Dirty Words

[VeraMaria]

in school, it gets harder and harder not to cuss.

but i don't. i just DON'T.

Since i never got into it, i don't have a problem trying to stop it.

I'm very careful about what i say like that, and determined never to get into the habit.

:ph34r:

:D

[Aloysius]

yeah, the Bible talks about "evil speech" and stuff like that, somewhere.

anyway, beaver dam shouldn't be filtered, the meaning is stil used.

i never using freaking as a substitute for the F word. I donno, it has never ever meant that to me, and i never ever think about the F word when I hear it. i always thought it was an adjective to mean something was like, REALLY REALLY somethin. LIke that's Freakin amesome!!!

and carp get's filtered to be carp but all you saw was carp gets filtered to be carp but rest assured i spelled it out carp the first time. :ph34r:

the evil speech and stuff like that that the Bible talks about doesn't necessarily pertain to these words which society has put in a box and labeled off-limits. it pertains to the way you speek. if i say a bad word because i wanna be bad, that's evil speech. if i say a bad word because i wanna hurt someone, that's evil speech. if i say a bad word because i think it makes the meaning of the sentence more clear, that's not evil speech, unless i'm trying to make the mean and hurtful meaning of the sentence more clear. get what i'm saying? it's intention. these words are not intrinsically evil, but are commonly used in an evil way.

[littleflower+JMJ]

yeah today's language is not getting prettier.

[Schmandi]

the evil speech and stuff like that that the Bible talks about doesn't necessarily pertain to these words which society has put in a box and labeled off-limits.  it pertains to the way you speek.  if i say a bad word because i wanna be bad, that's evil speech.  if i say a bad word because i wanna hurt someone, that's evil speech.  if i say a bad word because i think it makes the meaning of the sentence more clear, that's not evil speech, unless i'm trying to make the mean and hurtful meaning of the sentence more clear.  get what i'm saying?  it's intention.  these words are not intrinsically evil, but are commonly used in an evil way.

ok, this tread has caught my attention.

I agree with Aloysius. I do not agree with Katholikos. It may seem like they are saying the same thing....kinda, but they aren't.

Cussing, yes, can be sinful...is sinful, but you can not draw a black and white line here. Intentions, motivations, AND INTREPRETATIONS, are all a part of this equation.

Here's what i mean. I've grown up in the mid west (indiana) all my life. Although still exposed the cuss words as vulgar as the "f" word, i don't hear it extremely often. It is not a part our our socities every day speach and it is certinaly not tolerated in any form of professionalism. NOW, i have friends who live and New York City and grew up brooklyn. I hung out with them not too long ago, and the "f" word flew from their mouths in ways i've never heard it before. The "f" word is a common means of communicating there and the word has taken on a whole new meaning. NEVER once was it used in a way to which it referred to anything sexual. This confuses me b/c I know these ppl....they are God loving ppl, they are ppl who have a conviction to God and His truth closer than any "righteous" Catholic I have ever met. They know Christ personally, and can see the Holy Spirit move in ways that leave me standing in AWE.

peronally, I don't like to cuss, but i'm a sinner. I believe the better good is to choose to hold your tongue. but i'm a sinner. I strive to be better, and with grace - i sometimes succeed. but i'm a sinner. I strive to be better, and with grace - i am forgiven.

What i hear when i hear someone say "cussing is bad, and Catholics don't GET to cus", makes me wonder first, if they have catagoized those who cus as "less loving" of Christ or if they themselves consider themselves more worthy of His kingdom. I don't think the important question here is weather or not to cus (we have the freedom to choose to do so - and i like it that way) but the important question is weather or not we choose to love the cusser enough to be with him. Could we love him enough to even to follow him, if he said "follow me?" or would we refuse b/c of his "unworthyness" or b/c of his "vocal rebuking of God". if we did, then doesn't that mean we've made a judgement of his action, doesn't that mean that we get to call the sin? (SIN 3 - you're out!) Doesn't that mean we get to choose weather he lives or not? Does our own righteousness make us god? That's what the Pharasies did when they argued the law of adultry, or the Sabbith.

So, yeah, i quenge a little when i hear a discussion on weather or not to cuss - when there are so many more other things we could be doing.

i can not deny the beauty i have found in my "cussing" friends. They are more beautiful and more real to who they really are than i have ever been. Me...a "non-cusser" (Well, Me... a "sinner who tries not to cuss")No justifications, no false piety, no righteousness has gotten in there way of looking for Christ. Christ is truly the center of their lives - They are the sinners Christ would choose to sit with. They are who He died for. Scandelous...I know.

But I will follow them, straight into heaven.

God can not be deminished to right vs. wrong. Black vs. white.

Edited December 3, 2003 by Schmandi

[Ellenita]

Even the difference in cultures words can mean different things. Take for instance the word "bloody". It obviously has a different connotation in England.

This is so true! There are swear words which seem quite 'normal' in the US that you rarely hear used in the UK and they still have the power to shock!

It is also the context of when a word is used too isn't it? In the part of London where I live, the F word is used so frequently in conversation it has almost lost it's impact as a swear word, but I have never heard it used where I work and people would be shocked to hear it used and find it very offensive.

I was surprised to read "'p' off" at Phatmass but assumed that it's not considered a bad phrase in the US. I learnt that phrases, although using the same language, can have very different meanings when I asked my dad, in front of my aunt from the US, to 'knock me up in the morning' - I meant to 'wake me up for work' but I gathered from my aunt, once she had picked herself up from falling off her chair, that it has an entirely different meaning in the US! :o

[morostheos]

You'll never guess what Bible study I led tonight....

It was on James 3: 1 - 12, "Controlling the Tongue" (yay super amesome Catholic Scripture Study!!)

James Ch. 3:

  1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you realize that we will be judged more strictly, 2 for we all fall short in many respects. If anyone does not fall short in speech, he is a perfect man, able to bridle his whole body also. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide their whole bodies. 4 It is the same with ships: even though they are so large and driven by fierce winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot's inclination wishes. 5 In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions. Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze. 6 The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. This need not be so, my brothers. 11 Does a spring gush forth from the same opening both pure and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can salt water yield fresh.

Be careful how you use your tongue, it is very powerful! What you say shows who you are. James tells us if anyone controlled what they said perfectly, he can control his whole self as well. But alas, the tongue can still not be tamed, even thought we can tame all the animals in the world....

Just some food for thought, I found it quite relevant. :)

[Anna]

There's another good reason not to use cuss words...charity toward your neighbor.

You may not feel offended by the words you're using; you may feel that your intentions are pure. But when you knowingly use words that are foul or impure in casual conversation, someone else may be scandalized.

The greatest reason I can give, however, is that come Sunday, you want Jesus Christ--Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity resting on that tongue of yours. Don't you want to prepare it to be as pure as it can possibly be, as this is the part of your body upon which Jesus Christ chooses to rest.

Is He spreading Himself out upon another cross when He is laid upon your tongue? Or, as with the tongue which prays many rosaries, does He feel as comfortable as though He is an infant being placed in the Blessed Mother's arms?

Don't you want Jesus to be pleased to rest upon your tongue? Don't you want to keep it pure for Him, as well as for your neighbor, and yourself?

Pax Christi. <><

[hyperdulia again]

"I asked my dad, in front of my aunt from the US, to 'knock me up in the morning'"

rotflmao!

[Uncle Gus]

With blasphemy and profane words aside, swearing is a sin against charity because it offends people. Also, some words mar the dignity of the thing which they name (the f word for example).

[foundsheep]

We should all respect one another and take care not to offend with "bad" language. Somebody grab the bar of soap!

[nikkan_hanil]

in school, it gets harder and harder not to cuss

What? That's easy. All you hafta do is look at how all the sinful slobs are blaspheming and just plain hurting Jesus everyday and say "Do I want to be more like them so I can be 'cool'"? They're easy to find, look on the bus. ;)

[Paladin D]

Luckily, the only time I cuss is if I'm fusterated/angry. I don't use it in everyday conversation (except for beaver dam).

[Seatbelt Blue]

Strictly speaking, "Goddamn" isn't taking the Lord's name in vain, because, well, "God" isn't God's name. It's an english appelation for Him, but strictly speaking, His name is YHWH.