英语语法:222 Swearing
时间:2018-12-01 作者:英语课 分类:英语语法 Grammar Girl
Today’s episode is about swearing.
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Swearing has been in the news a lot lately, especially since a U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the longstanding FCC ban on vulgar language on radio and network television. Reader Michael Oberdacker wonders what makes a word vulgar. He wrote in an e-mail, “Who decides that? I mean it’s just a word like any other; who has the authority to say it’s not polite to say [it] in public, or polite company?”
Swearing Packs an Emotional Punch
Strange as it may seem, as speakers of any language intuitively know, a swear word is NOT just “a word like any other.” People who suffer a loss of speech because of damage to the language-processing parts of their brain often retain the ability to curse, for example, because swear words are processed in the brain’s limbic system, the area responsible for emotions.
Experiments have shown that hearing or reading dirty words affects people emotionally, as indicated by an increase in their Galvanic skin response. Obscenity or profanity truly does have the power to shock people at an emotional level.
Taboo 1 Is the Source of Swearing's Power
What gives swearing this power? In short, a society’s taboos 2. “Taboo” in this sense covers not just the forbidden, but any domain 3 of activity or social interaction where social norms regulate behavior (4, 5). Whatever a society deems taboo is a wellspring of words deemed obscene or profane—as well as euphemisms 4 for those words.
Changing Taboos: Religion
Taboos vary over time, and as they change, so do the words that are considered socially unacceptable. Several hundred years ago, the strongest taboos among English-speakers were religious in nature (6). During Shakespeare’s times, expressions like “Zounds!” were considered vulgar, because they were shortened versions of (in this case) “God’s wounds.” If you wonder why saying “God’s wounds” would have been offensive, that just shows how much more secular 5 English-speaking society is today than it was back then. This taboo weakened further even in the 20th century, with words like “hell” and “damn” losing their offensiveness only in the past generation or so (although they are still offensive to older or more religious speakers).
From the Victorian Era: Taboos on Sex and Bodily Functions
In the Victorian Era, sex and bodily functions of elimination 6 became strong taboos. The taboos were strengthened in the United States by the self-imposed restrictions 7 in the movie industry in the 1930s and ‘40s (7). The bodily-function taboos have been weakening over the last few decades, though, and more recently, so has the sex taboo. In the introduction to his book The F Word, lexicographer 8 Jesse Sheidlower devotes almost a dozen pages to tracing the weakening of the taboo against this word in virtually every medium.
Even so, other sexual taboo words are still considered extremely offensive. In particular, the word commonly referred to as the C-word is considered so offensive in English that when the movie Kick-Ass came out in May, it generated controversy 9 not so much because of its title, or even its abundance of violence, but for having 13-year-old actor Chloe Grace Moretz say that word.
Different Cultures, Different Types of Swearing
Taboos also vary from culture to culture. For example, in French- and Spanish-speaking countries, where the Catholic church has had a strong influence, religion-based swearing packs more of a punch than it does in English (8). In contrast, their equivalent of the C-word is only mildly offensive.
The Most Powerful Current Swear Words
These days, the truly potent 10 taboos in American society concern traits that have been the basis of prejudice and discrimination: disability, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation 11. Last August, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel used “retarded” (along with the F-word) in a private meeting, but when his comments became public, there were calls for his resignation.
Actor and director Mel Gibson’s latest tirade 12, in which he used the N-word, coupled with his remarks about Jews in 2006, have some predicting the end of his career.
In 2007, Isaiah Washington lost his role on the TV show Grey’s Anatomy 13 after calling a fellow castmember an offensive term for homosexual.
Swearing in Your Writing
With all this in mind, here is my Quick and Dirty guide for deciding whether to use obscenity or profanity in your writing.
The first question, for any kind of writing, is “Will my audience appreciate this kind of language?” Actually, this goes for speaking, too. Relaxing taboos can be a sign of closeness and camaraderie 14, but if the atmosphere isn’t right, it’s just awkward. So if the answer is no, then don’t use vulgar language. If yes, continue to the next questions.
Second: Is swearing part of your voice, or your character’s voice if you’re writing fiction? (Check the article on “Understanding Voice and Tone in Writing” for more on this.) If no, then don’t use it. If yes, continue to the next question.
Third: Are you writing fiction or nonfiction? If you’re writing fiction, use obscenity or profanity only if it will sound stranger for your character to avoid it than to say it. I've had editors tell me that a common mistake new fiction writers make is to use too much swearing, and that it’s very off-putting.
If you’re writing nonfiction, use a swear word only if the emotion you’re conveying is strong enough to merit violating a taboo. Otherwise, you weaken its power for other situations.
If you need to quote someone else’s vulgar language, follow the style sheet for your employer or client, whether it calls for an “expletive deleted,” dashes, deleted vowels 15, or a creative circumlocution 16. Although readers will probably figure out what the word is, most understand that this is a compromise that allows everyone to respect societal norms.
Literal Minded and Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
This article was written by Neal Whitman, who has a doctoral degree in linguistics 17 and blogs at literalminded.wordpress.com. The article was edited and read in the podcast by Mignon Fogarty, author of the New York Times bestseller Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.
- The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
- Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里,婚前的性行为犯禁吗?
- She was unhorsed by fences, laws and alien taboos. 她被藩蓠、法律及外来的戒律赶下了马。
- His mind was charged with taboos. 他头脑里忌讳很多。
- This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
- This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。
- No point is in mincing words or hiding behind euphemisms. 没有必要闪烁其词或者羞羞答答。 来自辞典例句
- No point in mincing words or hiding behind euphemisms. 没必要闪烁其词或者羞羞答答。 来自辞典例句
- We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
- Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。
- Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
- I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。
- I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
- a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制
- A lexicographer's job is to describe the language.词典编纂者的工作就是对语言加以描述。
- The lexicographer knew that the English lexis was changing. 字典编纂者知道英语词汇在不断变化。
- That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
- We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。
- The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
- We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。
- Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
- The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。
- Her tirade provoked a counterblast from her husband.她的长篇大论激起了她丈夫的强烈反对。
- He delivered a long tirade against the government.他发表了反政府的长篇演说。
- He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面,他有过许多发现。
- The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。
- The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
- Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板,偶尔才和下属互动一下;有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。
- Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
- Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册
- He is a master at circumlocution.他讲话很会兜圈子。
- This sort of ritual circumlocution is common to many parts of mathematics.这种繁冗的遁辞常见于数学的许多部分分式中。
- She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
- Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。