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June 08 swearing warning:contains coarse language
Swearing is now so common on TV that we are inured to it. Kate Burridge, a linguistics professor at Monash University in Melbourne and colleague Keith Allan published Forbidden Words, an academic exploration of taboo words.
There is plenty of evidence that we're undergoing an evolution in swearing, in which the taboo over sexual and body-function words is seriously on the wane. Some experts think the f-word and the c-word are going the way of the once=notorious bloody and bugger (a word for anal sex now considered so innocuous, the ABC says it's Ok for G-rated programs).
Gordon Ramsay's kitchen programs and his interview on Sixty Minutes,f rom 7.30pm has the c-word and f-word generously sprinkled through. Not to mention the thoughtless timing of Underbelly-Nine's crime drama that started at 8.30pm-which was thick with coarse language and sex (including anal rape), wometimes together. The impact on children whose main viewing hours are from 6-9 is not even considered. Should we give up on social and community standards because some people reckon that they should do whatever they like whenever they like? There's a certain fabric, a courtesy, to how society functions, I don't want to lose that. You get desenitised.
This concern has been around since the days of Aristotle. In His book, Politics, circa 350BC, he warned "there is nothing that the legislator should be more careflu to drive away than indecency of speech; for the light utterance of shameful words leads to shameful actions. The young especially shouldnever be allowed to repeat or hear anything of that sort." Our present leader Kevin Rudd, has just recently reminded us of the importance of "just allow kids to enjoy...the innocence of childhood."
It is a known fact that children do not learn to swear from the media, they learn it from their parents. When parents punish their children for swearing, they reinforce how powerful swear words are - fuelling the problem they aimed to cure. Parents worry about the consequences of foul language on their children. Allan and Burridge say offensive language braks social conventions, which, as social beings, people can ill afford. So let us not get too hot under the collar about that new strange and coars ringing word that begs for attention and hopefully it will loose it's taboo.
I also learnt another interesting fact about the 'bloody' word. It was the swear word most noticed by newcomers to Australia. In 1847 Alexander Marjoribands in NSW noted the bullock driver used bloody 27 times in 15 minutes; the great Aussie adjective. So why is that word "bloody,' brought from Polnesia to Aus by Captain Cook taboo? Experts say it was to do with blood, as in "bloody battle'. The same is happy with the f-word today. The younger generation is alot more cooler and acceptiing of sex than we were. Thank goodness!
Our desire to get out that "bad word' without offending crossing the social boundary has produced an array of alternatives - Allan and Burridge estimate the English language has 1000 expressions for penis, 1200 for vagina, 800 for copulation and 2000 for wanton woman. Does this reflect the fact that men are allowed to swear and improvise? Or is it a reflection of society's values system of years gone by? The latter, I hope explains the 2000 ring of expletives for the cheap woman of the night.
Disguising sexual words has also been practiced for a long time. There' s effing (1929) and frigging (1785) for f..k; shucks (1847) and shoot (1934) for shit - a word that dates back at least 1000 years. Experts say there is an ancient reflex to swearing and it may go back to the old mammalian "rage reflex'. It' s like having a good howl. "Forbidden words are more arousing, more shocking, more memorable and more evocative than all other language stimuli," Burridge says.
So what does make an effective swear word? Ruth Wajnryb in her book Language Most Foul says it needs to break a taboo by making public what should be private; it must be intended to shock and outrage; and it must sound good. It can be cathartic, descriptive, idiomatic and emphatic. It can be used to bond eg fond friends. Then there's abusive swearing, where a female body part is used for effectiveness. Maybe this is so because female body parts have stronger taboos and men resort to using such words inappropriately due to male frustration.
Yet the greatest concerns from TV viewers over the past year are cited as sex and nudity, followed by bad language and violence. However British viewers find racist and ethinic words sucha as nigger and Paki as more offensive than sexual words. Perhaps the fact that the use of these words can provoke legal consequence may add a touch of ooomph to their use. So Gordon Ramsay will not be using racist words along with the ban on the c-word in his presentations. Not that it really makes a difference to my viewing because I can't stand the extra heat that comes with having him in the kitchen.
To wrap up I found the above article in The Weekend Australian interesting, intriguing and informative. So I am not that much of a prude after all. Now, I can understand why Sister Teresa was having mild seizures when she heard our Deputy using frigging on a daily basis, during a stressful moment in the Office.
 June 07 inferno How will this pure white blossom grow,
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