Quote:
Originally Posted by Tervuren
I think its weird how people call things "cursing" when it isn't even a curse!
Cursing is telling some one "May your toes turn into worms and fall off!", or "May your shoes always squeak in a way that sounds like a Justin Beiber recording."
Then people call things swearing that isn't. Swearing would be something like "By Mary".(I think bloody actually is a contraction for a swear, but I no longer remember the meaning).
Then there is vulgarity, which is what a lot of people use the above words to refer to. Vulgarities are typically German/Saxon words with Norman counterparts that mean the same thing. It wasn't befitting of a noble of the new ruling class(Norman conquerors) to use the words of the old ones(Saxon). So its ok to say crap(norman), refering to excrement, but its vulgar to use 5hit(Germanic). A German word for thrusting is vulgar, but the Norman word screw isn't. So you can say that you screwed something up, but its improper to use the Germanic of F'ing something up even though they both mean the same thing.
Then there is profanity, which again, I hear misused to refer to vulgarity, although depending on some words, you can have things that are both profanity and vulgarity. Profanity is using things that people may consider sacred in a common usage. A profanity that makes me want to comment when some one around me says it, is when people who are used to using the word hell as a common adjective will say "cold as hell" without realizing how stupid they just sounded.... I soooo wannt comment "Musta not been that cold...."
annnnd, I'm not used to being up when people are saying g'night in this thread, I guess I'm stuck on the old time and not in bed yet...
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One of the ladies I worked with several years ago was a prude when it came to almost any profanity. She would get upset when she heard the occasional string of cussing from the production area. Even when a processor had just broken down and we had a big expensive mess and the cussing was justified.
The funny thing is this lady would use the word heck as in "hot as heck" but she would never say hell. One day I put the dictionary on her desk with one page copied. The one page I highlighted the definition of heck. That pissed her off.
