OUR SHRINKING VOCABULARY

[Neville Briggs]

I think Terry, that " swear words " being accepted more and more into wide use is a part of the problem. This is not a prudish observation.

I think there was a time when swearing was kept in a defined arena and people had to find the right words to use a the occasion demanded . Now swearing is heard everywhere in public broadcasting and plenty of contemporary literature and on any occasion almost.

Swear words are the ultimate stale clichés, so often resorted to by people who are too lazy to work on building up a varied and precise vocabulary.
When you think about it, half a dozen or so endlessly repeated words provide meaningless noises in the place of meaningful adjectives and descriptions. No wonder the vocabulary can be said to be shrinking.

[Stephen Whiteside]

Maybe it's a case of the chicken and the egg, Neville. Maybe we're swearing more because our vocabulary is shrinking.

Then again, maybe our swearing vocabulary is also shrinking. I'm thinking of CJ Dennis 'An Old Master', who sounds like he was a particularly imaginative and inventive swearer. The narrator describes him as a genius, as I recall. I haven't heard too many people swearing lately whose language I would describe as being at the level of genius.

[Maureen K Clifford]

But you'd probably hold your own in a shearing shed Marty my language skills improved enormously there and not a dictionary to be seen Mind you I do think the F word is overdone - very overdone, totally flagellated to death so to speak.

[Bob Pacey]

I think most of us can Maureen but it is a matter of choice. I cringe when I hear young mothers swearing at their kids and wonder just what will they think of as the norm as they grow up.


Swearing sometimes has its place but in most cases it simply serves as a release of tensions.


Bob

[Vic Jefferies]

I have no doubt our vocabulary is diminishing.
However our language skills will only diminish as far as we let them.
I believe if we (those of us who are concerned) continue to do our best to speak and write as well as we possibly can and not give in to the "dumbing down" of our culture that has been taking place for the last twenty years or so we can preserve and encourage the use of better language. It really is up to us. If we blindly and dumbly follow the popular media and press then we should not complain about the young becoming less articulate and discerning in their choice of language.
I do not mean we should resort to the use of obscure or archaic language but we should simply utilize that language we normally use and which in the main is superior to the drivel ued by the main stream press and media today.
As for obscenities and swear words used in public, public performances or writing, I abhor them and consider them an insult to the audience. Very seldom is anything gained by their use and usually someone in the audience if not a sizeable proportion of the audience will be either embarrassed or offended by their use.

Vic Jefferies

[Heather]

Swearing is one thing - but when it is every second word it kind of loses its impact. Anyone ever seen Shirley Valentine? Never laughed so much at hearing the F word. So well placed.

I have been reading some poetry by Adam Lindsay Gordon and he has used d________ in his poems. How progressive was he?

Marty build a bridge!

[Heather]

Is that Italian Marty? You'll need to translate I'm afraid.....

[Heather]

So chic!

Got your beret on then?

[Zondrae]

Now I am feeling a touch of 'am I that old' coming on....

When I was a girl.. Men would not swear in the company of Ladies. Ah! perhaps this is the problem.. Do the young girls or women of this generation act like ladies. Or do they even know what being a 'lady' is?
I am aware that, in some levels of our society, the women (and girls) swear as often as the men.

Being a lady is not dependent on where you are, or the task at hand, but in the manner by which the person in question conducts themselves. It also is contributed to by the mode of dress (or perhaps in this era indress) and the general presentation. One can still be a lady when knee deep in mud or up to the elbow in soap suds.

As I said, am I that old? Am I completely out of touch with society. Or is it only some sections of society?

[Heather]

Zondrae there are still ladies about. I would class quite a few of my friends that way..