The (False) Power of Words

We get worked up over words, as a general populace. In political debates, we analyze word usage and turns of phrases, we take a microscope to anything that could imply something racist, sexist, homophobic, classist, pretentious, self-important, arrogant, or less than truthful. We love to take people's words and spin them around, we love to analyze phrasing.

In that spirit, I have this to say.

Fuck fuck fuckity fuck shit bitch ass cunt motherfucker.





I swear a lot in my day-to-day life. Sorry, mom, but I do. There are two primary rationales that people have when they hear another person swear an egregious amount. The first rationale is, "They just don't have anything intelligent to say." The line goes that people use swearing because they don't have the mental capacity to think up a less profane alternative. Instead of saying, "That was way too fucking much," the people that follow this line of thinking prefer that you'd say, "That was an egregious overabundance."

I'd like to think that over the course of this blog I've proven that I have the mental capacity necessary to come up with alternatives to cursing. If I haven't proved it by now, then I can't possibly prove it in the future.

The other accepted rationale is, "It's a shock tactic." Like Marilyn Manson's makeup or Sarah Jessica Parker's face, they assume that the need to swear is based on a need for attention, a cheap way to get a look, a laugh, or even a scolding.



Some would definitely accuse this of being the case with me, but I - naturally - disagree. I don't feel like I swear in any effort to gain attention, mostly because when I swear it usually takes me a second to even realize I've done it. It's just an accepted part of my vocabulary at this point, there to fit into the fuck-shaped holes. It's not an attention thing, because I don't even give it any attention, so I find it difficult to understand when other people do.

The fact of the matter is that all words have different connotations. Fuck, which is probably the most versatile word in the English language but for here we'll understand it as a sexual verb, has a completely different connotation than "sleep with" or "have sex with" or even "have a one-night stand with". It's a little more visceral and aggressive, it's less elegant and understanding. If you use the phrase "I want to fuck you," there is a clear meaning of what is going to ensue, one markedly different than the phrase "I want to make love to you."

In other words, there is a distinct meaning behind each word that lends them the reason for their use. Even words like fuck. Even words like cunt.

I've used the word cunt way more often than is probably socially acceptable. But, the fact is, I see no reason not to. If we are to use my previous reasoning for using the word fuck, then I will admit that the connotation of the word cunt is derisive and hurtful. There's really no need to ever use it in its intended sense.

But that's the other great thing about words. We, as people, can change the implication or even meaning of a word by placing it outside of its normal context. We can use a noun in place of a verb, and change the meaning of that noun. If you see something interesting happening and tell someone to "iPhone that shit," they know you mean to either take a picture or video of what's happening. We've done similar noun to verb transformations with words like "Google" and "Wiki".

I don't use the word cunt often, but when I do it is always outside of its normative context. It's said to people who understand that I don't mean it under its normal implications, and it's deliberately said in such a way as to reflect that dichotomy. In other words, its said in a nontraditional venue as a form of humor, showing how I can remove the meaning from a word by taking it out of context.

I understand people aren't comfortable with the word cunt. As one of my friends once put it years ago, in such a terrific way that I still remember it clearly, "It's never said in a complimentary way. No one ever says to a girl, 'Oh, you have a lovely cunt.'"

So I'm not going to say unequivocally that I'm not a bastard for using the word, or any of the profane language that I am accustomed to using. I could very well be. I probably am.

But my point is this: We have the power over the words, but we are letting the words have power over us. We can allow a word to have its place in our language, and by doing so take away the power it has to hurt. The only way words should be able to offend us or hurt us is if they are used intentionally for that purpose. When they are, it's inexcusable. But when they are used just to give a phrase it's proper fucking weight, then I feel like we should allow them their space. If they aren't being used intentionally to hurt someone, why should we let them passively hurt us?

Thom Yorke once said of computers, "I'm not afraid of computers taking over the world. They're just sitting there. I can hit them with a two by four ."



The same holds true for words. They're just marks on a page. We're the ones that give them weight and power, and we have the same ability to take that weight and power away.

Use it.