Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language

76 Forbidden Words
appropriate to that end; where the speaker wants to be offensive, s/he will
choose a style of language that is dysphemistic. Thus, X-phemism is intimately
bound up with style and perlocutionary intent – that is, the effect that the
speaker intends the utterance to have on the hearer.
The original meaning of the verb swear is ‘to take an oath; make a solemn
declaration, statement, affirmation, promise or undertaking; often in the eyes
of God or in relation to some sacred object so that the swearer is, by
implication, put in grave danger if found to be lying’, e.g. I swear by Almighty
God to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help me
God. The noun oath ‘an act of swearing’ is the nominal counterpart of the
verb swear. These original meanings (‘make a solemn declaration’ etc.) still
obtain, alongside those of profane swearing and profane oaths. At first,
these would have been statements made with profane reference to the deity;
they have been around at least since the Middle Ages, 45 and probably much
longer. The extension of profanity from irreligious language to incorporate
obscene language took swearing and (to a lesser extent) oaths with it. The
dysphemistic senses of swear and oath became dominant in unmarked contexts;
a result aided by the fact that situations favourable to orthophemistic
attestation (I swear by Almighty God . . .) are infrequent compared to the
number conducive to profane swearing and profane oaths. Profane swearing
uses dysphemisms taken from the pool of dirty words as well as blasphemous
and profane (i.e. irreligious) language. To swear at someone or something is
to insult and deprecate the object of abuse, as well as to use other kinds of
dysphemism.
Hayduke, under the hair and sunburned hide, appeared to be blushing. His grin was
awkward. ‘Well, shit,’ he said. ‘Fuck, I don’t know, I guess . . . well, shit, if I can’t
swear I can’t talk.’ A pause. ‘Can’t hardly think if I can’t swear.’
‘That’s exactly what I thought,’ said Bonnie. ‘You’re a verbal cripple. You use
obscenities as a crutch. Obscenity is a crutch for crippled minds.’ (Abbey 1975: 153f)
Judging from other parts of The Monkey Wrench Gang, Bonnie is probably
not especially distraught by the obscenities themselves (though some people
would be); what seems to motivate her here is that Hayduke’s frequent use of
obscenities distracts her from readily and easily understanding the rest of
what he is saying. Hers is a fairly common reaction to the face affront she
perceives to be inflicted upon her. Also, her view that ‘Obscenity is a crutch
for crippled minds’ is a commonly held one; but there is no evidence
whatsoever that it is correct.
The dysphemistic connotations of swearing lead to its being associated
with cursing ‘imprecating malevolent fate’. Although curses can hardly be
literally profane, the term Curses! has certainly been used lightly as a
euphemistic dysphemism for several centuries. Hence, we find in Matthew