The unsuspecting customers of Bridgehead had no idea shit was about to go down.
Robin Norris, an English professor at Carleton was about to delve into the complicated past of swearing.
From not giving shits to calling people dicks, swear words have always had a place in the English language, but how and why did these words become swear words?
When the hell did swearing start?
In every language, including English, different words have entered the vernacular, or everyday speech, at various times.
Melissa Mohr, author of Holy Shit: A Brief History of Swearing, said in a video outlining her book that the origin of these words is simple in that “they are generated by cultural taboos.”
As shifts in what can be spoken aloud change, so do swear words.
In Ancient Rome, for example, Mohr outlined that taboo words centre around sexual acts like adultery. Today, some of our favourite cuss words still revolve around sexual acts such as the infamous “fuck.”
By the Middle Ages, Mohr said swear words became more religious and statements such as “by God’s bones,” for example, were equated to tearing Jesus limb from limb.
“The history of swearing has kind of alternated between the periods of holy and periods of shit,” she said, outlining the role of religion establishing swear words.
Mohr said it was not until the later Renaissance period that swearing became more modern and this is when our favourite four letter words came into play like “shit” or “fuck.”
These more common swear words even appeared in Middle English names of people, plants, and animals.
“A dandelion wasn’t called a dandelion. It was called a piss-a-bed,” Mohr said.
Norris said the nature of words in language tends to be cyclical.
“Words come into the language and fall out of usage, and words can change their meanings over time. Then we develop new language taboos to take their place,” she said.
*Gasp* that’s a bad word!
Swear words themselves do not start off as what Norris calls “forbidden words,” but develop their negative connotations through a generation’s world view.
She recalled two experiences of hers when she was growing up in the Southern US.
“One is when, in the United States anyway, the laws loosened around what kinds of language could be used on TV,” she said.
“I think that was in 1994 or 1995 because . . . I did my third-year undergrad abroad in Ireland so I was away for a year, and when I came back to the US, it felt like all kinds of weird things had changed. Suddenly there were blue M&Ms that didn’t exist before, and there were songs on the radio that were popular that I had never heard before, and also suddenly, there was swearing on TV.”
Another instance involved an unfortunate mishap she had had in high school.
“I had to go to the principal’s office . . . and I was making an announcement about how important it was to separate your garbage and I said something to the effect ‘so we don’t screw it up’ and because I had used the term ‘screw it up’, I got in big trouble with the principal after the announcement was over.”
Being that the principal was at least 30 years her senior at the time, Norris explained that his views on what qualified as
inappropriate or vulgar language did not match her own.
This generational gap between what is and isn’t acceptable as far as language goes also exists in outside of school environments.
Emily Manzerolle, a first-year student in public affairs and policy management said “you don’t swear. Swearing isn’t done in the house,” further adding that she had grown up in a fairly conservative home.
Ireolewa Olewasola, an undeclared first-year, said “I still live with my parents and everything and they are really not okay with me swearing.”
Norris goes on to address the role of authority in swearing.
“In many cases, it can be inappropriate for somebody of a lower social status to swear in
front of somebody of a higher social status,” she said. “But sometimes we can build a sense of camaraderie or to single social closeness.”
Swearing can also be used in a positive way in some social settings as an icebreaker, or an admission of honesty, she said.
Although some four-letter words have become incorporated more into every day speech, the word fuck still remains taboo.
“Because we refer to fuck as the ‘f-word’ or we even have the expression that’s one that I think is going to retain a lot of power as a very taboo word for a long time,” Norris said.
Because I damn well feel like it
When we get down to the heart of the subject, the most important question to answer is why we swear in the first place, but there is no universal response that provides a complete explanation. Carleton students had mixed opinions on why they swear.
Emily Low, an undeclared first-year student, said she links swearing with intense emotions.
“More often than not, my swearing tends to put emphasis on a point where I think normal, non-swearing words don’t necessarily do it,” she said. “If I’m really happy, really angry, or really sad, I tend to get more energized and my words tend to be a little more aggressive.”
Olewasola revealed that she uses swearing as a sort of emotional release as well but mainly uses it internally.
“I do swear a lot in my mind . . . sometimes you just get really angry and the words just fit with the emotions,” she said.
Some students, like Heidi Hong, a first-year neuroscience student with a focus on mental health, prefers to avoid vulgarity altogether. She said she believes “it doesn’t seem necessary to use those words when you can use actual, proper words to express yourself and your feelings.”
When Norris was asked why she swears, her answer encompassed all of these ideas.
“I don’t know. I didn’t give that a lot of thought” she said. “I’m definitely not an expert on psychology, but it seems to me that swearing can be used to express anger.”
She paused for a moment before continuing.
“If you don’t want to physically behave in an angry way, because it’s not appropriate to your culture or context or audience, you’re not going to kick or throw something or start a fist fight,” she said. “At least you can get it out as kind of a catharsis to release some anger.”
