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Words have meaning.
It's the meaning we give them, true. And that meaning is subject to change over time.
Take "zounds." It was a shortened, slurred version of "God's wounds," and it was once considered a serious obscenity. Over time, that meaning was eroded until the word became something cartoon characters said. And then it became too silly even for that.
The meaning is similarly being eroded from modern obscenities. That's natural, part of the evolution of our culture and language. I don't think it stands as a sign of moral decay.
But those words haven't been replaced. And that's a problem because obscenity has its place, its use.
Me, I curse. Very rarely. I use those words for the times when the situation really calls for it. So that they mean something when I do. More generally, I use things like "dammit" or "crap," or, when things are a few steps worse than that, "frak." (Which used to be "frag," but naturally shifted thanks to BSG.)
Because of that, I still hear those words as obscenities. I have a gut reaction to them. Literally. I hear my mother use the s-word, and my gut clenches for a moment. It's a sickening word.
To me, anyway. In popular culture, it's becoming just another word to color your speech. It's not even "edgy" anymore. Hasn't been for years. And there's nothing to replace it. Nothing that counts as a real obscenity that isn't a racial slur or something. I don't know what we can do about that.
Meantime, the same thing is happening to the word "fail." I've talked about that a bit before, I think. "Fail" is supposed to mean that, well... you fail. It's an F on your report card. It's a damning assessment by your boss or commander. It's a declaration not just that you weren't good enough, but that the inadequacy of your efforts has led to the worst possible outcome.
But now, you go to Failblog, and it's just casually tossed around. "Fail" doesn't mean "you screwed up on a critical level," it means "haha, you made a mistake" or "oops, you overlooked a silly double entendre." And everyone comes around and laughs and points at the poor sucker who did something a little silly and says "you fail!"
Partly, that's the word losing it's meaning. Partly, is that it's much easier and more comfortable to criticize someone, to mock them, to shame them, to yell at them, and/or to degrade them on the faceless 'net.
Point is, though, that the word has meaning. And I respect that meaning. Or cling to it, if you prefer. But I don't use it unless it really seems called for. So that it actually means something when I say:
I fail at life.
It's the meaning we give them, true. And that meaning is subject to change over time.
Take "zounds." It was a shortened, slurred version of "God's wounds," and it was once considered a serious obscenity. Over time, that meaning was eroded until the word became something cartoon characters said. And then it became too silly even for that.
The meaning is similarly being eroded from modern obscenities. That's natural, part of the evolution of our culture and language. I don't think it stands as a sign of moral decay.
But those words haven't been replaced. And that's a problem because obscenity has its place, its use.
Me, I curse. Very rarely. I use those words for the times when the situation really calls for it. So that they mean something when I do. More generally, I use things like "dammit" or "crap," or, when things are a few steps worse than that, "frak." (Which used to be "frag," but naturally shifted thanks to BSG.)
Because of that, I still hear those words as obscenities. I have a gut reaction to them. Literally. I hear my mother use the s-word, and my gut clenches for a moment. It's a sickening word.
To me, anyway. In popular culture, it's becoming just another word to color your speech. It's not even "edgy" anymore. Hasn't been for years. And there's nothing to replace it. Nothing that counts as a real obscenity that isn't a racial slur or something. I don't know what we can do about that.
Meantime, the same thing is happening to the word "fail." I've talked about that a bit before, I think. "Fail" is supposed to mean that, well... you fail. It's an F on your report card. It's a damning assessment by your boss or commander. It's a declaration not just that you weren't good enough, but that the inadequacy of your efforts has led to the worst possible outcome.
But now, you go to Failblog, and it's just casually tossed around. "Fail" doesn't mean "you screwed up on a critical level," it means "haha, you made a mistake" or "oops, you overlooked a silly double entendre." And everyone comes around and laughs and points at the poor sucker who did something a little silly and says "you fail!"
Partly, that's the word losing it's meaning. Partly, is that it's much easier and more comfortable to criticize someone, to mock them, to shame them, to yell at them, and/or to degrade them on the faceless 'net.
Point is, though, that the word has meaning. And I respect that meaning. Or cling to it, if you prefer. But I don't use it unless it really seems called for. So that it actually means something when I say:
I fail at life.
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And yeah, it was used in old comic books and cartoons. It sounds silly when you say it, but isn't an obvious swear word. And its Shakespearean origins led it to sometimes be applied to characters with archaic speech patterns.
Sad to say I couldn't find an image of them saying it, though. Comic book fans who use it as a username, people referring to it having been used, that sort of thing. It was, for example, included here as a supposed onomatopoeia. It was also taken as the company name of the people who made these comic book headphones.
Oh, and it also turns out that it was the name of a 70's British rock band.
Strange, how the word's been used...