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A note to our younger and more conservative minded readers: this article contains explicit language…so stop reading if combinations of certain sounds offend you.
I am not about to reveal some unknown truth about Christendom or give insight into a deep, perplexing question of faith and miracles, but rather, just look at language and its quirkiness and ponder aloud as to what is meant by certain passages in the Bible. Namely,
Ephesians 4:29
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
and
Colossians 3:8
“But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Let’s focus on four words from these two verses. Unwholesome talk. Filthy language. The Greek used for unwholesome talk is λόγος σαπρὸς (logos sapros), literally meaning rotten or worthless words. The Greek for filthy language is αἰσχρολογία (aischrologia), literally vile conversation. The literal reading of these texts I can whole-heartedly agree with. I do believe that we should abstain from logos sapros and I do believe that we should rid our hearts of anger, rage, malice, slander, and aischrologia; however, should we allow the abuse and mistreatment of certain words in our dear, English language because, by the fate of history and societal norms, we have applied a certain evil stigma to them?
What’s in a word? What if I were to call you an apenaaier? Or perhaps, Jeg spretta søstra di mens den tilbakestående faren din sto bak og fumlet med ballene mine. Well, if you can’t understand any of that you are probably a Schwanzlutscher. Chances are, you’re not offended (unless you can speak Dutch, Norwegian, or German…then I apologize for the terrible things I have just said). The point being, it is not words or certain sounds that offend us, rather it’s the meaning behind the words. Ok let’s try this. Fuck you. Please note the reaction you just had to those seven letters. Was it a stronger reaction than to the previous string of profanities? Why? Because, trust me what I said before was a lot more offensive than those seven letters. Why is it that when a Brit says “It’s bloody cold outside,” it’s permissible for your children to hear, yet if a few seconds later someone exclaims “It’s fucking cold outside,” you blush and wish your child didn’t have to be company to such foul language. Are the letters f-u-c-k of the devil? What if I wrote cukf? Does that elicit a reaction? I know this seems a bit childish, but the logic behind certain cultural taboos baffles me. That’s why whenever preachers get on their pulpit and ramble on and on about how dirty language is all over the media and we need to stop listening to profane music and turn off those vulgar television programs I say “fuck it.” Sorry…I mean “to hell with it,” well, that’s still not quite it. I mean “never mind all that.” Do you see what just happened? I took my underlying concept that I was trying to convey, and stated it in varied degrees of vulgarity. All three expressions mean the exact same thing. Why does one way of stating an idea carry such a horrendous burden as to be deemed profane, yet another way of stating the exact same idea is ok to be uttered from “the mouths of babes?” What is deemed as filthy language, as aischrologia? Does the Bible condemn the use of “fuck it” because it has our cultural taboo word in the phrase, or does Colossians 3:8 condemn the underlying meaning of the term “fuck it” thereby condemning all who use the phrase “never mind all that.” As you can probably infer, I don’t believe the Bible has a vendetta against those who like to say “never mind all that.” Unfortunately, for those of us who choose to use more colorful words to express the same idea, we have to take it upon ourselves to be the scapegoat and rescue the rest of civilization from an everlasting damnation. All because of four little letters.
To give an example, my grandmother was born and raised in a small town in Pennsylvania. She eventually met my grandfather and they were to be married. However, she had quite a time adjusting to the linguistic civilities of the South (by now they were living in North Carolina). For her (and most Northerners of the time) ‘shit’ was a noun in common usage at not at all vulgar. When she decided to use the term in her new home there was quite an uproar. My grandfather had to explain that shit could not be said in polite conversation and certain euphemisms must be applied. Therefore, does God condemn any reference to bodily excrement? Dung, manure, turd, poop, etc. must all be profane. I have read a few books on the history of language and the English language (which I recommend, a bibliography will conclude this post for all who are interested) and the sensibilities of discourse have at some points in our history been so skewed that proper medical attention could not be addressed because the patient could not dare utter the afflicted body part. Examples include ‘stomach’ for belly, but eventually ‘belly’ became too graphic and had to be replaced with tummy, midriff, and even breadbasket. A funny story which I will paraphrase told of a young lady falling down on the sidewalk in America. When a British gentleman asked if she had hurt her leg, she averted her gaze and told him that “we don’t use that word in America.” It turns out that leg was vulgar, and was to be replaced with ‘limbs’ in polite American English conversation. Language is constantly evolving, and with that our taboo words are constantly evolving. There have been times in our language when ‘shit’ and ‘cunt’ were perfectly acceptable, but uttering words such as ‘puppy’ and ‘cad’ were highly risqué. Going back to my first example using ‘fuck,’ although it has been around for centuries (possibly millennia) for a long time it fell out of general usage. During those years the vulgar term for sex was to ‘swive.’ If I were to say ‘swive it,’ would that be offensive? Of course not.
In conclusion, swearing involves words relating to filth, the forbidden (particularly incest), and the sacred. Filth comprising mostly of bodily excrement (shit, piss, etc.), the forbidden to the ‘unspeakable’ body parts (ass, penis, cunt) and incest (motherfucker), and the sacred entails all vulgarities relating to deities (God damn, to hell with it, Jesus). I am not supporting the usage of aischrologia, but rather am trying to redefine ‘filthy language’ and have the reader see that it is not letters or words that are blasphemous or sinful, but rather the meaning behind the words. Notice I have not used examples such as “Fuck you” or “You’re an asshole” in this article. Those expletives are aimed at someone and the underlying meaning is derogatory and therefore logos sapros. While rapping up this article, I don’t want to be seen as condoning the usage of profanity, but I just wanted to give a little history and state some obvious facts on language. Sorry for upsetting anyone with the language in this article, but as the saying goes: “sticks and stones may break my bones but words shall never hurt me.”
I know this whole article was a bit silly and probably got nothing accomplished, but I love language and linguistics and this topic is just something that always has irritated me. One of my quirky pet-peeves I suppose. Basically speak how you want to speak, who’s to say that using the words “fuck” or “shit” will send you to hell? Because they won’t. How could the Bible have been condemning the use of such words when the English language hadn’t even evolved at that time? I agree it’s the meaning behind some of those words, but as I have stated, the sapros meaning behind those words cannot always be found. So what are we going to do with all this useless information you have just read? In the words of our Italian brothers and sisters… “Me ne fotto di esso!”
For those interested:

“The Mother Tongue” by Bill Bryson

“The Power of Babel” by John McWhorter

“The Story of English” by Robert McCrum, Robert MacNeil, and William Cran

Written by Tyler York.