Swearwords increasingly used for emphasis and to build social bonds, rather than to insult, say academics

  • thesmokingman@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    54
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    6 months ago

    I’ve found that many people can’t differentiate “swearing around” vs “swearing at.” If I am swearing, it is to add filler words to my sentences that serve many purposes. I am not (rather, very rarely) attempting to insult or denigrate someone else. I do not understand why someone takes offense at “I really struggled to hit my fucking steps today” or “Shit I dropped the fucking ball.” I do understand why someone takes offense at “you ignorant fucking walnut” or “fuck you you fuck trumpet.” Conflating the two situations is so fucking dumb.

    • Eylrid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      6 months ago

      Also, even when hurling invectives someone can be just as abusive without swearing.