[Jimbee (OP)]

Funny thing, and I didn't even know this at first. But words like **** and sh1t, and a few more, are vulgar, but not slang. As it turns out, they in fact were perfectly acceptable at one time, although **** has always tending to be at least a little taboo.

So what is there official status? I mean, could you use them, with out being accused of using nonstandard English? For example, if you hand in an essay, to your college professor, and used one of those words, could he dock you? Because the only hard and fast rule in that situation, is don't use anything, as I said, "nonstandard". But they're not nonstandard, just rather old, if you know what I mean.

And please don't try to turn this into some kind of moral debate. That often happens when I ask this question. This is a place of scientific facts alone. Yes, they're inappropriate to some, and I realize that. But that wasn't my question.

Also interesting story, about the evolution of words, and this can tie into my question. As I said, they only have become vulgar. They were indeed, at one time, an acceptable part of the English language. And that may still be happening.

For example, sh1t, was still an acceptable word, around the time of Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 [January 6, 1705 O.S.] – April 17, 1790). In fact, he famously said, "Force shites upon Reason's Back." which is interesting, because it shows that sh1t once had an "e" on the end. How did it lose the "e"? Does anyone know? I know sh1t somehow sounds more dirty than shite not that I care. At least to me. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

And the evolution still going on. Fart only recently became inappropriate, so they say. I still use it though, because what other word is there that means that? And am I using a nonstandard word then? See what I mean.

I read in my dictionary, that some say that snot is only now becoming inappropriate. Now, in my house we used it all the time. So I don't even know what they are talking about.

Thank you in advance for you replies .

[alancalverd]

Blame the hypersensitive younger generation for demolishing and demonising the demotic, and using that most disgusting of all words: "inappropriate" to shut down anything that reeks of intellectual challenge, debate or discussion. Poor dears, full of stress, mental health issues, and social media (whatever that is) and now allergic to spoken English.

"Vulgar" just means "of the crowd" and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem arises with the overuse of "the F word" and suchlike in broadcast entertainment - the whole point of an expletive is to convey extreme emotion or to shock the listener, and overexposure reduces its impact. So the use of an expletive in an academic essay may achieve nothing more than debase its currency, whilst if you were to criticise one of Putin's speeches as "copulating excrement written by an uneducated vulva" your argument would carry more weight even though the phrase is illogical.

[Bored chemist]

There's a strong argument that there are no obscene words.They are just words that went out of fashion.


dirt.png (8.09 kB . 708x297 - viewed 719 times)

And that "Sk" isn't pronounced the same as it would be in English.
I discovered this linguistic gem when I was about 8. I had a cousin from Norway who (like me) was visiting Grandma.
He was just learning to talk and he already knew the word for dirt.
His parents had to explain it...

Chaucer wrote
"And shame it is, if that a priest take keep,
To see a shitten shepherd and clean sheep:
Well ought a priest ensample for to give,
By his own cleanness, how his sheep should live."
and  he used "The C word" too (albeit with archaic spelling).

I was once told "there are no swear words in Welsh" and I pointed out that Wales is a very agricultural nation.
They would have needed words for an inapt mating and the weakest of a litter.
So you could call someone a bastard runt; and I'm pretty sure they would get the message.

[alancalverd]

there are no swear words in Welsh

I understand that "English" is considered an insult.

[Petrochemicals]

It's probably something to do with words that relate to the animal functions that role of the tongue in an easy powerlike fashion, defication, fornicating, penis vaginas, are not single syllable words that have a sound that impacts, the letters they begin and end with. There is a term for it.