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Terms of profanity have historically been taboo words. Some words originally considered profane have become much less offensive with the increasing secularity of society, while others, primarily racial or ethnic epithets which can be considered part of hate speech, have become increasingly taboo.
The word cunt maintains much of its taboo status at least partly due to the influence of feminism, though other feminists are attempting to "reclaim" a neutral or complimentary status for this word. Shakespeare hinted at the word in Hamlet, Twelfth Night and Henry V: Hamlet quips about "country matters" when he tries to lay his head in Ophelia's lap; Malvolio has the deliciously salacious line "These be her very c's, her u's, and her t's, and thus she makes her great p's" ;and the French Princess Katherine is amused by the word gown for its similarity to the French for cunt, con.
In the U.S. today, terminology considered to be racist is often seen as much more offensive than sexual or scatalogical terminology; this is most clearly shown in the attention given to use of the word nigger, now effectively banned in American public discourse. So strong is the social disapproval aimed at this word, that it has affected use of the unrelated, but similar-sounding, word niggardly (meaning "stingy"). For example, in a highly publicized incident in 1999, the mayor of Washington, DC, Anthony A. Williams, pressed for the resignation of his staff member, David Howard, because Howard used the word "niggardly" in a private staff meeting [1]. As with other types of profanity, context is very important; thus, Americans of African descent might use the word nigger, or the related nigga, in informal situations among themselves, without being considered offensive.
Psycholinguistic studies have demonstrated that profanity and other taboo words produce physical effects in people who read or hear them, such as an elevated heart rate.
This fact is seen by some as evidence that reclaiming of words such as queer is a valid way to remove its power. See also the article on nigger.
The offensiveness or perceived intensity or vulgarity of the various profanities can change over time, with certain words becoming more or less offensive as time goes on. For example, in modern times the word piss is usually considered mildly vulgar and somewhat impolite, whereas the King James Bible unblushingly employs it where modern translators would prefer the word urine (2 Kings 18:27; Isa 36:12) or urinate (1 Sam 25:22, 25:34; 1 Kings 14:10, 16:11, 21:21; 2 Kings 9:8).
Other related archives1990s, African, American, Americans, Anthony A. Williams, Brainfuck, Finnish, French, George Carlin, German, God, Hamlet, Henry V, Hungarian, Irish,
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