Is that offensive? No, of course not. (If it is I don't apologise.) But if I said, 'Oh shit!' would that offend you?
Years ago, not long after I'd become a Christian I was talking to a Christian friend and I said something along the lines of, 'I was really chuffed to receive the present.' My friend bit her lip - she is a very gentle person and hates any sort of conflict - and said, 'I don't think you should say that.'
'Say what?'
'What you said. I think it's rude.'
Really? Even if I don't know it's rude?
{Incidentally I just checked with Mr Chambers and he has nothing unpleasant to say about chuffed. The Urban Dictionary on the other hand suggests chuff could refer to female genitalia or even back bottom, for want of a euphemism. And some people use it as an alternative to a 'worse' swear word.}
I don't swear. At least not aloud or in public. Only under my breath or when I'm alone. Some people get upset about it but it doesn't really bother me.
There's a school of thought that says swearing reveals an uneducated mind or a poor vocabulary. I don't believe that. Look at Stephen Fry. And I'm not entirely sure how a word can be offensive. The way it is used can be certainly but in itself what damage does it do?
When it's used as an adjective/adverb six times in a sentence the listener's brain tends to ignore it - or mine does. But on occasion it can be effective and even funny. As the opening sequence of Four Weddings demonstrates.
5 comments:
It seems any word, said often enough, loses all meaning. I swear, I learned from the best and though I try to refrain, sometimes it just slips out. Sometimes, when I write it, nothing else seems to fit.
It is hard to refrain sometimes but overall I never swear in public. Greetings!
I learned form my great-auntie Vi, Sharon!
Indeed it is impossible not to exclaim in some circumstances, Blogoratti.
Here's an easy way to avoid embarassment due to swearing:-
Swear in another language, e.g. Bavarian
Herrgottsakrafixellujascheissumverglegts!
It's not what you say so much as how you say it .
Shit! and Sugar! are interchangeable ... ( not , obviously in the kitchen )
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