[Buddha-l] Swearing

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Richard Hayes schreef:

>On Tuesday 26 September 2006 02:23, Mike Austin wrote:
>
>  
>
>>For example, I most often use the f word and sometime Christ.  I have no
>>idea what religion the f word could relate to but as I was brought up as
>>a Christian, one could suggest some link there. 
>>    
>>
>
>What people call swear words actually fall into several categories. One 
>category is using holy language in unholy ways. So using names of fictitious 
>entities, such as God, or of historical people whose contribution to world 
>culture has been exaggerated, such as Jesus Christ, constitutes a linguistic 
>taboo. It always amused me that the most atrocious swear words in French in 
>Quebec were words for sacred objects, such as tabernacles, chalises and host 
>(or whatever you call those crackers that Christians eat with their wine 
>during a mass).
>
>Another kind of swearing comes from taboos having to do with race and social 
>class. When the ruling class in England were all speaking French, then using 
>English words for unpleasant subjects such as sex and the elimination of 
>bodily wastes was deemed lower class. To this day that class taboo persists, 
>even in places like the United States that falsely prides itself on being a 
>classless society.
>
>  
>
By Buddha's balls, you're right! I observed however that there are differences in preference. The Duth, who have been fighting over the question of who has the best kind of Christendom for centuries, like to swear over religion. The most popular word is 'godverdomme' which means 'may God damn me'. This is clearly a challenge to God and the force of the term comes partly from the fact that nothing has happened yet (maybe God will get tired of it sometime or maybe He already has and nobody noticed it). This of course different from the French 'merde' the German 'Scheisze' and the English 'shit', which all refer to the same natural fertiliser. In Latin countries the curses have more to do with birth and descendence, like 'son of a bitch' etc. Calling Virgin Mary a prostitute is an interesting mix. Maybe the word 'motherfucker' is caused by the recent multicultural tendencies, or is it caused by large families living in small apartments :-) ? 

Erik


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