Saturday, November 08, 2003

Brought to you by the letter F 

Year 12 is meant to be the time for nostalgia right? Well, I just dug up this old essay I wrote in Year 8, at the tender age of 13.

The story behind the masterpiece: we were playing soccer in sport one day, when I was unfortunate enough to be caught saying "crap" by the teacher. Yes, "crap". I mean if you're going to be reprimanded for swearing, it should be for something worthwhile...like "fuck yourself up a tree", right? Anyway, the teacher took me off and told me I had to write an essay explaining why one must not use swears. Little did she know, I much preferred writing an essay to playing soccer any day! As I never worked up the guts to actually give her this little gem, and she never asked for it, it never got sent. So here you go, Ms Payne, 4 years late. With typos, badly constructed sentences, pompous verbiage and made-up words intact (annoyment!).

Expletives and expression
They are the forbidden apples on the tree of language. They can be used as adjectives, nouns and verbs. They can mean anything from excrement to mild annoyment. They have existed in parallel with sophisticated language. Of course, they are expletives.

Mankind has had the need for expletives for many hundreds of years. After all, a certain four-lettered word was first recorded in English in the 15th century. This same word also existed in Vulgar Latin, the common language of the Ancient Romans. Swear words are considered coarse and impolite by most (respectable?) people. Why then, have people used them for so long? I think that people use these words because they are forbidden, "Adam and Eve syndrome". Society frowns upon these words, so of course people like to use them. I think in many cases, people use them instead of violence, as a secret indulgence of anger.

Man has needed these words generally as an expression of his feelings. Originally, I think they were used for things thought vulgar, such as sex, and the like. They are still used for that reason. But now, expletives are used for a variety of reasons. These are a few:
-frustration (damn it)
-affection (hey, y'old bugger)
-pain (bugger!)
-sympathy/empathy (aww, bloody hell)
-appreciation/surprise (well I'll be buggered!)
-fear (bloody hell, what's that?)
-anger (bugger you!)

Sometimes they are just used as as an intensive, such as "you're bloody right". People use them according to their situation. For example, a kid from the back alleys may use the harshest four-letter word in response to a thug's heckling. An old schoolma'am might say "bother" or "curse" when she stubs her finger. An Australian gentleman may say "bloody" interjected between every few words. The meaning of an expletive depends on how it is being used. A word coupled with a gesture could mean something completely different from the same word, spoken in jest an accompanied with a laugh.

Then there is the subject of substitute expletives. These are words that stand in for the "real" expletive, such as "sugar", "fruitcake", and many, many, others. Of what significance are these? Surely, if they are intended with the same meaning, they are just as bad? My answer is no. I think people use these words because they want a milder expletive. Again, the intention is more important than the word itself. But the purpose of language is to convey intention. I think this is the problem with expletives, they are terribly inarticulate. It is for this reason that I think they should be put out of use, for fear of misunderstanding. But indeed, humans are not perfect, and I do not think a little ineloquence is unforgivable.

Ah, memories.

# posted at 12:50 am

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