Part one.
Warning: This article contains very bad words and phrases that can give rise to discomfort to some readers.
Introduction to the area of dirty language.
Perhaps you never swear or curse, or use vulgar and abusive language. If you do happen to swear, it occurs very seldom. Only when you get really “pissed off” (joke), I mean provoked or angry there is a possibility of hearing you swear. Then you might say, “damn”, “hell” or once in a lifetime; “fucking hell”, choice of words depending on which country you come from!
Shame and guilt
If on the other hand, you lose your temper completely, your manners might collapse back to the “dawn of civilization”. Then utterances like “fuck off bugger” or sod off, your asshole” are within reach of your active vocabulary. Worst case you might toss invectives like; “your ugly cunt” while rising your index finger with a facial expression of disgust.
Quite the opposite, you might be a person who swear, curse or use invectives all the time. You can’t express a single sentence without saying; “damn”, “fuck”, “dickhead”, “the hell with you”, “Satan”, “cocksucker”, “moron”, “asshole”, “you prick!”, whore!”, – and such. And if you have reached this long into my article, you have most likely cursed my feeble and weak examples of swearing, many times already.
On the other hand, if you are a person already ashamed by reading this, you are not abnormal. Creating shame, guilt and discomfort is really the social and societal function of these expressions. Probably you have learned from wise people not to let your tongue run away with you in the form of obscenities, filthy words, or phrases that a good Christian, Muslim or Jew certainly should not use. Not only for God, Jahwe, or Allah’s sake. Just as much for your own and for others sake.
Sexual paradoxes
It is easy to understand the basis of angry and hate ridden swearwords. Here both references to the devil and hell, to excrement, as in the Scandinavian “shit bag” and English “asshole” belong. It may be harder to understand the function and origin of a swear word of disgust and disregard, when we don’t necessarily associate anything negative with it in the first place. For example, the fact that what most boys and men long for when they have become sexually mature, have also turned into invectives and words of disgust. For example, “pussy”, “cunt” and “pussy bitch” and the Norwegian equivalent “fittekjerring.”
Swearing alone without an other person as target
Swear words intends to convey our anger, expose our rage, even our contempt and disgust. “Sod off”, “go to hell”, “get lost”, “you son of a bitch”, belong to the category of hate or dislike.
If we also add sexually charged anatomical words or adjectives to this, we not only convey anger but also disgust and contempt. Verbal outbreaks like “wanker”, “fucking prick”, “fucking pussy”, “your fucking asshole”, belong to this category. The same does “dick of a horse” (hæstkuk), if you come from northern Norway.
What kind of psychological or social function does this type of swearing have?
It may feel liberating to let the steam out with some strong glosses from time to time. Especially when frustration has been building up inside. However, swearing does not always dampens tension. Most often, swearing increases conflicts and stress.
In a psychological perspective, however, I would say that we need words that also express negative emotions. Those expressions have psychological value as messengers of our true and spontaneous moods. With these words we show from time to time our “real face”. We somewhat show our finger to those we address those verbs, no matter what motive we have for releasing the steam.
Psychologically, the swearing opens for feelings that would otherwise have been enclosed. Emotions, as when suppressed would create an inner pressure and make us more stiff and tight.
The risk of being too stiff, rigid and pent up.
To literally show your finger to a fellow traveler while shouting “asshole” or “cunt”, most likely will end in open physical conflict. What, then, is the value of reducing inner tension by swearing, if our chosen words fires back on us with ten times the force of our original tension?
This will probably not reduce tension and conflict
It must be said that we usually do not swear right up in the face of anyone. Most commonly we use bad words or swear from out of a situation we find ourselves in, an accident, a misunderstanding, or a destiny. We also curse, or swear to ourselves when we feel stupid, ashamed or lost in some way. (On the Internet and social media, it’s quite the opposite. Up there dirty talk and sexual swearing seem to have no limits. This topic has however been discussed and debated by many others and is not included in these two articles.)
Admittedly, a lot of “shit” is also thrown right in the face of another person. Some of these targeted verbal attacks are probably impulsive and not planned as a mob strategy. But we know there are those who just love to directly attack others verbally. This they do consciously to raise the conflict up to a level where it ends in open confrontation. These people usually have only one goal in sight when they swear with filthy words. They want a fight, a battle, or a war, – the great physical challenge of inner turmoil and pain! An ultimate blowout!
Hooligans looking for trouble and open conflict.
Three main areas of swearing.
Religion, excrements and sex are the three areas most commonly referred to when it comes to swearing. As for religion, we can talk about blasphemy. If you say anything that may ridicule or show disrespect, or even contempt of God, Jah’weh, or Allah its blasphemy. According to tradition you act in an impious, ungodly, and profane way towards the sacred. Your words are conceived as a deception of God. Exclamations like; “My God”, “Oh, Jesus”, “Good heavens” do not belong to this category, at least if they are sincerely meant and without irony and mocking.
Is this just a way to relax after morning mass, or disrespect of God?
If you say; “your shit”, “dirty asshole”, or “load of shit”, you are obscene or come with obscenities. If you call someone “pussy”, “ass”, “prick”, or “dickhead”, you are both obscene and vulgar. What seemed to be vulgar and obscene just twenty years ago, seems more accepted today. But still there is much censorship on written dirty language and swearing in the US.
Even a serious article about swearing usually have to star many of the letters in the dirty word like this: Fu*k. Cu*t. Tw*t. Co*k. Pus*y. This is not the case in Northern Europe and Scandinavia.
– Swearing on film:
Contrary to this, swearing openly on American films is very frequent. In these movies, strangely enough, not a single syllable is removed. A somewhat interesting research on swearing has checked this usage of cursing in American films. In the movie, “Wolf of Wall, Street”, the word “fuck” is used 569 times during180 minutes. That is just over three times per minute with dirty words and invectives.
Leonardo Dicaprio in “The Wolf od Wall Street”
This sex-laden Anglo-American slang of swearing, has also slipped into the daily language around the world. First and foremost it’s words like “fuck” and “ass” or “asshole”. In addition, we have “your prick” with or without “bloody” added in between. We have the English “bugger”, “sod”, or “sod-off”, – originally derived from sex between males. Now its a more rude way to say, “go away”, “buzz off”, or “keep clear of my premises”
However, to call someone a “cunt” and “twat” is still considered to be well above the limit of vulgarity. It is perceived very misogynic and condescending towards women, dr. Richard Stephens of Keele University says. He has done serious research on the psychology of swearing, conveyed for a broader audience in his book, Black Sheep: The Hidden Benefits of Being Bad. A book, unfortunately not within my reach at this moment.
Actually the word “cunt”, refers to the entire female genitals, as opposed to, for example, “pussy”. To my surprise, this fact should not create disgust from men. On the contrary, since boys and men most often desire more of it, than they usually get.
In Northern Norway, a man was arrested for calling a police officer for “a horse cock” (hæstkuk). Those who have been to places in the countryside where there is a horse leap in the spring have achieved anatomical facts and evidence of the status of the reference behind this term. Thus, the word should wax more pride than dishonor and disgust by a man.
Horse leap in the Spring, a demonstration of viral force.
But of course, it’s not a well-considered and wise head on the penis, no matter what animal or man it belongs to, or what size it has. So here, perhaps we have the reason for the origin of the swearword, in addition to the context in which it is used. And in terms of “cunts”, they also refer to different types of women, including those we may be allowed to call, more or less good.
Dirty words and swearing as an expression of taboo and social control
In most cultures words that refer to looseness and infidelity have an educational function. Therefore, sexually charged invectives are also important in a social perspective to shame on those who seem to break the rule. You shall not be unfaithful, you have to take care of your family, you have a big responsibility as a parent and respected citizen. It’s expensive for the society not to regulate people’s sex life. It will also have major financial consequences for the society, if children do not know the identity of their father.
Social support and control in the community(from the series “Skam”)
A father having unprotected sex with other women than the child’s mother makes a fragile family. Not to mention the uncertainty and longing he burdens his son or daughter with if he just disappears.It’s also not good in a social perspective that mum is frequenting other men, while she should rather stay at home with her husband and take care of the children. Therefore, I think that the degree of shame that is associated with sexuality is kept so high in most societies, even if it’s basically unnatural.
It is a form of social and religious regulation of a strong and wonderful physical and mental encounter. If totally released sexuality is on a societal level supposed to create chaos in the family institution. Bodily and mental acts between people attracted to each other, that in its original form should only be regarded as pure and beautiful.
– Perceptions of taboo and swearing.
Taboo words like “motherfucker”, “daddy’s little whore”, are probably shameful expressions of the incest taboo found in most cultures. In Latin countries degrading the mother with sexual invectives is a very effective and hurting form of swearing.
About our conceptions of taboos related to sexuality Brøgger says: “Perceptions of taboo is found in absolutely all cultures.The taboos are especially related to the sphere of intimacy, where sexuality is the most important. Remember that sexuality is the outbreak of a life-threatening force that must be controlled, both in behavior and in language. If not, the community will break. (cit. J. Brøgger in Olstad, Lise NTNU 2003, «Griseprat i tusen år», A thousand years of Dirty talk)
From the time when it was important to have many children to provide for family survival, homosexual activity, were subjected to severe taboos. This fact has also given rise to scandalous swearing and mocking like “damn homo”, “fucking queer”, gay pervert” and similar hurtful terms.
Today, there are more than enough children in the world, and it seems an advantage to reduce child birth in many countries. Nevertheless, it seems to be a family expectation that the family heritage shall be passed on to both children and grandchildren, so to prevent the family tree to wither. However, this problem can now be solved through adoption or other forms of substitutes for biological child rearing.
Nevertheless, many forms of prejudice against homosexuals remain. In Norway “homo” or “jævla homo” (gay, or “fucking gay”) is the most common combination of words used to mob others throughout school. This even when much indicates that it is easier to be gay today in democratic countries in the West, than it was in the past.
The origin of swearing.
When did all this swearing start? Has it been there since mankind was born in Africa? Or is it something newer, stemming from the last centuries, or even last decades? And what cultures gave birth to dirty talk and swearing in the first place? This we will deal with in the next article on the subject.