Why are bad words bad?

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It would seem that swearing, or using vulgar language is a bad thing, but why, wouldn’t cursing be just a cultural thing because it is part of our language? If poop and s*** mean the same thing, why is one bad and the other acceptable? The only time I can think of cursing being an actual sin is if you use it to insult or hurt someone.
 
The 10 Commandments order us to NOT take the Lord’s name in Vain.
This accounts for some words we frown on using today.
And, these words are clearly “swear” words (and are “a bad thing” for a Christian to do).

My feeling about things is, people then drew upon that Commandment to use as a rationale to not use OBSCENE words in conversation.
So, in your Post you mixed up the 2 in your “poop” example.
Because its alternative is not actually swearing, it is using a Vulgar word.
And, using these words in Polite Society is offensive (and in bad taste).
Is your point, that you want to use those words, but you feel that stupid people would mis-interpret what you are saying, as something else (i.e., a Sin)?

This means that we are apart on the basis of Semantics.
Defining a “word” correctly (and limiting its definition) is often needed here at the Forum.
I see so many feuds over issues, simply because each side is relying on a different definition.
 
Vulgar words hurt the ears, and are “immodest speech”. It is hard to listen to someone who “peppers” their words with immodest speech.
 
As Our Lord Jesus stated in Luke 6:43-45…

“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

Blessings and peace. 🙂
 
Some words are evasive synonyms.

***Gosh darn it!
Jeeze!
Holy cow!
Sacre blue! *(French for sacred blue, a reference to Mary)

All these evade saying the actual words but they mean the same thing. They violate the second commandment against profaning the sacred.

-Tim-
 
johnnyt3000 said:
It would seem that swearing, or using vulgar language is a bad thing, but why, wouldn’t cursing be just a cultural thing because it is part of our language? If poop and s*** mean the same thing, why is one bad and the other acceptable? The only time I can think of cursing being an actual sin is if you use it to insult or hurt someone.
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The intent behind the words and not the words themselves is what makes them bad. A word is morally neutral.
 
Bad words are bad because people decided that they are. But this doesn’t make them any less “bad.” If I use a word that people consider bad because it is “bad” , then I can’t claim as a defense that the badness is not intrinsic to the word. It doesn’t matter. I was trying to do something bad, which is bad.

Which is exactly what cursing is. It is an attempt use bad words because they are bad. That they aren’t intrinsically bad is irrelevant, as is the fact that they are only bad because people have decided that they are.

There is also some dishonesty involved. If I really and truly thought that swear words were just words, just sounds, and that calling any word a bad word was silly, then I wouldn’t be using these “bad words” as swear words because I would consider that whole concept silly. In such a case, it seems like what is really going on is a person trying to justify continuing doing something that they want to do by saying that there is no possible reason to do it. If they are just words, why the hang up on trying to get away with using them? Use different words.
 
Iron_Donkey said:
Bad words are bad because people decided that they are. But this doesn’t make them any less “bad.” If I use a word that people consider bad because it is “bad” , then I can’t claim as a defense that the badness is not intrinsic to the word. It doesn’t matter. I was trying to do something bad, which is bad.

Which is exactly what cursing is. It is an attempt use bad words because they are bad. That they aren’t intrinsically bad is irrelevant, as is the fact that they are only bad because people have decided that they are.

There is also some dishonesty involved. If I really and truly thought that swear words were just words, just sounds, and that calling any word a bad word was silly, then I wouldn’t be using these “bad words” as swear words because I would consider that whole concept silly. In such a case, it seems like what is really going on is a person trying to justify continuing doing something that they want to do by saying that there is no possible reason to do it. If they are just words, why the hang up on trying to get away with using them? Use different words.
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Well gd dn it! I just don’t f****n know! How’s that grab ya, Bob?!:D:D
 
As others have noted it is the intent. Obviously no word can be intrinsically evil - sounds are morally neutral - but meanings are not. If you intend to insult someone, as you noted, this would be wrong…but it would also be wrong to deliberately cause offense to those around you. I think it is relative, to a degree, on where you are and who are you with. I’ve known people who were extremely offended by phrases most people use in everyday language…sometimes it is a regional thing.
 
johnnyt3000 said:
It would seem that swearing, or using vulgar language is a bad thing, but why, wouldn’t cursing be just a cultural thing because it is part of our language? If poop and s*** mean the same thing, why is one bad and the other acceptable?
Click to expand...
The reason for that gets into class differences. At one point in Europe’s history the people that were more wealthy spoke a dialect that is more closely related to french or Latin. Those that were not so well off spoke with Germanic dialects. If you used the dialect of the lower class it was seen as lowering yourself to their status. So even how if I say “There was a bag of flaming dog deification” it doesn’t sound bad. But if I use the Germanic word that the vulgar (another word for “common”) people used it was considered bad.

At least that’s the case with the words that you’ve presented. There are other ways that a word can become a curse word such as through how the word is used. If I use a word in an ugly way consistently then it may become an ugly word. There are frowned upon words that got their status this way. For example, a person with down syndrome was often referred to as “retarded” which literally means “slow”. The word was also used as an insult and became frowned upon even though it’s literal meaning had not changed. So the term “Special” began to be used instead. However, like “retarded” special was often used as an insult and if said in a certain context or with a certain tone of voice it can easily be identified as an expression of an insulting evaluation.
johnnyt3000 said:
The only time I can think of cursing being an actual sin is if you use it to insult or hurt someone.
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It was also thought that speaking ill of some one could do the person harm. To speak ill and include one of the names of God was thought to injure him.
 
Where the Bible says - we are supposed to cut out our tongue if it causes us to sin, we’re not dealing solely with a word or term, but with intent.

However, intent is built into certain words for quick human interpretation.

Some might use one word to describe frustration rather than, ‘that really makes me mad’.

But the real key here is that it’s a struggle to keep our minds and tongues clean and clear, it’s a good effort to avoid the easy words that can lead to sin.

Make it a game to not use what comes quick and easy, but to think about what you want to say, the effect might surprise you.
 
ThinkingSapien said:
The reason for that gets into class differences. At one point in Europe’s history the people that were more wealthy spoke a dialect that is more closely related to french or Latin. Those that were not so well off spoke with Germanic dialects. If you used the dialect of the lower class it was seen as lowering yourself to their status. So even how if I say “There was a bag of flaming dog deification” it doesn’t sound bad. But if I use the Germanic word that the vulgar (another word for “common”) people used it was considered bad.

At least that’s the case with the words that you’ve presented. There are other ways that a word can become a curse word such as through how the word is used. If I use a word in an ugly way consistently then it may become an ugly word. There are frowned upon words that got their status this way. For example, a person with down syndrome was often referred to as “retarded” which literally means “slow”. The word was also used as an insult and became frowned upon even though it’s literal meaning had not changed. So the term “Special” began to be used instead. However, like “retarded” special was often used as an insult and if said in a certain context or with a certain tone of voice it can easily be identified as an expression of an insulting evaluation.

It was also thought that speaking ill of some one could do the person harm. To speak ill and include one of the names of God was thought to injure him.
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I’m going to take a wild guess and say that you watched the vsauce episode where he talks about this haha:thumbsup:
 
TimothyH said:
Some words are evasive synonyms.

***Gosh darn it!
Jeeze!
Holy cow!
Sacre blue! ***(French for sacred blue, a reference to Mary)

All these evade saying the actual words but they mean the same thing. They violate the second commandment against profaning the sacred.

-Tim-
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How is saying “gosh” the same as saying the Lord’s name in vain? When we pray we never say “gosh” instead of God. So if one says oh my goodness they are saying the Lord’s name in vain? Even though they didn’t even say the Lord’s name?
 
IMHO, Words that have become considered ‘bad’, or profane, are words we use for effect and emotion to give the listener a sense of the intensity that we feel about something.

The way I ‘kicked the habit’ was to recognize that for every ‘bad’ word, there are numerous other words at our disposal that can carry the same power, and sometimes even more descriptive effect. If the listener doesn’t ‘get the gist’, then they weren’t really listening anyway. In this case, I try to remind myself that God was there listening and He knew what I meant.
:yup:
 
TimothyH said:
Some words are evasive synonyms.

Gosh darn it!
Jeeze!
Holy cow!
Sacre blue! (French for sacred blue, a reference to Mary)

All these evade saying the actual words but they mean the same thing. They violate the second commandment against profaning the sacred.

-Tim-
Click to expand...
Tim-
I understand on the other three, but why do you include holy cow? Or as an italian friend of mine says holy cannoli…
 
ffg said:
Make it a game to not use what comes quick and easy, but to think about what you want to say, the effect might surprise you.
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W.C. Fields was the greatest non-swearing swearer ever…“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!!!” 😃
 
Gee Whiz – Jesus
Gee – short Jesus

Hot Dam – God is Hot, about this one taking the Lord’s name in Vain (this ain’t Hoover Dam)

And, the one above, Holy Cow, which stands for Holy Christ.

A Protestant friend went to Church Camp, and one day he was there, the Counselors spend a whole Hour going over 100 words that stood for God, and therefore, were NO NOs.

I wish (now) that I would have asked him what they were.
But, I was 12 at the time, and I thought it was silly, but also, I didn’t want to feel “Funny” about using words that have a double meaning.
 
4love2God said:
The 10 Commandments order us to NOT take the Lord’s name in Vain.
This accounts for some words we frown on using today.
And, these words are clearly “swear” words (and are “a bad thing” for a Christian to do). My feeling about things is, people then drew upon that Commandment to use as a rationale to not use OBSCENE words in conversation.
Click to expand...
I agree. The second commandment is about swearing an oath, because you call on the NAME of G-D for help in fulfilling your end of the covenant. If you then break that covenant, you have taken the NAME in vain. This is a very grievous sin.

On the other hand, vulgarity, or profanity can be a mortal sin if used in a violent way to abuse or intimidate someone (and especially if children are present). However, the occasional less-than-intelligent rudeness that slips out at the banging of a tender toe might be a venial sin if there is a consistent lack of self control.
 
This concerns me. I’d had something of a problem with the use of profanity in the past, but have migrated to “softer stuff” and tried to cut down on my exclamations considerably. (It helps to try and pray when frustrated, instead of cursing). Nevertheless I still sometimes end up making exclamations, especially when I’m frustrated or surprised or in sudden pain. I’d never thought about the “softer stuff” still being sacreligious, as an evasive way of referring to the sacred. I’ve used them myself, but I was barely even aware that they were oblique references to our Lord, our Lady, etc. Yes, some people in the past invented them to refer to the sacred indirectly, but am I guilty if I use them, simply having inherited them as cultural artifacts and have never thought about them?

Also, sometimes, when I see something particularly dire (an accident on the news, say), I say “Lord have mercy!” or “Merciful Mary” or some variant. Would this count as profanity, even in the technical sense (of being disrespectful of God)?
 
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