Words denoting sex, certain bodily functions, taboo acts, referring to people with words used to signify animals (such as calling a woman a female dog–a bitch) are often coined bad words or curse words. Vulgarity is automatically attached to some words.

Many use those words just because they are bad words. They shock and often cause a visceral response. Bad word overkill is quite evident nowadays. But sometimes you want words to shock or cause a reaction, particularly when telling a story or in fiction. These words are super adjectives. You can say: I’m not just mad, I’m damn mad or worse.

I personally cannot get het up by words that are supposed to be bad or verboten. To me, words are just words–useful units to convey meaning. A composer uses musical notes to write a song, I use words to get across a message, communicate or tell a story.

Getting all self-righteous and judgmental about certain words is beyond me.

Sometimes these words are the right words to convey appropriate meaning or connected emotion though. Some people use these words as a matter of course to convey how bad they are. Check out any Quentin Tarantino movie. That’s how the characters talk. If writing fiction that includes these sort of people–if one wants to be realistic, one uses the words that convey the actual way real people talk.

I’m uncomfortable with a child using words to refer to sexual activity, be it copulate or fuck. Children learn early certain words have connotations. A parent often has to explain to them what makes a word bad. They seldom understand at first if they are too young for the conversation. Inevitably, when you get around to explaining it, or need to explain it–it’s usually too late. The kids already know all the bad words and can probably use them better than you can.

Do bad people use bad words? I guess that could be their point. It’s worth explaining to kids that using certain words can send a message about that person–sometimes a negative one.

I don’t often see the need to use bad words in regular conversation, but then I’m usually not discussing sexual activity, bodily functions or taboos with folks. If I were, I would want to use the right word. Sometimes fuck is the right word rather than coitus. It depends on the situation or usage in addition to the effect the word needs to have.

As far as using bad words for emphasis and shock, I use them far more often in written form than I would verbally. I don’t often talk one-on-one or give public talks on the things that emotionally affect me or piss me off–if I did, I might want to sprinkle a bad word or two in there for effect.

Is piss a bad word? I don’t even know any more. Literally, it means to urinate–a bodily function. In vernacular or slang I use the word piss like I’d use the word salty. I can say something made me salty or something pissed me off. Pissed me off is better known and more common vernacular, but if I were speaking to my (black) grandparent’s generation I’d use the term made me salty.

It did not bother me a whit to use the word motherfucker in my title on the previous post. It was the right word. I didn’t even think about it. I assume all my readers are familiar with the word and aren’t learning anything new such as they might have in my post years ago when I wrote about the then-fad of bleaching one’s anus to make it appear more attractive (at least I assumed y’all learned something new and weren’t already bleaching away–if so I wonder about you. If your skin is brown already a bleached anus is going to look rather strange…and how many people are looking at it anyway? Sheesh. But I digress…).

The video uses the word to shock and it’s often used in urban underclass to glory in their supposed degradation–to claim it for their own, so to speak. Doing such is deemed cool, hip and cutting edge. The video wouldn’t have been nearly as viral or effective with the targeted demographic if D-Mite crowed, “Read a book, read a book, read a super wonderful book!” He knew yelling, “Read a mothafuckin’ book” would get their attention.

It sure got mine.

In short, as far as being the word police, I’m not the one.

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