http://blogs.smh.com.au/sit/archives/2007/10/language_problems_oh_sheesh.html
Since when has yelling at a toilet been a fineable offense? Aparently, as long as there has been swearing.
After being over heard by her neighbor, the cop, Dawn Herb now could suffer a $300 fine or up to 90 days in jail for swearing at her overflowing toilet. (If it helps clarify things , this was in Scranton, PA, the same town where NBC's "The Office" take place.)
Why do we have these lovely utterances, which apparently can put a person behind bars, in our language? What purpose do they serve?
According to Timmothy Jay in his book "Why We Curse: A Neuro-Psycho-Social Theory of Speech" (search: http://books.google.com/):
"Cursing permits a speaker to express strong emotions and/or produce an emotional impact on a listener. The impact can be positive, as in Joking or sexual enticement, or it can be negative, as in name calling or sexual harrassment." (p.9)
Jay points out that Paul Broca ( discoverer of the Broca's area, left frontal lobe of the brain when damaged produces aphasia) noticed that his patients still had the ability to swear and express emotional feelings towards their family. This was overlooked by Broca and his contemporaries, as their focus was aphasia, but has considerable significance in the realm of swearing.
This would imply it is possible that swearing, both in casual and taboo settings, is connected to the presence of strong emotion. So is the taboo based on when it is and isn't acceptable to certain levels of emotion? Who you can be open with, and who you can't be open with?
I'd have to say no. I do agree that there is some connection between swearing and emotion-- certainly Ms. Herb would agree to that, as I'm sure she was feeling many emotions at the time-- but I also feel it connects, at least in teen-use, back to the culture of slang, each generation wanting to differentiate from those before. Even if the curse words have existed long before the latest generation was even concieved, the unused "forbidden" words of the previous generation offer certain appeal to a group subconciously striving for uniqueness.
Although they may offer a certain emotional bond in their ussage among friends, I think this is only part of their background in use and language.
(So does Timmothy Jay. His book goes on to discuss the NPS theory-- where he poses the Neurological, Psychological, and Social-cultural systems which interplay to effect when and how we curse, or refreain from cursing. Check out the chart on page 22)
Is some form of cursing present in most of the languages represented in class? Are any devoid of cursing?
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5 comments:
Great post, swearing is a fascinating topic. Be sure to check out other blogs about this issue that have been written by your classmates!
I had no idea you could get fined for swearing, especially within your own home. I think that swearing in a sense exists in all cultures and languages. Even if a culture does not have what are considered to be "swear words", I feel like there are always certain forbidden ideas and comments.
thought you might also find this interesting: http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/10/study-says-its-.html
Like Autumn, I didn't know that a person could get fined for swearing... Is this a violation of free speech to a certain extent?
Sort of yes, sort of no. In completely free speech, you can say anything all the time, but the American system has long been limmitted. It is illegal to wander around in publich shouthing curse words to protect the public from vulgarity and indecency. The problem wasn't that she was swearing, it's that she was doing it loud enough to be heard in the street. (Also that she didn't stop when her neighbor, the cop, asked her, and that he appears to have been in a bad mood.)
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