[4401] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: badwords
tiuzzol@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (tiuzzol@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Tue Mar 8 02:27:09 1994
> [4399] adwright@ATHENA.MIT.EDU Depressing_Thoughts 03/08/94 02:15 (9 lines)
> Subject: Re: badwords
> [in response to woof's comment about curse-words conveying violence]
>
> I think that their being considered violent is a direct result of people
> using it in situations of conflict/violence because it is a taboo.
>
> To grant the words themselves violent-power, is a mistake. People ought
> to be desensitized to such "profanity". When it's not taboo, it's
> nothing at all, nothing to worry about, and certainly nothing to censor.
>
> --[4399]-- (pref = [4398], nref = [4400])
You are trying to change the language. We are trying to understand each other.
We grant every word power by giving it a meaning. We grant each word more power
by giving it a limited, focussed meaning. That doesn't make words taboo, that
makes them useful.
