Voldermort & Other Forbidden Words
Every time I see something in the news about people getting irate about someone saying something that's considered generally offensive it makes me sad. It shouldn't be what they've said but how they've said it that you should take offense to. If something is said without aggression, just genuinely put in a conversation without meaning to be rude, then why would you take it any other way?
My friends and I often use bad language with each other, but never with any malice. There's always a sarcastic tone or a too obvious dead pan face that comes with it. We know we don't mean it. [Of course this excludes the times when you secretly mean it but don't want to upset them.]
I over heard a conversation between some older ladies about a guy's t-shirt. "How rude!" "What is?" "That young man's t-shirt says f*** on it." They proceed to discuss how appalling this was, whilst using the actual word itself. It got to a certain point and I couldn't help myself. "You do realise it doesn't say that? It's actually the company initials. F.C.U.K." "It's very rude." "But you do realise it's not actually the word that you keep saying out loud, in a room full of people." She proceeds to go bright red while her friend stiffles a giggle. Anyone will see what they want to see I guess. [I am fully aware that I've avoided the fact that FCUK have made t-shirts that play on its similarities to the second favourite F word.]
Maybe I'm thinking too far outside the box, but words are just words. A word isn't bad, the person who uses it maliciously is. A word shouldn't be punished because at some point in history it's been allocated a bad lot in life by the human race. We should be embracing words not culling them from existence. Many years ago I read the book "Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn. When letters fell off their memorial statue the government ban them from use... resulting in most of the population being banished or leaving when sticking to the rule proves too difficult. It then goes through my head that this isn't to far from being possible, and that's an even sadder thought.
Language is such a wonderful thing, and it is anything you want to make of it... why would you not make something positive?
My friends and I often use bad language with each other, but never with any malice. There's always a sarcastic tone or a too obvious dead pan face that comes with it. We know we don't mean it. [Of course this excludes the times when you secretly mean it but don't want to upset them.]
I over heard a conversation between some older ladies about a guy's t-shirt. "How rude!" "What is?" "That young man's t-shirt says f*** on it." They proceed to discuss how appalling this was, whilst using the actual word itself. It got to a certain point and I couldn't help myself. "You do realise it doesn't say that? It's actually the company initials. F.C.U.K." "It's very rude." "But you do realise it's not actually the word that you keep saying out loud, in a room full of people." She proceeds to go bright red while her friend stiffles a giggle. Anyone will see what they want to see I guess. [I am fully aware that I've avoided the fact that FCUK have made t-shirts that play on its similarities to the second favourite F word.]
Maybe I'm thinking too far outside the box, but words are just words. A word isn't bad, the person who uses it maliciously is. A word shouldn't be punished because at some point in history it's been allocated a bad lot in life by the human race. We should be embracing words not culling them from existence. Many years ago I read the book "Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn. When letters fell off their memorial statue the government ban them from use... resulting in most of the population being banished or leaving when sticking to the rule proves too difficult. It then goes through my head that this isn't to far from being possible, and that's an even sadder thought.
Language is such a wonderful thing, and it is anything you want to make of it... why would you not make something positive?
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