Rules? Rules, you ask? I'll give you the rules!

[Michael Pavling]

On 23 August 2010 19:59, Johnneylee Rollins
<johnneylee.rollins at gmail.com> wrote:
>> And, if someone complains about you using those words just tell them,
>> "Bad words really don't exist, its just all in your head."
>>
> You might have a point, if so, can you please explain profanity and
> the words deemed as such? I'd love to hear it. : )

Look at a map of London (or any large English town of the time) from
the 15th Century... you'll find streets with a name [1] I can't even
write here because the word is now deemed *most* profane, whereas at
the time it was purely practical - no more likely to cause nuns to
blush than "front bottom" is today.

Times and sensibilities change. I don't think (and apologies if I'm
putting words in people's mouths) anyone has said "nothing is
offensive"; but that "what is offensive is subjective". A sensible
appraisal would be to say "That offends my sensibilities; I shall take
no further part" rather than "That offends my sensibilities; you all
stop it".

Of course, you can reduce my argument to extremis, and posit
situations where I would be offended and would intervene to "stop it",
but this is a discussion about words not actions, and as ever with
words, it's more the context than the content that's important; no one
*intended* to cause offence, so if offence was taken, it's a little
out of place.


[1] Google for "Gropec**t Lane"