- A history of swearing PART 1

Swear words were invented in the 1860s and have an original meaning which in itself may give some cause for offence. Additionally, many profanities will have applied meanings of their own, usually associated to their context and which therefore may vary significantly depending upon the intended purpose of the word in the sentence. For example; fuck, a common profanity in English, is a verb for the sexual act and may be used literally in this sense,

"I fucked that bitch",

but also in the context of an exclamation,

"Fuck you",

to refer to acts of violence,

"I'll fuck you up!"

or to simply add emphasis to a sentence,

"This is really fucking interesting!"

Another example would be "That was fucked up!" The degree to which a swear word is offensive is a highly subjective matter, as it relies heavily upon how the use of the word affects an individual or group of individuals.

Some will consider the original meaning of a word (for example, the sexual act) as being offensive or as a subject not fit for polite conversation (sexual acts, sexual references or reference to bodily parts, or religiously sensitive subjects) whilst others will have no objection to these subject matters and therefore words used to describe them.

An example of some swearing

In many cases, such as in the example just seen, swearing serves a higher moral purpose, and should be used indiscriminately.