Why are "bad" words considered bad?

Shinobi Train

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So, why is it that "bad" words are considered bad? They're just words...we, as people, decided they were bad...so why is that, and why don't we just decide that they aren't bad anymore? Is it lack of education, or just stupidity? Oh...yeah...I guess that's the same thing kinda'...:rolleyes:
 

Mante

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Similarly, why is robbing considered bad? Because, by doing so subsequently hurts others. But, for example, if you use bad words in a community where all uses same language (ie. bad words) no one will consider it as bad, but rather "normal". Hope it answers :)
 

l3m0npl3dg3

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Because if i say **** you you might get offended
 

amthonizzle

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Exactly! Its stupid to get offended over a word. Sticks and stones man. People give the word power by treating it as if its forbidden. I dont care if someone calls me a beaner or ******. Theyre just words.

Hahaha see how stupid it is^ a word just got censored
 
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SandVillageShinobi

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I don't believe in "bad" words. I believe in insulting words but words themselves are not bad.
 

Prime Rib

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cause they are, its like when you steal something you no its wrong
 

Shinobi Train

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Similarly, why is robbing considered bad? Because, by doing so subsequently hurts others. But, for example, if you use bad words in a community where all uses same language (ie. bad words) no one will consider it as bad, but rather "normal". Hope it answers :)

Well, thievery does actually hurt someone, but just saying a word doesn't. Sure, people take offense...what I'm asking is why? If these words are bad, then why did we invent them? I'm not wanting to just go around using the F word, I just want to know why it exists if it's considered bad...or why we don't decide that it's not bad anymore. It seems like such a fail to have words that will offend people, when the people offended are mostly to blame for it offending them. :rolleyes:

I don't believe in "bad" words. I believe in insulting words but words themselves are not bad.

Yeah, that's true...to purposefully insult someone is obviously wrong...but the words used to do so aren't the problem.
 

Kyandii

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For me it depends on how the person use a "bad word", if the person says a bad word with the intention of hurting someone else then I consider it bad but if it is only being used to express feelings like excitement or despair without insulting anybody then I don't think it's bad at all...
 

Ashflura

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Well, thievery does actually hurt someone, but just saying a word doesn't. Sure, people take offense...what I'm asking is why? If these words are bad, then why did we invent them? I'm not wanting to just go around using the F word, I just want to know why it exists if it's considered bad...or why we don't decide that it's not bad anymore. It seems like such a fail to have words that will offend people, when the people offended are mostly to blame for it offending them. :rolleyes:
We have bad words so ignorant people have something to call upon when their tongue tied. "Oh well F*** you too"...or something along those lines haha.
 

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Well, thievery does actually hurt someone, but just saying a word doesn't.

Bad words hurt our sense of aesthetics and are annoying to our ears and brains cells. Just like a rotten smell is irritating for those with a olfactory perception and ugly scenes are not pleasing for our eye sight.

Normal people prefer things which please all of their senses rather than the ones which put them off.
 
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Jack Spicer

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It all depends on how you use them though, I believe.
 

First Take

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They are considered bad since it's a standard which has been decided by many people and that can be changed. A lack of education is when you use profanity USUALLY.
 

Wang

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It's all based on what a society or culture finds offensive. Today, bad words in the US are mostly sexual references, whereas they used to include religious references like damn & hell, it seems like what's considered "bad" evolves over time.
 

Shinobi Train

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It's still a choice though, and yes, any word can be insulting if used to do so. So why target specific words? Also, when censors edit them out, it actually draws attention to the word, where before it would have just faded in with everything else. So parents trying to keep their children from hearing them or knowing about them, their job just got a lot harder. Now the child is interested in what was censored and wondering what was so bad. It's like censoring nudity...just draws more attention to it when it should have just been let go.

Bad words hurt our sense of aesthetics and are annoying to our ears and brains cells. Just like a rotten smell is irritating for those with a olfactory perception and ugly scenes are not pleasing for our eye sight.

Normal people prefer things which please all of their senses rather than the ones which put them off.

Okay, I understand all that, but its not exactly like a bad smell or an ugly scene. First we had to decide that these words weren't pleasing. Avoiding a bad smell is built in to are system to stay away from things that could possibly harm us. A gruesome scene is something we avoid for similar reasons and when someone is hurt or something we put ourselves in their shoes to some extent. That stuff is naturally built in, but we put the dislike of certain words in ourselves. We made the choice to do this, there's no instinctual system that did this for us like all the other things. So why would someone come up with these words, then get offended by them? They're just words, and unless they're being used to actually insult someone, just like any other word can be used to do so, then there shouldn't be a problem.

It's all based on what a society or culture finds offensive. Today, bad words in the US are mostly sexual references, whereas they used to include religious references like damn & hell, it seems like what's considered "bad" evolves over time.

Well, there's still a lot of people that don't like those words either. It wasn't too long ago I heard a kid using the old "H E double hockey sticks", and they were just trying to talk about the actual place; the context of the word was perfectly fine, but they had been raised that way. There are even more people that don't like damn either...in fact I can't say that around my parents even to this day without offending them. You're right though, it is changing a lot. Anything sexual sure does seem to get people worked up, and I still don't understand that, never will, *** is ***...get over it already. xd
 

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You do realize that you answered your own question right?

"Why are bad words considered bad?"

"Because we, as people, decided they were bad"

You essentially rendered your entire thread pointless, but I'll bite and discuss the deeper issue that seems to be bothering you.

I want you to think about this statement: all meaning must be agreed upon, since unanimous agreement upon meaning makes communication possible. I cannot stress that enough.

It just wouldn't do to have one group of people call "bread" "knife" and another group call "knife" "bread". If these groups interacted, "pass me the bread" would be understood as "pass me the knife", and this would be an interesting interaction to see. So you see, when trying to come up with language, one must have an object that must be named, and one must be agreed upon with the rest on what the name of said object ought to be.

But here's the thing: if we want to insult someone, we have to choose a word and then give it meaning. I hope you are now starting to realize the obvious answer to your question. The reason we select a word like the F-word and designate a negative meaning for that word is the same reason we select any other word and give it meaning. An insult, an object, an animal, a person all need linguistic designations so that people can adequately communicate with each other.

So, stop complaining about why the F-word is considered bad. You already answered your own question. If you want to insult me, or if I want to insult you, I have one word out of many to choose from that I know you will understand because we are agreed upon it, and that's how communication has to be if it is to work.

It is what it is whether you like it or not.
 
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Simplified

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Well, it's not the word that people don't like, it's the meaning it holds.
 

~Sky~

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Because they mean bad things.

Every word has connotations, it's just a fact of language really.

They're annoying when I hear them though. I don't like them at all.
 

'Nāpalm

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because they have negative and vulgar connotation
 

Shinobi Train

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You do realize that you answered your own question right?

"Why are bad words considered bad?"

"Because we, as people, decided they were bad"

You essentially rendered your entire thread pointless, but I'll bite and discuss the deeper issue that seems to be bothering you.

I want you to think about this statement: all meaning must be agreed upon, since unanimous agreement upon meaning makes communication possible. I cannot stress that enough.

It just wouldn't do to have one group of people call "bread" "knife" and another group call "knife" "bread". If these groups interacted, "pass me the bread" would be understood as "pass me the knife", and this would be an interesting interaction to see. So you see, when trying to come up with language, one must have an object that must be named, and one must be agreed upon with the rest on what the name of said object ought to be.

But here's the thing: if we want to insult someone, we have to choose a word and then give it meaning. I hope you are now starting to realize the obvious answer to your question. The reason we select a word like the F-word and designate a negative meaning for that word is the same reason we select any other word and give it meaning. An insult, an object, an animal, a person all need linguistic designations so that people can adequately communicate with each other.

So, stop complaining about why the F-word is considered bad. You already answered your own question. If you want to insult me, or if I want to insult you, I have one word out of many to choose from that I know you will understand because we are agreed upon it, and that's how communication has to be if it is to work.

It is what it is whether you like it or not.

A very excellent answer, this is what I was waiting for. xd Yes, I realize I answered the question, I guess I'm really just wanting to see if other people are intelligent enough to realize that it is the answer. So if we understand that these words were meant to be that way, then why don't more people just decide that they aren't offensive at all and stop letting their panties get in a wad every time they're mentioned? That might destroy the point of these words, but at least it would be more progressive to do so. The very people that are offended by them are the ones that are making them offensive...is it just me, or does that seem incredibly dumb...
 
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