Words are just sounds combined together which produce a word. Parents, teachers, religious leaders and society may not allow us to say some of these combined sounds. As such, these words are emotionally charged, that is, they may insult or upset some people. If your teacher can’t or won’t teach you which words are emotionally charged, how can you avoid being embarrassed? This is the question I’ll attempt to answer over the next few days.
Let’s start with topics that are taboo for Americans.
- certain body parts
- sexual activities
- bathroom functions
- disgusting things: picking your nose, scratching specific body areas
- upsetting things: death, cancer, dying
- religion
- politics
- age
What words are taboo?
Dr. Reinhold Amen, who is a an expert on bad words, claims that there are three groups of bad words: obscenities, blasphemies, and slurs.
Obscenities: vulgar words for sexual body parts, sexual activities, and excrement
Blasphemy: words that religious teachings say are bad
Slurs: words that insult a person’s nationality, race or body appearance
What makes these topics and words taboo in the USA?
Taboo words usually began when a group of people determine that a particular word or topic is offensive. If the group is influential, others soon adopt their belief and the word or topic becomes taboo for everyone.
When Europeans started arriving in the new world in the 1600’s, many came from very strict religious groups. They came to the New World in order to worship freely. They had very strict ideas concerning sexual activity. Sex was only allowed between a married couple and only for creating children. Sex for pleasure, outside of marriage, or for any other reasons was simply not allowed. Many words used to describe sex, certain body parts, or body functions soon became taboo. As other groups of people arrived in the New World, they quickly adopted such attitudes.
Four hundred years later, Americans still try to avoid using words that refer to sex, body parts, or excrement. They usually become uncomfortable or, at times, offended in polite company when they hear such words. However, there are words that you can still use to fully express yourself.
So, what can you do when you need to actually talk about a taboo topic or say a taboo word.? What words can you use? How can you use them?
In the next few posts, I’ll talk about how recognize when a word is dangerous or taboo and what words you can use without offending anyone.