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Offensive Words

As Get Out! readers know, I haven’t shied away from posting some stories in the mag with four-letter words (How to Sh*t in the Woods, If you Can’t Duck it, F&@# It). Most readers don’t seem to have strong feelings about it one way or another. Some wrote to compliment the stories and a few wrote to let me know they were offended by these words.

My favorite was someone accusing me of not having the vocabulary to do better. I thought about culling the site for words that he probably wouldn’t know how to define and e-mail the list to him, but I’m too lazy and disinterested to do that.

I am interested, however, in language and in the idea of offensive words. George Carlin has already said most of the good stuff on this topic, but I am intrigued about how we as a culture make certain words taboo. They are, after all, just words. (I am rubber, you are glue, bounced off me and stuck on you!)

When I informally polled my friends on this topic, the only ones with concerns were parents – they want to make sure their kids aren’t reading curse words online. My response to one friend was that it was her responsibility, not mine, to monitor what her kids read online. She replied that she goes to getoutzine.com for information, not moral guidance. Good point.

I am a rock climber and I often refer to my fellow climbers as f*#%in’ dudes. I say the F word often, and I think this is because of my subculture of parentless f*#%in’ dude acquaintances. And I do agree that no one should be yelling that word outside when there are kids around who can hear it (that’s just noise pollution anyway). In that case, I would call the word situationally inappropriate, not offensive.

Words are powerful. I’ve chosen my profession based on this fact. There are words that are meant to offend: “You suck,” “You can’t do that,” “You’re fat,” “You’re not invited.” But in my book, a person’s words reflect on exactly one person: them.

There’s another saying I like that goes something like this: You can’t make me feel badly about myself without my consent. Once someone’s self-esteem is strong enough, this is true: no one else can take you down a notch through words. But the fact is, most people take a long time to get to this point, and some never reach it.

One of the greatest benefits of adventure sports is how they allow people to build self-esteem by achieving goals, overcoming fears, learning to rely on others … the list goes on.

So. If we’re going to make words taboo, I say don’t worry about words like shit and fuck. Worry about words that serve to cut others down. And don’t even worry about those so much. Remember, someone who sprays insults is just an asshole.

And anyone who doesn’t agree with me, well, fuck ’em. (I know you saw that one coming a mile away, but I couldn’t help myself.)

Comments

Bob Baxter said…
I don't know about you but I learned all those words in the first grade, and that was in 1933.
Anonymous said…
Bob, i laughed loads after reading your comment. You still got it at that old age ha ha.
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