Theory on Bad Words and Swearing

I was watching the show Hell's Kitchen the other day and I couldn't help but notice how much swearing they have on that show. Literally almost every line spoken on the show has something bleeped out. It's like they are editing the show to include as many lines with curse words as possible. I find the bleeping to be annoying in this case just because it is used so much on this show. It got me thinking about swear words in general.

Personally I do not use bad words, at least no out loud in public. They might run through my head from time to time, but I rarely say them out loud. Many people on the other hand use bad words on a regular basis. I have a theory on why some people swear while others do not.

Growing up my parents were fair and not overly strict. I remember one early on asking my mom if I could say bad words in the house. Surprisingly she said yes I could. I don't remember much else about it. I might have said a few words just for fun in the situation but after that I did not use bad words just because I knew it was something you were not suppose to do.

Most kids are told by adults that they are not allowed to use these words and they will get in trouble if they do. So then what do these kids do the first chance they get when the adults are not around? They say the bad words only because they have been told they are not allowed to. I think kids in this situation get into the habit of using these words that they are not supposed to and before you know it, they are using them on a regular basis which carries into their adult life.

Some may argue that they are just words and there should be nothing wrong with just saying a word. This is a good point but the fact is in our society it has been generally agreed upon that there are certain words that are just inappropriate or offensive and should not be used. Maybe not everyone agrees on this but most people do. There are also plenty of words in every language where there is no need to use words which are deemed bad or offensive.

A lot of it has to do with context and expression as well. Just merely stating a bad word out loud does not have the same effect as directing it to someone with the intention of being mean or offensive. Overall I think bad words should be avoided just because there are other words to use and because they are generally thought of as bad. I understand many people do not want to follow the rules as is evident by the childhood example of how swearing gets started. Thankfully most people use these words sparingly and not in the presence of children as it would be a bad example to follow. In the end of course everyone must make their own decision on whether or not to use bad words.