Basic use of swear words overlooked

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32880, 1 April 1972, Page 13

Basic use of swear words overlooked

(By

R. R. BEAUCHAMP)

With all the interest and excitement that has blown up over the question of obscene language I am surprised that neither the law nor the churches, nor even any member of the general public, has pointed out the basic use of swear words and the need to maintain their value as emotional currency in times of acute stress.

With the present deplorable tendency to bandy four, six and even eight-letter words about on even the slightest provocation, what hope has anybody of finding suitable language to relieve the feelings when the wind slams the door on one’s finger Or the cat has kittens in your best suit. It is no use saying that there are other ways of tackling this problem; that restraint and self control are all that is needed. Some say hold the afflicted part and count ten, Others advocate the rhythm method: you sing a verse of the National Anthem over and over again until the bodily functions return to normal. But, when all is said and done, there is nothing to touch a good single expletive ... unless it is a well chosen string of them. If the few powerful swear words that remain arewatered down until they become part of common English usage, where can the sufferer turn for relief? I remember a notable example of the cathartic power of a little so called “bad language.” She was an elderly lady of blameless

character and saintly disSosition: one whom the iblical injunction “Let your conversation be yea, yea and nay, nay” exactly fitted. Well this dear and revered example of all that was good was transferring her favourite delicacy (a rice pudding) from the oven to the table when she trod on the family cat and dropped the dish. The cat fled, screaming its own brand of obscenity. Granny, before her horrified children and grandchildren said, in measured terms: “Damn that bloody cat." You see what I mean. Just as the law protects the rare bird or animal, so it forbids the shooting off of some of the more powerful expletives —in public, at least. Their scarcity value and power to shock is thus maintained. If these safety valves become common currency what relief can we hope for in some sudden crisis. What, for instance, would dear Miss Greer find to say if, when taking a walk in the countryside, eyes fixed on the star of Liberation, she had the misfortune to tread right into a pile of one of those eight-letter words!