Time to foil the cursing

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Apr 3, 2006 by Deseret Morning News editorial

The numbers are disturbing but not surprising. According to an Associated Press poll, 74 percent of Americans say they encounter profanity often in public; 64 percent say they themselves use the infamous "F" expletive. Two of three people say cursing is more prevalent today than 20 years ago.

Few would disagree. Words that were once considered taboo crop up on television, on playgrounds and in the workplace. In the 1960s, editor Maxwell Perkins would list all the words he had to take out of Ernest Hemingway's novels. Today, publishers and producers try to think of ways to get those words in.

It's not that "forbidden words" no longer exist. Society has simply changed its norms. Once, words ridiculing people for their race, gender, disabilities or background were common. Today, those words are verboten while language about sex and bodily functions are commonplace.

Needless to say, linguists are having a heyday. They divide curse words into profanity, obscenity, vulgarity and blasphemy, then monitor and weigh their use. For most Americans, however, profanity is like pornography. Finding a definition is difficult, but they know it when they hear it.

An old episode of The Simpsons shows Homer being chastised for cursing. He quizzes Marge about when certain words are appropriate. Her answer, in effect, is that sometimes in a crisis -- an auto accident, a smashed thumb -- a word will fly off the tongue like a dart. People should work on curbing that. But the real concern is people tossing profanity into their conversations without a thought about who might be offended. Often, they don't even realize what they've said. So the issue is not just about coarseness but insensitivity.

Language can be used as an assault weapon. And one person's right to assault another person with words ends where that person's ears begin. Turning back the proliferation of profanity in society is probably beyond mere mortals at this point. But curbing it on a personal level is always an option.

We urge people to be sensitive and realize that words might not break bones like sticks and stones, but they can -- and do -- hurt.