OF A GOLDEN AGE

It’s that time again. Time for the same old tired, nonsensical debate over swearing in the public eye . . .

OMG, SWEARING SHOWS NO VOCABULARY! SMART PEOPLE TOTALLY DON’T SWEAR! LANGUAGE IS DUMBER BECAUSE OF SWEARS!

. . . Brought out again by the New York Times in an article I desperately hope has an ironic title: Why Do Educated People Use Bad Words?

This debate is stupid, illogicked to say the least, and full of dweebs. Try to find an issue where there’s more overlap between conservative religious people and well-to-do liberals. At least people who object to swearing because it offends them religiously have some argumentative ground to stand on — they believe that poor language offends the deity or takes the deity’s name in vain. But to suggest that swearing is some shameful cesspool of the idiocracy is short-sighted and elitist.

Yes, I went there: Elitist. It is a word I use sparely because as a college-educated avid reader, student of language, and allaround nerd, I am vulnerable to it myself. But read the comments on the post, especially those with a high number of reader recommendations — they’re absurd. Of particular note are the comments stating explicitly that smart people do not swear. I’m sorry, internet stranger, have you met any of the smartest people I know? Because almost all of them swear regularly and, more importantly, that has nothing to do with anything. Equating intelligence with lack of swearing opens up a giant logical gap.

Don’t mistake my message here: To not swear is fine also. In the last six months or so I made a decision to clean up my language, if only to increase the impact when I do pull out a swear to make a point. There’s no way anyone who drives in the city of Chicago could ever fall out of practice in the art of fine profanity.

no responses