Have people ever felt disgusted or uncomfortable when they hear someone drop an angry word? In today’s society, however, vulgarity and profanity exists everywhere; in conversation with someone else, from overheard conversations, on graffiti, even in the movies claimed to be “family”. We all may understand this hard fact, because we may have seen it, or even done it. However, James Donlon, who works on The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property website, understands this fact and has told about it. In his article on the website, “8 Reasons to STOP Cussing”, Donlon briefly compares the harmful nature of vulgarity similar to “a virus”, as such language can be found almost every aspect of our daily lives (2017). This statement could not be truer, because this makes avoiding scandal easier said than done. Although a word heard from afar can be shrugged away without being accepted, many people just shrug off the fact of profane cursing as a bad thing, or even accept it as normal. But how has contemporary society grown to be used to such indecent language? What supports the cold, hard truth and consequences that follow improper restraint on language? I will explain how today’s society has grown to accept cursing, how cursing destroys the person’s self, and how cursing destroys the person’s society.
As sad as the state of today’s society looks, many people have grown to accept cursing. But how did society grow used to it? This has been going on for decades past, which Donlon knows well. According to his article mentioned above, most of movie audiences saw the introduction of inappropriate language as unpopular. They simply didn’t like it, because they know nothing justified the use of such words. As time went on, however, indecent language in movies was more accepted by more people, which lead to the numbing of society’s moral sense (Donlon 2017). Looking at the perspective of supply and demand, more movie producers were more likely to incorporate more vulgar and profane words into their scripts because of less opposition (unless the implementation of such is deliberate), and the chain reaction leads to a spreading of more acceptance to horrible words. Consequently, these words are picked up by audience members who become accustomed to copying bad example, which spreads it even further. Sadly, some people just shrug off the reality of the situation.
Selwyn Duke, a writer for The New American magazine, also understands some people shrug away that the truth about profane swearing. He talks about one counterargument people might make to this objection to his contribution in Vol. 33, Issue 14, “Cussing & cultural decay”. In his article, he claims that some people might say these words “[are] just words”. However, Duke continues that words that are spoken in a certain context do reference what they mean (2020). Someone who calls a person a dirty dog out of spitefulness spitefully labels someone out of detestation referencing a “dirty dog”. Even though using explicit language is much worse, nobody likes to be called a dirty dog, do they? Let’s try another example; someone’s coworker walks up to him and tells him that he “did a [blocked] good job” on a speech or project. First, when a person uses a word usually spoken and even associated with anger, including a certain word with the fourth or sixth letter of the alphabet, the sentence becomes no longer wholesome, but contradictory in a sense. Donlon discusses in his article that profane language “spreads verbal and mental poverty”. He explains what he means; when profane language constantly gets uttered by people during occasions like “joy, anger, surprise, approval, and disapproval”, including students in the college setting, speech loses the meaning it had with the wholesome words normally used to describe such occasions, which impoverishes the human mind (2017). Essentially, people get so used to bad language that it seems to be thrown sporadically once the habit gets in tight.
Sometimes, the habit can get so addicting that some people think that profane cursing can even be beneficial. Tiffanie Wen, a writer contributing to BBC Future on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) website, evaluates some of the supposed “advantages” to using vulgar and profane words. According to her article, a study recorded by Danette Ifert Johnson in her journal, “Swearing by Peers in the Work Setting: Expectancy Violation Valence, Perceptions of Message, and Perceptions of Speaker”, showed that using vulgarity can make a person’s message much more persuasive (Wen 2016, qtd. in Johnson). However, since these words are only extra to the sentence, at best, the sentence doesn’t seem to be made more persuasive. Instead, the sentence may gain a different tone or sometimes a different meaning. For example, if someone comments about a speech made by a coworker with a positive review (maybe the same people from my earlier example) but uses word that uses the fourth letter of the alphabet, you might think he sounds angry or stressed or sarcastic. What could have been a good sentence can, with one bad word, make the tone sound wrong or evil even. You would probably think there was something about the speech he found he didn’t like, although not necessarily the speech itself. Even though your listeners might ignore it, the better option involves removing ugly expressions from those sentences. Excluding vulgarity from these sentences won’t make them any less convincing, but even so, it can make your sentence at lease a bit more pleasant to the ears of your listeners. With that in mind, let’s look at the destructive force profanity can have on a person.
Profanity does nothing but destroys a person’s self. First of all, the person’s self-image becomes degraded as a nasty consequence of using vulgarity. Because profane words are ugly and mean, the use of these words do not build on good character, as Donlon explains in the article referenced earlier (2017). The person’s knowledge and vocabulary also become corrupted by repetitive use of obscene language, which Donlon knows well. He continues in his article that when curse words are used repetitively as mentioned in the above paragraph, speech loses meaning, which impoverishes the human mind (Donlon 2017). Many good words can be used to describe the situation at hand, and there was a time when the majority of such conversations were wholesome for the other person or people in the conversation to hear. Curse words drag down that conversation. And worse, bad language can also corrupt a person’s mind. French writer Paul Bourget understands where certain bad habits can lead people. His famous quote goes as follows, “One must live as one thinks, under pain of sooner or later ending up thinking as one has lived”, according to his book, Le démon du Midi (1914 375). Donlon mentions this quote in his work previously mentioned and explains that this means that usage bad language can drive a person to dirty thoughts and dirty actions (2017).
Furthermore, the usage of ugly words destroys others’ image of that person. Because vulgar words are odious either in purpose (a driver “condemns” another reckless driver) or meaning (a word that includes the sixth letter of the alphabet), to use such words in an angry manner shows a lack of kindness and respect to others. A person angrily throwing a word with the fourth or sixth letter in the alphabet clearly shows a lack of patience for another person whose very intention the safe driver doesn’t even know. Likewise, this other example must be true; Donlon explains in his article mentioned above that a professor who uses indecent language in front of his vulnerable students, “he shows and appalling lack of respect for his students, no self-control, and utter irreverence for his position as teacher” (2017). Such usage of language can also be damaging to others, as the pitch team for an Indian food company name Swiggy understands. In their article, “Swiggy’s latest campaign #WhatTheFalooda, a thought-provoking take on customer behaviour.”, they explain that “according to a…study”, angry messages with an unrestrained choice of words has severely hurt customer care representatives not only emotionally, but also in the psychological aspect (2020). In other words, it shouldn’t surprise us when people are deeply hurt by words that we have been accustomed to knowing as being unkind and passionate (not in a good way) when used in a certain way. And it also shouldn’t surprise once I go over the damage explicit expressions do on everyone else.
Vulgarity also has harmful effects in the society around us. First of all, just as our example and actions can be copied and picked up by those who observe us, the same thing can unfortunately be said for profanity. Children especially pick up example from others, and Donlon explains that in his article mentioned earlier that “the words we use educate”, and that influence has a stronger power on the young, ever-learning minds of children (2017). If movie series such as “The Avengers” franchise gets promoted as ‘kids’ and ‘family’, but the movies include things that children should not become exposed to, this may scandalize the children and jeopardize their innocence. This unfortunately has been building up for decades since inappropriate language has been introduced into film. Donlon states in his article mentioned earlier that as time went on, such language in movies was more accepted by more people, which lead to the numbing of society’s moral sense (2017). Today, many are so blinded about the truth about foul words that some people care little about breaking their bad habits, if they have any. And the damage will only get worse if this scandalization continues.
Speaking of scandalization, many countries from all over the world may have a profanity problem similar to our country, if profanity isn’t outright glorified in those countries. An anonymous writer gives an example of the ever-degrading state of society in the country of India. According to their article on the Tennessee Electronic Library, “Bollywood Actresses Fantasize With Foul And Cuss Words”, contemporary Bollywood actresses throw odious expressions in their latest movie releases, and the author continues that India’s movies become popular just for using such language. He continues that movies today “[reflect] the reality” of modern society, and given the power of the motion picture medium, if people hear inappropriate words in areas of entertainment such as motion pictures or songs, they get the idea that using those words in normal conversation must also be alright (2013). Bad example works this way, especially if a means of bad example such as a movie or song rests among one of the most popular. As mentioned by Donlon previously in his article referenced earlier, we show example by the very choice of words we speak (2017).
Furthermore, anyone who catches the habit from you and gets used to it might experience some of the same negative effects listed by Donlon in his article I mentioned earlier and that I listed in my essay previously. As he said in the beginning of his article, and like I mentioned in the beginning of the essay, profane language has similarities to “a virus” (Donlon 2017). The more they spread, the more damage they do to society. Donlon continues that bad habits are tough to get rid of, and the same goes for profanity (2017). If something accidently comes out, and someone takes it as scandal, you can say “please don’t repeat that one word I just said” if the people who listened were the people being spoken to directly.
In conclusion, many people in contemporary society accept cursing due to a corruption of moral values over time. Nevertheless, vulgar language harms both the person’s image and reputation. Furthermore, ugly language corrupts and dismantles society by targeting wholesome values. To me, these inappropriate words also sound rude too. The most important thing to do now is to stay calm, and do not beat yourself up now that you know. what is right. Persevere in your goals to stop using ugly words, and if something accidentally slips out, please be sure to apologize. Sarai Walker, a writer for the Scholastic Choices magazine, gives good pieces of advice for trying to stop using foul language in her contribution, “Foul Mouth: Your vocabulary is filled with profanity, here’s how to clean up your language. (Etiquette/Personal Responsibility)”, found in Vol. 17, Issue 6. According to her work, first identify your problem and find the cause, because knowing the very problem can very much help you to know what you need to root out. After that, stop cursing casually (Walker 2002 17). The more people know about the problem, the clearer and easier the solution can be, even when it comes to raising awareness. Walker continues on her third step, being to try to restrain your anger from getting out of hand. She continues that James V. O’Connor, a person knowledgeable on this topic, explains a way to do so in his book, “Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing”. Walker continues that according to his work, stopping for a while and thinking can help you to curb yourself from accidentally uttering something regrettable (2002 17, qtd. in O’Connor 2006). Walker also offers her fourth step in the form of finding replacement words to use (2002 17).
Today, there are many ‘replacements’ for the actual inappropriate words, such as derivatives or completely different words altogether. Someone might use a term such as ‘heck’ to replace another similar word used in a bad context. However, just in my opinion, I think that the habit of using something remains. This means that although they might be able to stop saying ‘true profanity’, saying the ‘replacement’ might become just as habitual as biting nails. If one replaces smoking with taking something that contains the chemicals that make cigarettes addicting, they may become healthier, but they technically didn’t stop their addiction to those chemicals. If craving for those chemical ingredients remain, some people (maybe not all) might return to smoking, and with a chance of being permanently hooked. Whether or not this analogy works one hundred percent, if someone were used to saying these replacement words regularly like a habit, there could be a chance one day that person could probably accidentally utter the word they didn’t mean to say out of anger or surprise. I call this the “habit boomerang” because if a person tries to replace one bad habit with something that can also become a bad habit, they might fall into an occasion to “boomerang” back to the worse habit one day. I know completely getting rid of a no-good habit such as uttering forbidden words may not always be easy, but grit and perseverance will break through with rewarding results in the end (but most of all, of course, with God’s Grace, without which nothing can be done). Angela Duckworth, a person who talked on the TED Talks video, “Grit: The power of passion and perseverance”, understands what grit can do for a person. She states in her video on TED.com that “we have to be willing to fail, to be wrong, [and] to start over again with lessons learned” when she wanted to get her audience to teach their children about being gritty (Duckworth 5:41-47). However, the quoted portion above can be well applied to persevering in resolutions like avoiding bad language; while it doesn’t necessarily mean someone should want to fail or to say “why continue anyways” when we fall, but it means that the person should understand what they have done, get back up, and persevere knowing that the goal can be achieved.
Most importantly, if you hear an inappropriate word spoken toward someone else, or even you, don’t worry about it and remember the truth. Donlon states in his article referenced above that example can be used for good, and this example can also be taken (2017). As I mentioned in this essay previously, there was a time when true and wholesome conversation lived freely in society. As I have also stated earlier, the more people know, the more they will hopefully be careful not to deliberately continue the mistakes of the majority (or the minority, depending).
Works Cited
“Bollywood Actresses Fantasize With Foul And Cuss Words.” The Day After, 1 Nov. 2013. Gale OneFile: News, https://link-gale-com.elib.southwest.tn.edu:3443/apps/doc/A347958009/GPS?u=tel_a_shelby&sid=GPS&xid=6ae20f06. Accessed 28 Apr. 2020.
Bourget, Paul. Le démon de Midi. Librairie Plon, 1914.
Donlon, James. “8 Reasons to Stop Cussing Forever.” TFP Student Action, 22 Mar. 2017, tfpstudentaction.org/blog/8-reasons-to-stop-cussing.
Duckworth, Angela. Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. TED Talks. TED.com. Web. April 2013.
Duke, Selwyn. “Cussing & cultural decay.” The New American, vol. 33, no. 14, 24 July 2017, p. 19+. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-com.elib.southwest.tn.edu:3443/apps/doc/A500339860/GPS?u=tel_a_shelby&sid=GPS&xid=52102e5c. Accessed 27 Apr. 2020.
Johnson, Danette Ifert. “Swearing by Peers in the Work Setting: Expectancy Violation Valence, Perceptions of Message, and Perceptions of Speaker.” Communication Studies, vol. 63, no. 2, 22 Mar. 2012, pp. 136–151. Taylor & Francis Online, doi:10.1080/10510974.2011.638411.
O’Connor, James. Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing. iUniverse, 2006.
“Swiggy’s latest campaign #WhatTheFalooda, a thought-provoking take on customer behaviour.” Pitch, 17 Jan. 2020, p. NA. Gale OneFile: Economics and Theory, https://link-gale-com.elib.southwest.tn.edu:3443/apps/doc/A611550742/GPS?u=tel_a_shelby&sid=GPS&xid=b1a97040. Accessed 27 Apr. 2020.
Walker, Sarai. “Foul Mouth: Your vocabulary is filled with profanity, here’s how to clean up your language. (Etiquette/Personal Responsibility).” Scholastic Choices, vol. 17, no. 6, Mar. 2002, p. 15+. Gale In Context: College, https://link-gale-com.elib.southwest.tn.edu:3443/apps/doc/A83806092/GPS?u=tel_a_shelby&sid=GPS&xid=f5bf3438. Accessed 29 Apr. 2020.
Wen, Tiffanie. “The Surprising Benefits of Swearing.” BBC Future, BBC, 3 Mar. 2016, http://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160303-the-surprising-benefits-of-swearing.
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