Today's New York Times has a fascinating article about the history of curse words. For those delicate souls who would try and stifle such speech, keep this in mind:
Yet researchers who study the evolution of language and the psychology of swearing say that they have no idea what mystic model of linguistic gentility the critics might have in mind. Cursing, they say, is a human universal. Every language, dialect or patois ever studied, living or dead, spoken by millions or by a small tribe, turns out to have its share of forbidden speech, some variant on comedian George Carlin's famous list of the seven dirty words that are not supposed to be uttered on radio or television.For the record, Carlin's seven dirty words are shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits.
1 comment:
I only use two of those on regular basis (mostly under my breath or inside my head), and two of those I absolutely never EVER say or even think of in any situation and my skin crawls just reading them or hearing someone utter them.
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