Discussing profanity is a taboo and if you are an educationist it is almost sacrilegious. The usual tendency is to brush it under the carpet. Pretend it never existed. Before I develop cold feet let me give vent to my thoughts scaffolding it with a few observations. The recently concluded Literary Fest at Jaipur grabbed a lot of eyeballs for various reasons. The one that grabbed mine was the debate on 'Expletives a form of expression'. When did cuss words become a form of expression?? The occasional 'friendly obscenities' were just that, occasional and friendly. Not worth the salt, very forgettable. They taking a literary hue left me baffled and curious. The expletives of yesteryears were empty words not obnoxious and maybe uttered in a state of irate exasperation. It was an element of grammar-attributed as a grammatical intensifier. Words like 'there is', 'they are', was considered an expletive a mere filler in a sentence.
Fast forward to the present day. They are no more a sound expressing an emotional outburst. These 'salty expressions' have over the course of time turned 'colourful' and steamy. Sadly unsavoury vituperations are generously mouthed by our young boys and girls. A walk down the corridors of educational institutions would leave one appalled at the liberal sprinkling of these pejoratives aired without qualm, almost an incantation. The need to appease, to please, to be accepted paramount. The 'cool' image is don like a badge of recognition. Its 'sceptred sway' undeniable. The uninitiated are looked upon with contempt. They too eventually join the bandwagon exploiting the expletives.
Having traversed the country I can with confidence exclaim that expletives are certainly not the domain of a few. Even Presidents have fallen prey to it . [Remember, expletive deleted Watergate tapes of President Nixon!] Every region is attuned to it, adding to this long barrage of detestables a unique regional flavour. These abominables are everywhere. Writers argue that expletives in sync with the character makes it more realistic. Movies and television blanket the expletives with a beep or a buzz. Both need to be expurgated. They are more offensive than the word, besides they trigger one's imagination!! In many ways they can be truly called Expletives The Leveller. [James Shirley would be mortified!!]
On a personal front I find expletives quite limiting. It stunts creative impulse. Talks of a deteriorating word power. A good indignation makes an excellent speech. It would be a pity to let anger die on the anvil of a few repetitive profanities. Acclimatized to counseling I can't help but urge youngsters to refrain from scavenging with words.
4 comments:
"Movies and television blanket the expletives with a beep or a buzz. Both need to be expurgated. They are more offensive than the word, besides they trigger one's imagination!!"
=="censors like beeps or buzzes need to be removed because they make you curious about what they're censoring."
great job! amazing word use. no offense, but I found this far more entertaining than most other posts here.
Hi, Ms. Sheela. Your entry made me reflect a bit. Here it goes...
Every word is charged with a negative or positive energy which comes from its origin, meaning and usage. We use a particular word to express what we feel or think. Accordingly, expletives or cuss words have become a "form of expression" and are generally accepted.
I would like to say that cuss words, like other words, have their own energies. The more we use such words the more we "empower" them. When we empower them, they gain the power to influence the way we see ourselves, others and the world.
Let's say the word "shit". It's not an empty word. It has its "smell" and one can summon an image of it from one's own mind. Quite obviously, it elicits a negative energy. When the person uses it often, s/he will begin to see more of the bad things in life than the good things. Subconsciously, s/he will be more attuned to the shitty things that happen rather than the beautiful things. The person who says "shit" all the time will rarely use the word "nice". That doesn't "smell" so nice, does it?
I definitely agree that youngsters should refrain from scavenging with words. Cuss words/expletives are not a "form of expression". They FORM US into expression. We become the expression of the word that we love to speak.
So, we should be careful of the words we speak. They have more power over us than we have over them.
Like you said the use of expletives stunts our creative impulse because we fail to rise above the banal.The poor choice of words in language reflects an incredibly slim vocabulary of the user.
However, as language teachers we must understand that language behaviour is variable. It depends on domain, mood, identity and a whole lot of other factors. Taking into consideration all the sociolinguistic factors that affect children nowadays it is only natural that they use the occasional cuss word or expletive. I find that acceptable as long as it does not limit their vocabulary to bane profanities. Kids need to be taught that repeated and careless use of expletives don't really enliven their prose.
A very interesting topic that needs to be discussed! You've rightly said young boys and girls use expletives to gain the 'cool' image in a crowd and they become so used to it that they won't be able to forgo it easily.. but would it be wrong to say that they learn it from the elders...! Of course the elders might have used them in a very casual and friendly way.. but wouldn't it be foolish to think that a child who hears it will take it in the right sense?
And one major reason for the use of expletives in India, i believe , is the imperial hangover(as u say :D).. the feeling that use of expletives is 'cool'.. as the hollywood movies are sprinkled with expletives!
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