On Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:02:59 +0000 (UTC), John Reimer wrote:
I don't particularly care for a lot of the humour available on
television today (I don't watch it anymore, anyway).
There might be a baby in bathwater issue here.
... I think there's a whole lot more to be worried about as people
feed on the what the boob tube serves up...
[snigger.. ] He said "boob" [snigger...]
Sorry, couldn't help myself. To paraphrase Einstein, we should take
things seriously but not too seriously.
Concerning profanity and swearing. I think many forms of expression
should warrant more careful thought.
And that also applies to other forms of speech, of course.
I don't believe profane or irreverant expression has a neutral effect
on hearers.
Of course it doesn't. That's often why its uttered in the first place
- to affect the hearer.
We've already seen plenty of evidence of that in here. You may think
it's cute and artsy, but I think it does any combination of the
following: creates a language barrier, trivializes the original
meaning of certain anglo-saxon words, shows general disrespect in
communication, demonstrates poor vocabulary, reveals carelessness in
thinking of others feelings, etc and on and on. It's like throwing
dirt in somebody's face and thinking that's a normal way to interact.
We can stamp a "art" sticker on it and call it funny when it is
clothed in a comedic role (or any situation really), but this is just
as effective as sticking an "ice cream" tab on a pile of manure;
there's no way to make it pretty.
Bloody hell, mate (oh shit! ... was that swearing ... sorry), language
is never static. In which language can one not cuss? It appears to be
normal for people to express frustration and anger in (irrational?)
words. But I do agree there is way too much gratuitous swearing - but
much of that is juvenile attention-seeking behaviour, and should be
dismissed and accepted as just that.
It's a very pervasive view that swearing is a non-issue these days,
and a person is just being prudish and silly if he disaproves.
Hmmm ... you got some statistics to back that up? Most people I deal
with have limits (not all the same), so that seems to indicate to me
that some swearing behaviour is not acceptable to most people.
But I've been keenly aware of how the same profanity is expressed
with ever so much force and rancor when a person is angry. Then it
becomes very clear that the words fit the role perfectly with the
malice that expresses them (not to say person should swear when he is
angry :) ). It's no wonder that the expression of them becomes
confusing when they merge back into everyday speech for no apparent
reason.
Yep, I think your right here.
A particular use of language is often used as a sign of comradeship; a
way of showing that "I belong". It seems that swearing falls into this
category too.
