present and in awe.

What are technically swear-words and what are technically not swear-words

Sunday, August 10, 2008 @ 7:19 pm.

So, I had this really interesting conversation with my dad when we were at my relative's house to watch the National Day Parade, celebrate a grand-uncle's birthday and sit around until eleven-thirty or so watching Olympic boxing. It was about what's considered a vulgarity and what's not.

So this is what happened. I'm going to censor everything so people's filters don't act up.

Still, in your daily life, please continue to treat these words as vulgarities. I'm going to. Ensure safety and maintain a good decorum.

THESE CONCLUSIONS ARE NOT 100% TRUE. Please don't follow them or cite this entry regarding any disputes you might have regarding this issue. Thank you.

WHAT IS TECHNICALLY NOT A VULGARITY/SWEAR-WORD (but still. Don't use it)

D**n
This is a real English word. It is short for d**nation, which basically means (summed up from Wikipedia and Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

Punishment by God
Condemnation by humans
General condemning

It isn't a "swear-word" per se. It's found in the dictionary. And it's relevant. So saying "d**n you" would be "Condemn you!" So you can say "Condemn it" or "Ancient condemnation!" (referring to Romeo and Juliet) and it would still mean the same thing. So technically it's not a "swear-word" but it can be replaced pretty well by the word condemn, so don't use it. (sentence fragments galore)

SUGGESTED REPLACEMENT: condemn

S**t
This is also a real English word. Basically, it means excrement. Using to describe a situation, he said, would be calling it a mess.

SUGGESTED REPLACEMENT: excrement

C**p
Synonym of s**t.

SUGGESTED REPLACEMENT: excrement

H**l
This place exists in the beliefs of many religions.

SUGGESTED REPLACEMENT: If you're trying to describe a place or a situation as being so incredibly disastrous that it is h**l, just use disaster or catastrophe or something like that. You'll get your point across.

Bl**dy
Is blood a vulgarity? Then why would this be?

SUGGESTED REPLACEMENT: If the object/situation you are describing is not particularly covered in blood, then use the adjective that would most fit the scenario.

WHAT IS TECHNICALLY NOT A VULGARITY/SWEAR-WORD UNLESS USED IN AN UNTRUE CONTEXT (but still. Don't use it)

B***h
Means female dog.

B*****d
Means an illegitimate child.

Obviously if you start calling people dogs or illegitimate children when they're not would be offensive.
SUGGESTED REPLACEMENT: Something that would more befit a human/ that situation.

WHAT TECHNICALLY WOULD BE A VULGARITY/SWEAR-WORD (So don't use it)

F**k
To have sexual intercourse with. Generally a crude term.

C**t
Vulgar word referring to the female genitalia.

M*****f****r
To ____ your mother.

SUGGESTED REPLACEMENT: Personally I don't think you should use them, or land yourself in a context where you have to use them. I suggest to use the more scientific terms.

WORDS THAT WERE NOT DISCUSSED
A**

A**h**e

And again.
THESE CONCLUSIONS ARE NOT 100% TRUE. Please don't follow them or cite this entry regarding any disputes you might have regarding this issue. Thank you.