Profanity Essay Essay Research Paper

Profanity Essay Essay, Research Paper

“Money doesn.t talk, it swears.” Many of

the most brilliant minds throughout time have used profanity. Shakespeare.s

best works were revised and edited in order to remove the numerous curse

words or obscene phrases he included. The harmless use of profanity in

an informal setting should not be penalized, by the assignment of an essay.

Profanity continuously to evolves, and has a very rich and interesting

history. The system of assigning essays for the use of profanity is ineffective

and counter productive. “When angry, count four; when very angry, swear.”

The evolution of profanity began in the

sixteenth century, and it evolves with each generation. Profanity is recognized

in many Shakespearean works, and has evolved into the profane language

used today. Some cuss or curse words have somehow maintained their original

meanings throughout hundreds of years, while many others have completely

changed meaning or simply fallen from popular vocabulary.

William Shakespeare, though it is not widely

taught, used a rather vulgar and dirty vocabulary in his writings. His

works included subjects that some people wish they had not. “That includes

a fair helping of sex, violence, crime, horror, politics, religion, anti-authoritarianism,

anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, sexism, jealousy, profanity, satire,

and controversy of all kinds” (Macrone 6). In Shakespeare.s time, religious

and moral curses were more offensive than biological curses.

Most original, prior to being censored,

Shakespearean works contain offensive profanity, mostly religious, which

is probably one of many reasons that his works were and continue to be

so popular. “Shakespeare pushed a lot of buttons in his day- which is one

reason he was so phenomenally popular. Despite what they tell you, people

like having their buttons pushed” (Macrone 6). His works contained many

profane words or phrases and as a result, were censored to protect the

innocent minds of the teenagers who are now required to read them, and

also because they were blasphemous and offensive. Almost all of the profanity

was removed, and that that was not had just reason for being there. Some

of the Bard’s censored oaths are;

“God’s blessing on your beard”

Love’s Labors Lost, II.i.203

This was a very rude curse because a man’s

facial hair was a point of pride for him. And “to play with someone’s beard”

was to insult him.

“God’s body”

1 Henry IV, II.i.26

Swearing by Christ’s body (or any part

thereof,) was off limits in civil discourse.

“God’s Bod(y)kins, man”

Hamlet, II.ii.529

The word bod(y)kin means “little body”

or “dear body,” but adding the cute little suffix does not make this curse

any more acceptable.

“By God’s [blest] mother!”

2 Henry VI, II.i;

3 Henry VI, III.ii;

Henry VIII, V.i

Swearing by the virgin was almost as rude

as swearing by her son, especially when addressing a catholic cathedral

as Gloucester did in 2 Henry VI, II.i

Perhaps the two worst of these Shakespearean

swears were “‘zounds” and “’sblood.” “‘Zounds” had twenty-three occurrences.

Ten of them were in 1 Henry IV. The rest appear in Titus (once), Richard

III (four times), Romeo and Juliet (twice), and Othello (six times). Lago

and Falstaff were the worst offenders. ‘Zounds has evolved into somewhat

of a silly and meaningless word, but was originally horribly offensive.

This oath, short for “God’s wounds,” was extremely offensive because references

to the wounds or blood of Christ were thought especially outrageous, as

they touched directly on the crucifixion. “‘Sblood” had twelve occurrences

in all. There were eight times in 1 Henry IV (with Falstaff accounting

for six), plus once in Henry V, twice in Hamlet, and once in Othello. ‘Sblood

occurs less than ‘zounds, but is equally offensive and means basically

the same thing.

Several other words came from Great Britain,

but were not included in Shakespeare’s works. Today the expression “Gadzooks!”

is not particularly offensive to most. Of course, most don’t know what

it originally meant. Gadzooks was originally slang for “God’s hooks,” and

was equally offensive to ‘zounds and ’sblood as it also referred to the

crucifixion. An interesting note is that there is an American store called

Gadzooks, which is a pop-culture vendor to America’s youth. Some of Gadzooks’

shoppers would be very offended if they knew the true meaning of the store’s

name. Another word from this region is a Cockney expression, “Gorblimey,”

which is a word used to swear to the truth, and is a shortened form of

“God blind me.” Also, in England, words such as “bloody,” “blimey,” “blinkin’,”

beginning with the letters “BL” are taken offense to because they, once

again, refer to

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать