Shut Up And Listen 104

Obscene Language The Creation Of People Who Are At The Root Of All That Ails Humanity
This was in Thursday March 6, 2003’s London Free Press. It caught my attention, and you’ll see why.

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The following is my response to this. I’ve sent it to the paper, but odds are it won’t be published. But I think it’s suits here perfectly fine as the final column of the second year of Shut Up And Listen.

I won’t share my exact first thoughts after reading Ian Darrell McPhail’s column entitled Obscene language at root of all that ails humanity (March 6, 2003), but as a person who sees nothing wrong with uttering so-called “obscenities” maybe you can imagine.
	I would firstly like to state my apologies if it was satire, which it might well could have been, as it possessed many of the same characteristics that satire does (taking the extreme view and presenting it in an illogical and faulty manner, for one).
But if it wasn’t, I would like take issue with his claim that “People seeking a quick and easy way to augment their lack-lustre vocabularies often resort to use of obscenities.” For those paying attention, he basically said people swear because they don’t know any other words that they can use. Honestly, I can’t argue against this. I’m not admitting any lack on my part, but on the English language. I would like to think I have a well-rounded vocabulary, especially since friends and family both sometimes complain about my being a little too verbose in speech, but I also swear. This is because there are no proper “clean” synonyms for “swear” words. When I trip over some shoes in the dark saying “Oh my, that rather hurt!” just doesn’t seem adequate.
	Also, I rather resent the implication that somehow I am uneducated or somehow evil because I use certain words. They’re only words, and words in and of themselves are neutral, and it is the intent behind them that adds a positive or negative meaning.
	For example, here is a sentence where the meaning is one of insult, but with everyday words: “Glass off, you box-sucking mother-ranger!” Now, say the new meanings that I’ve attributed to the words caught on, would those words become somehow bad? No. It is not the words which are negative or positive, but the intention with which they’re used.
	I find it rather worrying that when there are so many worse things going on in the world that a person would devote so much time and effort to a few words they don’t like. That’s one of the problems with society today. People focus on trivial things like the f-word and the s-word, while ignoring the larger ailments of the world. Never mind the poverty or starvation or deplorable violence or any of those other horrible things, “naughty” words are what deserve our attention and scorn!
	Obscenity is in ideas, not individual words. In fact, the judgement of those who use them by you, is an obscenity to me. It is ignorant and without merit. Some of the nicest and best people I know swear without thinking twice because they’re only words without any actual negativity. The only reason why they have any negative connotations are because of people like you, who give them such.