Language Snobbery/ Swearing.

I was always raised to look on those who swore with disgust and judgement. I'm not kidding. Your mom may have been that way with smokers or drunks but for me it was always those who used "bad" language. I obeyed because I was a child and even when I grew older and lost my forced- upon- me distaste for cursing, I still felt obliged to agree with my my mom's rants. However, recently, I have come to realise that judging and disliking people because they swear is absolutely ridiculous.

You see the thing about swearing is that you are just using different words to communicate a message to another human being and yet someone decided that certain words were "bad" words and they became forbidden, or moreover, kept for "lower class" and less dignified individuals. Why?  The issues I personally would have with cursing is the emotion and tone of voice that fuels it. I agree that it is certainly not pleasant to hear people utter "Fuck" when they are angry, directed at you or others but don't you think that its the way they're saying it, their facial expression and body language is what affects you and not the words they used? 

People say swearing gives off a certain "impression". They rarely elaborate because they probably realise how stupid that is. Being told you're giving off an "impression" is basically you being blamed for other people judging you. You shouldn't be worried about giving off the right impression to people when they first meet you, you should be yourself, say what you feel is right in your own natural way and if they don't like that then what are you supposed to do? Not be yourself? Say something you don't want to say? Fuck that!

You see, language is a state of mind. Your mind has adapted to these things called words which are essentially organised noises that you've been trained to comprehend so you can convey your feelings. Do you see how futile the "bad word" debate is now? There are a lot more important things to worry about then what words people use, the meaning behind them being one of them as well as the fact that so many people are afraid to speak any words when the truth needs to be heard.

However, I would like to make clear that I don't think its right to swear just to appear cool or tough. Like I've said before, it is not the choice of words you use that show people who you are, its the feeling and meaning behind those words. Use whatever "noises" you want to convey best what's inside you to the outside world. 

Aside from swearing, I also feel this way when it comes to general language usage. I believe there is a huge language snobbery existing in the world. In English class you're always told to pick the longest and poshest words when you write but I've always thought that once again its the content of what you write that matters, it should be about the story. Some people use the flounciest and most complicated vocabulary in novels but what they don't realise is that many readers cannot understand their message then. So while I do understand many's appreciation for words and how some words are more effective at portraying a thought better than others, I still feel we need to bring it back to the basics and realise that maybe you should spend a little more time thinking about what you want to convey to the world, in the most genuine way possible, instead of looking up a thesaurus for the most intelligent, praise attracting words.

Love,

Rachel! =)