The F***ing History of Swearing - Anna Maria Kiosse

Swearing is and always has been regarded as undereducated, obscene, rude and profane in society. It has been censored, forbidden and the institutions of power continue to ban it from society and all media. Due to censorship there are groups of people who fight against swearing, certain religions who think the devil is the father of “fuck” and whole hordes of mothers who don’t want their kids to say words like shit, piss fuck or cunt. For some these words are dirty and bad and you shouldn’t say them. Ever. Yet despite your mum’s best efforts, cussing is mainstream. It’s even more than that, it’s an integrated part of our culture. We have used profane language since the beginning of time, and when I say “we”, I mean people in all countries, all over the world, in every language, dialect, slang or accent studied, living or dead, in big cities to small tribes in the middle of nowhere, they all turn out to have their own “forbidden speech”. Yet, why is there this goddamned societal discomfort when a casual “fuck yeah” accompanied with a high five can make you feel so awesome?