Nicholas Barnard
College Writing
Thomasenia Hutchins
Language: The Malleable Entity
Language is a malleable entity. It does not exist in stone. It is constantly being reshaped and reformed. Take for example the word “motherfucker.” While this word used to be a rarity to hear, it is now heard pilfered around many aspects of the English language. This has caused a decrease in the shock value of this word, and an obscuring of the actual meaning of the word. The value of the meanings of the obscenities of American English has declined as widening of acceptable usage has occurred.
The examination of the original meaning of a word must be considered, to determine an appropriate shock value. The American Heritage Dictionary defines motherfucker as, “1. A person regarded as thoroughly despicable. 2. Something regarded as thoroughly unpleasant, frustrating, or despicable.” The definition makes no reference to the more horrible obvious meaning, of an individual who had intercourse with their mother. This deliberate or accidental mis-definition of this word by one of the two major American dictionaries is a symbol of how the “... loaded word in the wrong place or in the wrong quantity” has fundamentally changed the meaning of the word (Stegner 289). If a respected dictionary can fall to the widely used vernacular definition without mentioning the literal definition, how can the rest of society be expected to properly use the language in its possession?
In considering the use of profanities, it is important to consider the alternatives. As a general exclamation describing a bad situation, my great grandmother always used to use the word “sugar” in place of the word “shit.” This attached an additional meaning to the common sweetener. Therefore bringing the noun from just a description of a white granular powder that tastes sweet, into a word that meant to express surprise, anger, or extreme displeasure in addition to tasting sweet. While this redefinition of the word is looked upon as an admirable attempt to avoid the word “shit” it has polluted the meaning of the word “sugar.” This same pollution of the word “shit” has occurred, bringing it from a synonym of feces to mean to express surprise, anger, or extreme displeasure in addition to the human waste product.
Given this flattening and disassociation of the original meaning of words in a millennium or two this sentence could be rewritten with what we currently consider profanities without any intended offense. But more importantly it shows the lack of an exclamation in the English language to solely express surprise, anger, or extreme displeasure, without inferring a profanity or other ancillary meanings. The English language has a distinctive gap between words that express a mild disgust, and those that express a major disgust, leaving a void to fill the moderate disgust. This void is filled by morphing the meanings of other words to fill the needed emotional meanings.
A majority of profane words are ones that are morphed from female anatomy. These words are mostly in a derogatory way. Female rights groups have justifiably called for the curbing of the usage of this language within mainstream American society. While these words have lost their original meaning, it is paramount to note why the female anatomy was chosen for profanities. The most obvious reason is that throughout history a majority of females were considered the exclusive property of men, passed from their father, to their husband, to their son. The males originally devising this system undoubtedly deliberately created the “Cultural bias [that] was built into the language we [women] were allowed to speak, the subjects we were allowed to speak about, and the ways we were spoken of” (Lakoff 295). These profane words came directly from a controller, controlled relationship, it is interesting to note the rise in derogatory terms for the male anatomy with the nearly simultaneous rise of the women's and gay rights movement, pointing to the blurring of sexual roles, and therefore origins of the sexual and profane terminology within our society.
Some would never consider an approach that I have on the analysis of language, considering a trivial portion of our lives, but language is the fundamental part of our lives. It is the most utilized way to communicate with others, and therefore deserves a thorough examination.
Only by dissecting the language in which we live, examining historical trends of language can we determine the meanings of our language, and determine more appropriate ways to utilize it. History is about continuity and change. Language is rooted in history. Accordingly it is continually changing and connecting with its past, present, and future. As daily users of language a more controlled and informed writings, speeches, and conversations will come from a clear individual understanding of language.
Works Cited
“The American Heritage Dictionary” 1992, 3rd ed. The American Heritage Electronic Dictionary. CD-ROM. SoftKey International. 1994.
Lakoff, Robin. “You Are What You Say.” Ms. Magazine July. 1974
Stegner, Wallace. “Good-bye to All T _ _t!”