo Saxon profanity" you have a clue to the origins of their unacceptability.

It comes from ethnic persecution. Those words were once commonly used in polite conversation in what is now the UK with no red flags. . .by the Angles and Saxons.

When the Normans came from France and "took over" England they banned a lot of the details of Anglo Saxon culture as crude and unsophisticated. Language was a big part of that cultural "overhaul".

So now, hundreds of years later it is still okay to say feces but the Anglo Saxon word is still considered crude and profane.

Of course there are many other examples.

I find it interesting. It is just one of the obscure and senseless ways we acquired the culture we have today.:redface:

 

[rbh]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

Some cultures/countries swear at the church (the French)????
Some swear using body parts.
Some swear using bodily functions.
What have we missed to swear with???

 

[cheburashka]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

A good example of this comes from Chaucer. In his time, one might refer to a part of his girlfriend as the "Queynte," which in his time meant basically "the little jewel" and was considered a pleasant little pet name. You can imagine what the word has evolved into in Modern English--perhaps one of the nastiest words in the language.

 

[Cofe]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

I bet George Carlin had something to do with it.

 

[lowkee]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

A good example of this comes from Chaucer. In his time, one might refer to a part of his girlfriend as the "Queynte," which in his time meant basically "the little jewel" and was considered a pleasant little pet name. You can imagine what the word has evolved into in Modern English--perhaps one of the nastiest words in the language.

I read that as the point of the post. How does a word suddenly become vulgar? Your post seems to oppose of your last sentence. How does modern spelling make something vulgar? The word was created as a pleasant pet name, yet changing the spelling makes is vile? The origins of the words have not changed.

The word silly meant blessed or happy in the 11th century going through pious, innocent, harmless, pitiable, feeble, feeble minded before finally ending up as foolish or stupid.

Pretty began as crafty then changed via clever, skilfully made, fine to beautiful.

The word nice meant stupid and foolish in the late 13th Century. It went through a number of changes including wanton, extravagant, elegant, strange, modest, thin, and shy. By the middle of the 18th Century it had gained its current meaning of pleasant and agreeable.

Nice has its own irony, as even though it is currently meaning pleasant, many people revert to nice as a means to avoid outright describing something as stupid or foolish. Looks like meanings don't change that much after all.

 

[DJ]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

I read that as the point of the post. How does a word suddenly become vulgar? Your post seems to oppose of your last sentence. How does modern spelling make something vulgar? The word was created as a pleasant pet name, yet changing the spelling makes is vile? The origins of the words have not changed.

The word silly meant blessed or happy in the 11th century going through pious, innocent, harmless, pitiable, feeble, feeble minded before finally ending up as foolish or stupid.

Pretty began as crafty then changed via clever, skilfully made, fine to beautiful.

The word nice meant stupid and foolish in the late 13th Century. It went through a number of changes including wanton, extravagant, elegant, strange, modest, thin, and shy. By the middle of the 18th Century it had gained its current meaning of pleasant and agreeable.

Nice has its own irony, as even though it is currently meaning pleasant, many people revert to nice as a means to avoid outright describing something as stupid or foolish. Looks like meanings don't change that much after all.

How about the word: GAY.

In the past century ('til about 1980) it meant happy with life and a positive outlook. Someone that enjoyed life and projected it..

In the last half it got corrupted to mean a lifestyle and a moniker.

I remember my parents saying: "they had a gay time". Those words had NOTHING to do with what that word means today.

 

[kei9th]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

Fornication Under Consent of King
Ship High In Transit

those two i know came from what they where meant for how they became "bad words" ill never know.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

Fornication Under Consent of King
Ship High In Transit

those two i know came from what they where meant for how they became "bad words" ill never know.

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/****.asp

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/****.asp

EDIT, nevermind. iboats edited my links. Well if you looks these 2 thinks up on snopes, they are de-bunked.

 

[cheburashka]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

I read that as the point of the post. How does a word suddenly become vulgar? Your post seems to oppose of your last sentence. How does modern spelling make something vulgar? The word was created as a pleasant pet name, yet changing the spelling makes is vile? The origins of the words have not changed.

I meant that "queynte" is a good example of a word that hasn't changed in meaning, but has changed in connotation. It has "become" a bad word but it wasn't always such. I'm not sure about the Anglo-Saxon explanation. I'd put a lot more stock in words becoming impolite due to their sound than their origin. Take Carlin's "seven words" for example. With the exception of the one that's slang for mammalian protruberances, they are all "onomatopoetic" words. They sound like what they describe--or at the very least they have an "ugly" sound to them. Of course, that still leaves "queynte" which, in Chaucer's day, had two syllables and was quite refined. Somehow, it lost a syllable, a diphthong became a strong vowel, and a soft consonant got hard. Did it change in meaning due to its change in sound, or did it change in sound due to its change in meaning? I don't know, and I doubt that anyone ever will.

One of the reasons I never did well in linguistics classes was that there's far too much speculation about why languages change, and in the end it was largely theoretical. Still, I do think that the "F" word and the "S" word are considered crude because they are, and have always been, onomatopoetic.

I have a friend who is offended by any words for bodily functions which are onomatopoetic. "Poop," "Fart," even "Tinkle" are no-nos around her. What's really odd about it is that she's Argentinian, and English is her second language. I wouldn't expect her to be so sensitive to the nuances of English.

 

[JB]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

DJ makes a point about "Gay".

I had both boy and girl friends named "Gay", though the boy was short for Gaylord.

It meant happy, playful, joyous. The names we had for homosexual people were a lot less complimentary.

I still don't accept one's sexual orientation being described as a "lifestyle", or worse, a culture. The greatest majority of "gay" people are invisible.

 

[kend301]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

Is not one due to maritime safety ?? I heard that one word was derived due to cow manure being shipped for fertilizer would get wet producing methane gas and when someone went into the cargo hold with an oil lantern to check cargo , BOOM, Instant shipwreck . So it was boxed up and labeled "Ship High In Transit" to avoid getting soaked with water and an explosion . Ship High In Transit was then abbreviated , Hence the word and the association .

 

[JustJason]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

though the boy was short for Gaylord.

That poor kid must have had it rough... they should have named him Sue instead.

Up here in Massachusettes we regularly use the words...
Gay, which means dumb, has nothing to do with homosexuals
***, what you call your buddy when your busting on him, has nothing to do with homosexuals
Wicked, used as an adverb or an adjective
Pissa, has nothing to do with urination
Retarded, means dumb as well, has nothing to do with the folks with down syndrome.

In fact a typical Massachusettes sentence goes something like this...

Listen you gay *** ***, your Idea is retarded, but my idea is wicked pissa.

We use all sorts of words up here... and keep in mind our racisim is like 0 up here, we are for gay marraige, and we take good care of everybody's health (including down's people) with Romneycare. Its just a dialect thing I guess. Like 1 black guy calling another black guy the N word... it's almost meaningless, it's just a word.

I lived down if florida for 2 years in a bit of a racist pot. It's funny the way people down there threw out the N word... We wouldn't dream of saying that up here.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

I was taught that bad words were not what they meant but in what text/tone they were used in.

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

If one must use profanity to get one's point across, the word "crass" enters into my thoughts.

 

[PW2]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

I think it is necessary to have bad words, and I for one would have to invent some if they didn't exist!

When I get excited, the phrase "Golly Gee" somehow does not seem sufficient.

 

[JB]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

I think it is necessary to have bad words, and I for one would have to invent some if they didn't exist!

When I get excited, the phrase "Golly Gee" somehow does not seem sufficient.

You are welcome to use some of mine, PW2.

RATZAKRATZA!!
ROWRBAZZLE!!
FORGALOMIC PECALUMER!!
PERGAKLOSICPEP!!

 

[mike64]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

I believe I read somewhere that the use of bad words is governed by another, more primitive part of the brain from the speech center.

I saw this in action when my grandpa had a stroke that damaged his speech center. He could understand what people were saying just fine, but when he tried to respond, all that came out was gibberish or completely wrong words. He'd finally get frustrated trying to talk and say S**T! and other choice words clear as day.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

I think it is necessary to have bad words, and I for one would have to invent some if they didn't exist!

When I get excited, the phrase "Golly Gee" somehow does not seem sufficient.

Yes...when the hammer gets 4 nails with one swing and only one of them is metallic, somehow, "Oh darn! Sweetie, could you please pass me an ice pack and some bandaids" does fall a bit short of truly expressing your sentiments at that moment.

 

[CN Spots]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

II still get taken aback by our European and Australian friend's translation of "cigarette".

"You're gonna go out back and toke on a WHAT!??"

 

[NelsonQ]

Re: Where did "bad words" come from??

I hired a student one time, an attractive young girl, from the East Coast. We'd only worked together for a week or so, and she asked me if I had a 'rubber'?

Imagine my surprise.....how forward she was....and how embarrassment when I understood she was simply looking for an eraser :redface:

Rubbers are often used to reference condoms, but if you're from the East Coast like I am, they're also your boots. (and also an eraser