Some weenie writes:
The true defender of harsh and vulgar words wants to keep them as harsh and vulgar words. That means keeping the general politeness norms in place so that the words keep their expressive power on those occasions when we employ them. People who say the word fuck every other word eventually inure those around them to it, after the initial shock. A word becomes too routinized, too ordinary while giving no offense and it loses all of its emotive power.
I never understand this arguement.
Whatever sense I can see in it is basically "if the word is used a lot, then it loses it's power."
Which can be taken two ways:
1. The majority of people in the location under context are swearing often.
-This would only serve to make someone who doesn't swear often stand out like a sore thumb. Then, when that person actually does swear the power in that word use would be magnified.
2. A few individuals are swearing often and "lowering the power of the word for everyone else"... somehow.
-If this is the situation (which it generally is), then the swearword isn't being overused in the first place so it doesn't make any sense at all.
If a few individuals swear a lot... that doesn't mean the words are being overused. That's the definition of "a few individuals"... that
means that a very low number of people are actually doing it. A few individuals swearing as often as possible does not make those words "overused" for any total forum. It does, however, make it glaringly obvious that other people are not swearing often... in which case (again) it's making the use of swearwords
more powerful for those who use restraint.
Conclusion:
If word usage is linked to power and you are concerned with that power, all you have to do is use personal restraint to use those words less and their power will increase whenever you do decide to use them. If any number of other people use those words it only serves to highlight how little you use it yourself. In fact, your best case scenario would be if
everyone else uses those words all the time. Then it would be exceptionally obvious that you never swear. And then, when you do... by golly the "power" of that usage would be higher than when Johnny said that thing to that teacher in grade 2.
Obviously, if you ascribe to this "words have a power level and we need to protect it" idea, then there is no rational reason for you to request other people to stop swearing.
The only reason behind using such an argument is an attempt to control other people's use of certain words because you yourself are judging other people to some standard you've got shoved up your own ass. So fuck off.
™ Version 4.2
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