Question When, if ever, is profane language justified? I saw some people yesterday carrying signs with pictures of Obama with a Hitler mustache. As a Jew and an American, I was deeply offended and became so angry that I launched into a profanity-laced tirade. Afterwards, I definitely felt bad about losing my cool, but I also wondered more generally when and if the use of profane language can be justified.

Accepted:
October 1, 2009

Comments

I guess it's justified if it works. I would say that swear words definitely do have a legitimate, and even an important, place in our wider linguistic behaviour. Used sparingly, they can do an excellent job of adding emphasis when you feel you need to give things that extra little boost. They can often convey emotion more effectively than more neutral terms would. In certain social settings, their use can help to establish a sense of informality and intimacy. And so on.

And then, of course, such language also has its disadvantages. In other social settings, the use of these words might cause offence or discomfort to the audience, something which, other things being equal, is best avoided. And their use will often serve to undermine the user's communicative goals, by prejudicing the audience against the speaker in such a way that they are no longer inclined to give any heed to the point the speaker was hoping to convey. I guess the latter point is what's really at stake in the specific case you mention. If the use of these words helped you to get your point across, then I'd say that it was thereby justified. If it had the opposite effect, prompting your targets simply to dismiss what you were saying (or even to fail to notice it at all, focusing their attention on the form instead of the content of your message), then it would have been in your own interests to avoid it. The question of justification is really a pragmatic one: will such language help or hinder communication? It can go either way. And it is important to keep a cool head, so that you might be in the best position to make that pragmatic assessment. But if, after weighing things up carefully, you come to the conclusion that the benefits of using profane language in a particular case outweigh the disadvantages, then I say do it.

Oh, and while I'm on the subject: never pay any heed to those people who say that the use of profane language is the mark of an impoverished vocabulary. As should be blindingly obvious, it is the mark of an augmented vocabulary.