Words

katekelly

Hi Folks,
I love words and language -Hubby would say obviously because I don't shut up. Being a saddo whe I received my IPad for my birthday last year one of the first ( and still most used) apps I acquired was scrabble. I love it and play it every day several times. Sometimes Hubby looks over my shoulder and says 'that's not a word!' and after some discussion he stomps off-if it wasn't a word it would not let it be used.some such as za or zo or ch are all playable but I don't know the meaning-good scores though!!
Anyway this brings me on to what is and isn't swearing. Certain 4letter words are allowable as are longer ones! Well I was at a church meeting the other night and whilst waiting for the others the conversation got onto language and a very well read, well spoken lady was telling us of a word used to her that week. Imbuggeration!! We decided it was a fab word -none of us knew it's meaning but it had been used to her in the context of being an inconvenience. Well then the Vicar told us that the word of the day from his dictionary on his IPhone was 'bollocks'. So I came home and looked up both words . Imbuggeration isn't a word but bollocks is ( although it is termed as crude). So then I got to thinking, who decided whether a word is swearing or not? I grew up in Ireland where everyone swore but no one took the Lord's name in vain. So which is worse? I always tell my girls that people who swear do so because they're not smart enough to say anything else-sadly I am one of those &@~#&gt;€$¥~}}^<\{}%€>~\ people.
Love
Kate x

fowls48

thats me aswell F$%^%$£g H&*(l



xx

frogmorton

My Dad (a Hungarian immigrant) said swearing showed a limited vocabulary and prided himself in not swearing.

(BUT I can STILL swear really well in Hungarain though can't spell the words)

Blaspheming...our cat does that all the time kate I am ashamed to say and she really doesn't get it from me.

I try to avoid swearing (did it far more at work :roll: ) except when I stub my toes then is a great long %*%*%$$, £££%%$, *&***^**, **^*^%%!!!!!

Love

Toni xxx

katekelly

Well air was very blue here an hour ago - Hubby going on jolly to Ireland tomorrow but the puppy just chewed his passport!! >€%#%*=$}}?$\\> was just the tip of the iceberg!!

Kate xx

scribbler

Kate, Love your post. My daughter gave me a scrabble calendar for Christmas. A different scrabble-based puzzle for every day. Great fun and you can even argue it is educational. I'm getting better at anagrams.
As for what it swearing it depends on the company. Some words are acceptable in a student bar but wouldn't be in a WI meeting! I read somewhere that the BBC actually has a list of words that broadcasters are not allowed to use.

Avrielle

The history, usage and evolution of meaning of certain words is really quite interesting.

The word '****' is considered a swear word these days, but not so long ago it was a widely used word without fear of being crude or malicious, unless that is intended behind the word through tone of voice or in the context it is used. A **** is a person who has been brought up without a father. This used to be the standard term and there was little against using it. Offence only being taken if the person using the word used it in a negative context.

But these days, the meaning seems to have evolved. People call other people **** regardless of whether they had a father or not. The term often being used as an insult, not towards a lack of a full family, single parent families are nowhere near as frowned upon as they were just a few years ago, but as an insult thrown when someone has annoyed them, a word that has lost it's original meaning and used in itself for insult.

Other words are similar. The american term '****' is used to refer to a homosexual and is used far more often than not for insult. But interesting that the word had once meant 'a burden on society'. So calling somebody a '****' is always going to be an insult, or malicious in some way, as the word still holds an old, original meaning when used.

The naughty four-lettered 'F' word is thrown around a lot these days and has been thrown around for a long time. But I have no idea how the word changed it's meaning from it's original 'sexual intercourse' definition, to the widespread 'naughty' word that is used so often.

'Tis interesting to ponder though. :-)

Avrielle

I ought to add that in a game of Scrabble, as far as I know, words found in the Oxford Dictionary are allowed, but some of these apps and such do not stick to official rules and technicalities of such games. Pronouns and acronyms and abbreviations are dissallowed, so your za, zo and ch shouldn't be allowed (if they are even found in the dictionary and not just errors in the game..)

Some of these apps are just made by people like you and me and may not have payed full attention to the official rules.

katekelly

Just checked mh Chambers official scrabble word book -yes a real book with pages! And za isn't in it but ch and zo is. I bought that book 20plus years ago so perhaps za has been added since then!
Kate x

Avrielle

Looked 'em up.
- Zo is an alternative spelling of dzo, which is a male hybrid offspring of a yak and a domesticated cow.
- Za is an obsolete 'word' that is a syllable once used in solfege to represent a B flat. (like 're mi fo so la si' etc)
- Ch is a very odd one and I'm suprised that it is an official playable word. It's origin being a representation of sorts to the letter 'H' in some languages and was sometimes used in Old English. Another usage of 'ch' is an abbreviated word of 'chain' which refers to a unit of measurement. A 'chain' being equal to 22 yards. But it is an abbrv. like 'km' for kilometres.

Now you know :-p