Dear Dr K,
How did the practice of swearing and cursing originate? Why is it frowned upon by most of society? I personally love swearing but I usually get into trouble when I do it in some places.
— Prof Anity
Dear Anity,
With the invention and spread of manners under Queen Victoria in the mid-19th century, English society was becoming very well behaved. Some accounts from this period speak of an old Englishman named Ichabod Swair who, having become annoyed and bored with the general good behaviour and prudishness of society, decided to cause some trouble by yelling “Fire Under your Chairs, Knaves!” in crowded theatres. This usually caused some degree of panic, what with all the people having to leap out of their chairs for fear of being burnt, but it entertained this old man greatly. When the theatre-going crowd learnt that this was a prank, they became greatly annoyed. The prank quickly became very popular, spawning many imitators, but at the same time, it was much frowned upon. It quickly became very taboo to shout out “Fire Under your Chairs, Knaves!” in any context. Even the acronym form of this statement, which is what is better known today (and which you perhaps like to use), became, and continues to be, an extremely inappropriate word. (The practice of shouting “Fire Under your Chairs, Knaves!” is no longer popular today, although most people would still consider it quite rude to yell “Fire” in a theatre, except when there really is a fire, or when the play or movie is really quite bad).
It is not known whether this story explains the origin of the practice of swearing, or whether it only explains the origin of one of today’s better-known and more offensive swearwords. Some experts say that swearing existed long before Ichabod Swair, but others say that what existed prior to the Victorian era was not swearing, but cursing. The widespread practice of witch-hunting in the 15th to 18th centuries left very few people remaining who had the ability to curse effectively, with the effect that you see mostly swearing in modern times, and very little cursing.
Indeed, swearing has existed in various languages and cultures, and sociolinguists engaged in the study of swearing have still not come to a conclusive answer as to why it is considered offensive, even if it is done outside a theatre. It has been found that most swearwords are references to bodily parts or functions, the forbidden, the sacred, or comparisons to Bush. Some people consider it impolite to talk about bodily parts and functions, and this is perhaps why swearwords of that nature are frowned upon. It is curious, then, that even most doctors find these words offensive.
In some cultures, the strangest words are considered offensive. That is, the words themselves are not strange, but it is strange that they cause offence. In China, it is impolite to call someone a turtle, and in France calling someone a cow or a camel is considered to be an insult. This is really quite odd, because turtles, cows, and camels are really all quite respectable animals.
In short, it’s really quite hard to explain why swearing is considered offensive, but the fact of the matter is that it is. It is quite likely that you get into trouble for swearing because, in my experience, people do not like being offended, and are likely to cause trouble when they are. In view of this, I have the following suggestions for you: stop swearing altogether, swear politely, or use only those swear words that do not offend people.