More on the Swearing Thing
So after adding 2 entries to my forgotten blog last night I went to bed still thinking about the whole swearing thing. I think I can get another post from it, so here we go.
There's a blog that I check out from time to time called www.shitmykidsruined.com It has pictures of things that have been broken by people's children. The "Desi-twins" picture is absolutely worth seeing. It's very entertaining to see just how much havoc a small child is capable of wreaking. Every time I check it out I can't help but wonder what my future contribution to the blog will be. So far most of our damage consists of a few dings on the wall, some stains on our couch, and snack crumbs everywhere. But I'm sure our time for a catastrophe will come.
Anyway, I was reading a review of this newish site in an online newspaper. Because of the swear word in the url/title of the blog they decided to refer to the blog as Stuff My Kids Ruined, but they did make note of the fact that the word "stuff" was a stand-in for a word they couldn't print. This is where I have an issue with swearing. How is the word shit in a case like this any different than using the word stuff? Apparently they both mean the same thing and by pointing out the fact that stuff isn't the actual word being used it's pretty obvious to the reader what word is used, and we automatically fill it in anyway. There's no ill-intent in the original title, it's merely what the author chose to name their site. Shouldn't we judge words on their meaning? I feel like swear words tend to fall into the "judge a book by its cover" kind of thing. I definitely think there are times when they are used inappropriately and for ill-purpose, but if that's not the case, then should they still be forbidden?
I also can't STAND it when people replace a swear word with a similar, but OK word, like fudge. Everyone knows what you mean when you say that, it's not really fooling anyone. So why bother?
This makes me sound like I fully support swearing, therefore, must do it a lot. I don't. It's a force of habit. I was never allowed to swear growing up, so I just don't do it often now. In fact, I was prohibited from saying some words that I still feel are pretty harmless as well: sucks, shut up, heck, and I think even stupid. I mean, occasionally I will swear, but it's not the first thing that comes off my tongue. I also try really hard to avoid the fudge, shoot, sugar, heck, and darn replacement words if I can. But I'm not perfect.
So what are we going to do with Dylan? (matt basically feels the same way, so at least we're on the same page) I guess we will just stick with convention and have those words be off-limits because I REALLY don't want a foul mouthed child. But I also really hope that we can teach him the power that words can have; to refrain not just from swearing but from hurtful language in general. I actually think that hate is probably one of the biggest that I wouldn't want him to use. I wasn't allowed to say it growing up, like when I got mad at a sibling, for let's say hitting me. I couldn't say "I hate my brother/sister" no matter how angry I was in the moment. And now I'm glad for that. Hate is a very strong and very negative word that leads to very strong and negative emotions, and I just don't need that in my life. Sure there are plenty of things that I don't like, which may seem the same as hating on first glance. But I think that in my mind I associate something that I don't like with a neutral emotion. As in, I don't like baloney. It exists, other people eat it and enjoy it, which is fine, I just choose not to. But I don't feel angry towards baloney and I certainly don't feel the need to go out convince everyone else in the world of how disgusting baloney is and then try to destroy it all. I just feel neutral towards it. But again, I'm sure there are plenty of times when I've uttered "I hate it when this happens" or something similar. I really hope that I don't say it about people though.
I think I'll have to pay more attention to the language I use now. Especially since Dylan is in full parrot mode.
There's a blog that I check out from time to time called www.shitmykidsruined.com It has pictures of things that have been broken by people's children. The "Desi-twins" picture is absolutely worth seeing. It's very entertaining to see just how much havoc a small child is capable of wreaking. Every time I check it out I can't help but wonder what my future contribution to the blog will be. So far most of our damage consists of a few dings on the wall, some stains on our couch, and snack crumbs everywhere. But I'm sure our time for a catastrophe will come.
Anyway, I was reading a review of this newish site in an online newspaper. Because of the swear word in the url/title of the blog they decided to refer to the blog as Stuff My Kids Ruined, but they did make note of the fact that the word "stuff" was a stand-in for a word they couldn't print. This is where I have an issue with swearing. How is the word shit in a case like this any different than using the word stuff? Apparently they both mean the same thing and by pointing out the fact that stuff isn't the actual word being used it's pretty obvious to the reader what word is used, and we automatically fill it in anyway. There's no ill-intent in the original title, it's merely what the author chose to name their site. Shouldn't we judge words on their meaning? I feel like swear words tend to fall into the "judge a book by its cover" kind of thing. I definitely think there are times when they are used inappropriately and for ill-purpose, but if that's not the case, then should they still be forbidden?
I also can't STAND it when people replace a swear word with a similar, but OK word, like fudge. Everyone knows what you mean when you say that, it's not really fooling anyone. So why bother?
This makes me sound like I fully support swearing, therefore, must do it a lot. I don't. It's a force of habit. I was never allowed to swear growing up, so I just don't do it often now. In fact, I was prohibited from saying some words that I still feel are pretty harmless as well: sucks, shut up, heck, and I think even stupid. I mean, occasionally I will swear, but it's not the first thing that comes off my tongue. I also try really hard to avoid the fudge, shoot, sugar, heck, and darn replacement words if I can. But I'm not perfect.
So what are we going to do with Dylan? (matt basically feels the same way, so at least we're on the same page) I guess we will just stick with convention and have those words be off-limits because I REALLY don't want a foul mouthed child. But I also really hope that we can teach him the power that words can have; to refrain not just from swearing but from hurtful language in general. I actually think that hate is probably one of the biggest that I wouldn't want him to use. I wasn't allowed to say it growing up, like when I got mad at a sibling, for let's say hitting me. I couldn't say "I hate my brother/sister" no matter how angry I was in the moment. And now I'm glad for that. Hate is a very strong and very negative word that leads to very strong and negative emotions, and I just don't need that in my life. Sure there are plenty of things that I don't like, which may seem the same as hating on first glance. But I think that in my mind I associate something that I don't like with a neutral emotion. As in, I don't like baloney. It exists, other people eat it and enjoy it, which is fine, I just choose not to. But I don't feel angry towards baloney and I certainly don't feel the need to go out convince everyone else in the world of how disgusting baloney is and then try to destroy it all. I just feel neutral towards it. But again, I'm sure there are plenty of times when I've uttered "I hate it when this happens" or something similar. I really hope that I don't say it about people though.
I think I'll have to pay more attention to the language I use now. Especially since Dylan is in full parrot mode.
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