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old hand
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Oh dear... the sweet taste of Dixie raspberries!  [grin] My dear As a personal issue, of course, I feel you have every right to have and hold an opinion, even, if you wish to take it so far, to remove yourself from situations in which your taste is dissed. But one must presume, therefore, that even in the lush Southern orchards of various berries, this is distinct from making a moral judgement about such people? And therefore this is not a political issue for you? Yours, in panting anticipation the sunshine (common as muck - but "I washed my hands before I come I did") warrior
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Pooh-Bah
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>The answer must lie purely in social context. The word is a shibboleth - a marker of distinction between one group and another. If one uses the word one is either in a very peculiar circumstance (of great stress or inebriation) or one comes from a group whose use of the word signifies some failing of mind in them (misogyny, lack of education, lack of aesthetic sensitivity, lack of social skills - you take your pick, mix'n'match).
Perhaps it is deep in our psyche that warning signals are set up by different types of behaviour. If someone behaves in an agressive way then we decide between fight and flight. Is it some kind of throwback that some of us have such a strong, almost physical, reaction to someone using a word in a non-agressive, even when it has virtually no contextual meaning?
When people use the word as merely an intensifier, instead of "very" as in "we had a f-in' good time" all they are saying to the world is "look at me, I'm breaking the rules"? In some places there is a strong reaction to that, in others, it is barely noticed.
I get a strong impression from the people who have posted that there is big difference in sensitivity to such language between the USA and Britain/New Zealand/Australia, especially amongst younger people. I'm still left wondering why.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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shanks, you're making me blush! And for no just cause! I know exactly what you are up to, sir! Will you ever be corriged???  You said, this is distinct from making a moral judgement about such people? And therefore this is not a political issue for you?Dam' straight. Who am I to tell other people how to act? Nobody, that's who! But I can choose what I want to be around.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Although I reject the theological beliefs of my Puritan ancestors totally, I am only partially divorced from their strong prohibitions against obscenities. To me they are simply extremely bad taste in mixed company, and tiresome even in males only groups. They add absolutely nothing to any discussion, and mostly indicate inability to use acceptable language effectively. I am guilty of obscenities all too often, and am not proud of it.Moderation in all things is still my motto.
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old hand
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I get a strong impression from the people who have posted that there is big difference in sensitivity to such language between the USA and Britain/New Zealand/Australia, especially amongst younger people. I'm still left wondering why.
I think "younger people" will grow out of it. I certainly swore a blue streak in high school. I used to like to point out the irony that I'd learned to swear in Catholic school. But then I just sort of stopped, and now I don't swear much, unless I'm extremely steamed. People seem to view others who swear a lot in everyday conversation as somewhat childish, or showing a lack of command of language to convey feelings. It also shows (as someone else mentioned) a lack of respect for others' sensibilities. So I guess I just kind of stopped, not wanting to be viewed by my mostly older friends as (1) childish, (2) inept with language, and (3) insensitive.
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old hand
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Jackie O'Hara suggests:
"But I can choose what I want to be around. And anyway, tomorrow is another day! Humph." (And in the background, Loo'ville is silhouetted against the burning skies of Atlanta, as she tosses her windblown auburn hair {do we care that it may be a wig} to show her contempt for that nasty Sherman - really, he can't be a gentleman if he has to win his battles using twice as many men as the poor brave Southerners - Lafitte, Butler, Lee et al.)
Frankly, m'dear, since you have brought up the topic, you have exercised your indubitable right to free speech in explaining your contempt for this verbal register (characterised by you as crude, or mayhap vulgar, 'swearing', rude, childish and the like) - and in doing so have you not therefore made it acceptable for those of opposing opinions (personal though they may be - just like yours) to exemplify their contrariwise attitudes by deliberately saying "I don't give a {gliding coitus, airborne sexual intercourse, soaring carnal knowledge, oh, go on then, we'll use the wussy euphemism} Dutch edam?"
Less convolutedly - could it be construed as offensive to 'innocent' users of such phrases that you might choose to animadvert about it in public - particularly if you brand them childish, know-nothings, rudesbys and so on?
And as an aside, an ass is a thing that Jesus rides in triumph, not a swear word. What you're thinking of is the derivation from Chaucer's wonderful ers (vide "The Miller's Tale", concerning Alisoun's actions in response to Absolon's nocturnal wooing), and, as any good Anglic person knows, is spelled, and pronounced, A-R-S-E. A word of impeccable pedigree, and so much more robust than the Bowdlerian derriere or just plain nauseating: patootiie, behind, bottom etc. If it's good enough for Chaucer and Shakespeare, it's good enough for me.
Yours in ineffably delicious tension in anticipation of your retaliatory effusions...
the sunshine warrior
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Careful, Shanks, how you posture,lest you get what Nicholas got.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>When middle and upper class Michiganians hear, "I ain't got no ...," the status of the speaker is immediately fixed.
I suspect that you don;t have to be middle or upper class Michiganian to assess the class or lack thereof of such a speaker :)
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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And as an aside, an ass is a thing that Jesus rides in triumph, not a swear word. What you're thinking of is the derivation from Chaucer's wonderful ers (vide "The Miller's Tale", concerning Alisoun's actions in response to Absolon's nocturnal wooing), and, as any good Anglic person knows, is spelled, and pronounced, A-R-S-E.
So ... triumph means an arse on an ass in Britain, an ass on a donkey in the States and [note the Mandarin-like smile :-)] an ass on an ass in New Zealand. Sounds about right, really!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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