/sci/ - Science & Math

Simple answer: people are idiots.

Nightmare mode: I'll get back to you on that.

The sound they make.

>>4718245
Good idea but I doubt it. If someone cussed in a different language it wouldn't be distinguishable from a friendly conversation.

There's not really a classy and mannerly way to Fuck or Shit. Yes, you could say, "I fucking love you," but it comes off as immature. Damn, Hell and Ass are easier to nudge into a conversation inconspicuously, though the aftermost will represent more of a challenge.
tl;dr
>>4718236

>science and math

>>4718245
alright were getting somewhere,
sound....

most of them are one syllable: fuck, ass, shit, damn, hell

also i found a source that the traditional curse words "the four letter words" were hell, damn, shit, fuck

interesting... easy to say? anyone can say it? they do sound a little harsh, "ck" in fuck.
but hell and ass are kind of smooth.

>>4718245
This.

Take the word 'fuck' for example and similar words: fake, false, fan, farce, faze, feign, feint, fence, fib, filch, fix, flay, fleece, fog, foil, foist, fool, forge, fox, frame, fraud, freak, fuck, fudge.

Some labials do not have a monopoly on deceit and duplicity. There is sneakiness and something is hidden in the velars. Still, by looking closely at words of deceit, guile and trickery, you can see that different sounds deceive in different ways. The clouding, fogging and hiding in the velars tends to simply involve concealment. In the labials, there are two things which you are to confuse... the real thing and its fake replacement.

>>4718248
alright, another branch here!

languages...

other cultures also have the same taboo on these words, ie. in korean ~sheebal means fuck, and is used in everyday terms, ver very similar to the english fuck

other languages you guys know?

Dogmatic totalitarianism by certain institutions that believed throwing curse words in everything would be bad for conformity and upbringing of the child. Mostly indoctrination for a few generations I think. Remember the ultra prude times.. somewhat everything before 1960.

Even though I do think certain words shouldn't be used to/by a child, I don't think 'curse'words are evil or bad per se. They can very easily and quickly show a certain emotion and it's important to accompany those emotions with a fitting vocabularium.

A child shouldn't be camping with stress, frustration or massive anger issues..
However, I think that's us simply underestimating the complexity of the child's brain. A child can very easily understand certain topics adults deem 'too complex'n or 'layered'n or 'multidimensional', or 'things that only happen to grown-ups', you get the idea..
I've always looked back a little sad on the times I asked things to my parents or other mature people and then get the answer: because, or none of your concern, or you don't need to know that at your age just yet, ..

So yeah.. in the end it comes down to relentless indoctrination for fear of deterioration (not being a modal citizen)

>>4718256
awesome,
alot of these words are derived from latin, all with the same stem. they catched on in the english language, and alot of similar synonyms are based off the latin words...

my question is why the curse words.
why isnt "deciet and duplicity" a curse word

Curva is bitch in Romanian.

Futute means fuck yourself.

I'm british but my girlfriend taught me how to speak Romanian. Futute always sounded nasty before I even knew what it meant.

>>4718270
Perhaps these words are tied to immaturity or poverty. High class people don't want to be associated with these groups so they avoid talking like them. Just as they avoid doing many things like them.

>>4718259

damn your good
when my teacher asked why the curse words, i thought the same thing.

the symbols associated with the curse words, are of lust, anger, rage, hatred, and were the most extreme in any language. I guess after a while, to set them apart from the other words (or if naturally, they were already set apart) they tabooed them.

>>4718282
wow your answer ties in so nicely.

basically, there were the high class and low class. the lower classes used slang, lots of curse words, and were viewed as filthy.

another tie in question: What is the origin of Grammar?

why do we have those little minute rules that have been carried over from long ago to now, that we are still expected to know in school?

well partly, it was because of the seperation of the high and low classes. The elites wanted to set themselves apart from the people that they ruled, so they created a grammar system, in which they continuously updated (or made up) so that only the high class had their own "special language."
that why its called Grammar school. only the upper class participated.


_____________________
back on thread.

curse words were set in a similar way.
to set apart this lower nature against the high nature. Im not really talking about higher class and lower class, but basically good and bad.

they set them apart as bad, as the savage nature to the side of humans. as the animalistic, greedy nature that we shouldnt become, that we shouldnt delve into.

this semantic distinction in our language of what is good and what is bad (the curse words) i think is truly awesome.

>>4718270
>catched

Get the fuck out. Seriously

>>4718311
can't into concept of english not being a first language for most people on earth

>>4718311
is catched-on not appropriate?

sorry if my english isn't superb, but i think i can manage.
it sounds weird but correct?

>>4718318
the correct word for the past tense of catch is caught

>>4718320
haha sorry. i get confused sometimes on the -ed rules, and the other words that just are completely random and you have to memorize.

lol another strange english gramatical rule, that seems to branch off of nothing.

>>4718328
>random
I'm going to explain something to you now, and I want you to listen carefully.
It's not a strange rule.
The -ed ending was, for the longest time, the strange thing.
This is about the strong/weak verb distinction.
At the beginning of the history of English, almost all verbs were strong verbs, meaning that they changed their stems to denote tense changes, which survives today in words like caught, bought, swam, swum. Weak verbs simply take an ending in the past tense.
Gradually, over time, the English language has simplified to the point where almost all verbs are weak verbs, any and all new verbs that come into the language come into it as weak verbs, there is only one definite article, all nouns have natural gender, and case distinctions have all but disappeared.
The only "weird" thing about English is its spelling, which is largely based on the pronunciation of older forms of the language along with some words that were modified to show their Latin origins like "debt".

>>4718306
I don't think you understand the concept of grammar.
Grammar is unconscious.
Grammar is simply the given rules for any given language.
I cannot say "I has fucking" because that is not correct in Standard English. Why? Nobody speaks that way in Standard English, and it doesn't form any sort of coherent statement because of the grammatical roles of those words.
The upper classes didn't "create" grammar; the fact that they were the upper class elevated their particular dialect of the language they happen to speak to be the dominant and prestige dialect.
Grammatical prescriptivism is something that's been around for a while now, but when talking about grammar you must distinguish between that and the simple reality of the way a given language works. Because you keep asking these questions, I strongly recommend that you look into the field of linguistics and, in particular sociolinguistics if you want to see more that's related to societal perceptions and language.
What's your native language?

>>4718233
taboo
linguists give lectures on this online
Stephen Pinker gave one, too: http://youtu.be/hBpetDxIEMU?t=20m33s

>>4718590
linguists like to say no one actually speaks Standard English, either

>>4718668
This is true in a sense, because everyone, no matter what your background, uses nonstandard formations in their speech.

>>4718233
In a word: Culture.

Most "vulgar" words tend to be either "gross" bodily functions, or blasphemy. Religion explains the second, and the first is relatively explanatory.

It's not really that hard to understand. It has quite a similar answer why you might get shot in the face if you go to inner Detroit and tell them that the black people are lazy, like fried chick and watermelon.

The negative connotations of the words make them bad. Simple as that.

>>4719093
You're oversimplifying the issue.
>>4719144
Are you retarded? It's not that simple

>needs politeness explained to him

Oh, America...

Croatian-Jebote(fuck)

Jabuka(apple),ja(me),jaje(egg),jastuk(pillow),jadan(poor),jako(strong),jebot
e

It does sound very harsh. other words are kurac(dick), pizda(pussy),pakao(hell) k vragu(damn)

People arguing that curse words sound harsh just wasted their time.

Fuck isn't the only word ending in -ck, not all words ending in -ck are curse words, and so on.

America just has crybaby weaklings who need to get upset over every little thing.