What exactly makes a bad word bad?

1. 67

   friendlywebguyposted 9 years ago

   What exactly makes a bad word bad?
   
   What makes swear words any worse than any other word? After all, it is just a word...
   What are your thoughts?

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2. 69

   Ricki-Lee Keeleyposted 9 years ago

   I think this develops via social learning. After all, we learn how to behave. This may be similar when learning that a word is 'bad'. That is, people see others react negatively to a 'bad' word, and then they themselves learn to feel and think that that word is 'bad'. It is just a word, that is until you add social influence. What do you think?
   
   I hope this helped,
   Cheers.

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   1. 67

      friendlywebguyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      This is exactly how I feel as well. I believe it is from the social influences around us. This goes for many things other than just how we react to certain words. Honestly every single thing in our life is affected by the influences around us!

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   2. 69

      Ricki-Lee Keeleyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That's true, but you cant lose sight of the fact that at some age (different for different people yes) you do chose what you expose yourself too and subsequently what you allow yourself to be influenced by. It is possible to retrain your brain.

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3. 71

   dashingscorpioposted 9 years ago

   It comes down to the social and cultural (agreed upon definition) given to the word and (knowing) how it is used and accepted.
   What is the difference between a sheet of notebook paper and a $100 U.S. dollar bill? We've "collectively agreed upon the value" that one is worth more then the another! Had you landed on earth from Venus you probably would value toilet paper over paper money.
   If someone were to insult you by using a foreign language you did not understand odds are you most likely wouldn't be offended by it.
   It's (understanding the meaning and intent) of words that give them their power. What you don't know or understand doesn't hurt you.
   Ignorance is bliss!

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4. 0

   Anastasia Rokinaposted 9 years ago

   Connotation. We give words their meaning, not the other way around, contrary to what most may think. If you look at the history of words, you will see how much their meaning has changed over the years.

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