組別：英文組
類別：論文類
Keep It Clean: The Research of the Origins of Curse
Words and Snenior High School Students’ Attitudes
toward the Use of Curse Words
Abstract
From past to present, curse words have been existed universally from country to
country and culture to culture. In fact, some curse words have changed their meaning
over time. Moreover, some modern swear words weren't considered so rude centuries
ago. Nonetheless, it seems that the information of how does the evolution of curse
words has not been taken serious when we utter the curse words. For the reason, in
this research, the researchers attempted to search the information data from the books
and the Internet in order to figure out the chaning of the curse words. Besides, the
researcher conducted a questionnaire to understand the different attitudes toward the
use of curse words among the senior high school students. The result of the
questionaire indicates that 87% of the teenagers do not know much about the orinal
meaning of curse words, even though many of them often utter curse words in their
daily lives. In addition, the result shows that senior high schools students think that
males are more suitable for swearing than females. The problem of stereotype is
worthy of deeply investigating. Finally, the researchers hope to know more about the
meaning and the evolution of curse words by this research instead of simply regarding
curse words as insulting.
從過去到現在，髒話一直普遍存在於社會中，然而髒話的意義卻隨著時代而
改變。因此，本研究透過書本及網路資料等來獲得資訊，並從中了解一些現代常
用髒話的歷史演變、起源和說髒話所帶來的影響。並以高中生為研究對象設計一
份問卷，目的是了解新世代青少年們說髒話的原因及態度，問卷顯示 87%說髒話
的青少年不知其髒話的歷史背景；此外，問卷也發現，高中生認為男性比女性適
合講髒話，此刻板印象的問題值得研究者去深入探討。因此研究者希望能藉由此
研究來能更加明白髒話的意義，而不是僅僅認為髒話只是羞辱人的字眼。
Keywords: curse words, swear, senior high students
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Table of Contents
Abstract --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- i
Table of Contents ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ii
I. Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1
I.1. Background of the study ------------------------------------------------------------- 1
I.2. Motivation of the study -------------------------------------------------------------- 1
I.3. Research questions of the study----------------------------------------------------- 2
II. Methods------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
III. Results ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3
III.1. The origins of curse words --------------------------------------------------------3
III.1.1. History of asshole --------------------------------------------------------------- 3
III.1.2. History of fuck------------------------------------------------------------------- 3
III.1.3. History of shit-------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
III.1.4. Other findings-------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
III.2. Senior high school students’ attitudes toward the use of curse words------- 4
IV. Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
IV.1. Summary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
IV.2. Limitation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8
IV.3. Futher investigation ----------------------------------------------------------------- 8
IV.4. Self-reflection------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9
V. References ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9
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I. Introduction
I.1. Background of the study
There is no denying that curse words have been a part of males and females’ everyday
language. Many people use them to express their feelings in certain situations, such as fighting,
scolding, and even in conversation. Sina (2008) indicates that people from different races, statues,
and educational backgrounds all do say curse words more or less, and men tend to swear more than
women do. Despite the fact that curse words are inherent in somehow taboo status, they indeed exist
in our lives over centuries, or even more. According to Sohn (2010), the taboo status of curse words
gives themselves power. The more restriction people put on curse words, the more alluring they are
for people to say, and it also shows that if we say something that we are not supposed to say, it
means that we are pointing out something that is really so important that we break the moral
bondary to use it. That may be one of the reasons why many TV shows and movies take advantage
of it by using strings of swearing to be the highlight of their shows or plots (Wajnryb, 2006). It is no
wonder that, even though curse words are considered profane and offensive, many people have been
accustomed to cursing in their daily life, thinking it not a big deal. For example, if a computer is out
of order, some people may use curse words to represent their anger. Some researchers even believe
that curse words may help people to vent their emotions. Staedter (2011) explained if people swear
fitly, they can lower the physical pain they feel as they get injured, especially for those who seldom
swear. Curse words mean an expression which is not polite and shows that you are very angry
(Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2011); however, the intensity of how people feel about them varies
largely. Cultural, regional, and gender difference are among the factors. Moreover, every country
has its own language of curse words which are derived from different origins. Nevertheless, barely
do we know much about the original meaning of what we say. Therefore, this paper aims to explore
the origins of frequently used curse words and focuses on teenagers’ attitudes toward the use of
curse words
.
I.2. Motivation of the study
Curse words have been everyday language for many people, especially teenagers. Tae-jong
(2011) indicated 19 out of 20 teenagers use curse words. According to a research of 1260 students
surveyed by The Korean Educational Development Institute, it shows that 925 students use curse
words at least once daily and that 21.2 % of students use swear words occasionally. Only 68
students said they do not swear. Besides, 70.3 % said they swear while talking to friends. The
survey also shows their reason for swaering. 25.7 % said using curse words is just like part of their
habits, while 18.2 % said they just do what they hear from other people. 17 % thought swearing can
help ease stress” and 16.7 % believed that it can show a sort of intimacy between friends.
Moreover, modern people are prone to learning how to swear in early age. The earlier a person
utter curse words, the more offensive the words he/she may use. There are plentiful reasons for
youngsters to learn swear, and most parents are surprised when their children use cursing.
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Nonetheless, parents may be one of the reasons why children say curse words. Aubrey (2008) gives
an example that those kids could mimic words and phrases if their parents swear unconsciously.
They can soon learn how to speak. It also shows that it is language learing, because kids have no
judgement to think about whether a word is suitable for given situation. It further suggests that
children are far more influenced by their peers when they start going to school. In general, lots of
parents will stop their children from swearing once they hear cursing; however, this kind of
traditional intervention may have some negative effects. Handinhand (2008) reported if you demand
your children to stop swearing, or get angry at them, they will stop out of fear, but their fear and
anger will hamper intelligence. Furthermore, those children will use curse words silenly in their
mind and those cursing may probably pop out later, festering the situation.
Another reasone for teenagers to swear is the environment. Herron (2009) observed
environment affects adolescents’ vocabulary just as strongly as people around them who curse.
Televisions also have a great impact on people’s use of words, especially if the TV show is popular
with the public. If children have a wrong idea about using curse words, it also bad for children and
is needed corrected. Tsai (2011) considered the young people begin to swear, most of them just want
to show that they have grown-up guts. It further advises that teenagers should build a clear concept
of curse words early lest they should distort the knowing of curse words as they mature.
Although curse words are a part of our life and seem to exist in the use of language for
somehow function or meaning, they are seldom embodied in dictionaries; thus, not many people
know their meaning. Out of curiosity about the concept of curse words, people always say curse
words when they are angry, but strangely, they also say curse words when they feel good, which
motivate the researchers to get more information about curse words and people’s aspects on them.
Besides, curse words almost become daily languages, and they are frequently heard in our life.
Therefore, why curse words are common nowadays gives the researchers plenty of interest to
discuss in the following reseach.
I.3. Research Questions of the Study
The purpose of the study is divided into two parts. The first part is to understand the origin of
morden frequently used curse words, and the second one is to figure out senior high school
students’ attitude toward the use of curse words. The research questions are proposed as follows.
1. What is the origin of the frequently used curse words?
2. How do senior high school students’ attitude toward the use of curse words?
II. Methods
For the purpose of solving the research questions, the researchers did as much as they could to
gain the information. To begin with, the researchers gathered some related information and
resources about curse words on the Internet, and then searching for related books in libraries of
several colleges and Miaoli county government. Moreover, the researchers devised a questionnaire
and then distributed it to the participants, senior high school students, in the researcher’s school and
on the streets so as to investigate the teenagers’ attitudes toward the use of curse words.
2
Furthermore, the researchers bought a book called Language Most Foul, written by Ruth Wajnryb, a
linguist, to help figure out the culture background of curse words. With a view to increasing the
reliability and the accuracy of the research questions, the researchers asked the foreign teachers to
collect some information about curse words. Afterwards, the researchers analyzed all the
information data in order to get the result of the research.
III. Result
The researchers will focus on two sections to discuss the result of the study. The first part is
about the origins of common curse words, and the other part is to show senior high school students’
attitudes toward the use of curse words. For the sake of understanding the origins of curse words,
the researchers searched for the relative books and references on the Internet and books. After
collecting information data, the researchers attempted to present the origins of several high
frequently used curse words. As to senior high school students’ attitudes toward the use of curse
words, the researchers conducted a questionnaire to collect the data, and then analyze them in order
to get the research answers.
III.1. The origins of curse words
In this section, the researchers are going to discuss the origin and historical background of
several high frequently used curse words.
III.1.1. History of asshole
Asshole, also called arsehole, originates from the word, arse. According to the Oxford English
Dictionary, it has been used since 11th century to refer to as ass of an animal. Now, it is used toward
the person the speaker does not like or to despise someone. Usually, the object of this term is a male.
This word may also used to describe a person that is stupid or useless. In North America, arse
equals ass. However, to the rest of the world, ass only refers to donkey while arse means buttocks.
In the past, the word is serious; nevertheless, the word always appears in daily dialogue and has
become less vulgar. Asshat is a variation of asshole, which is less severe. It describes someone who
has head up his ass.
III.1. 2. History of fuck
Fuck is one of the curse words that it is largely used in English language because this word can
be noun, verb, adverb, and adjective. It is a powerful word both in pronunciation and meaning.
Generally, Fuck is considered a dirty word, or maybe the dirtiest. That may be exactly why it is
essential to the language. What does it mean originally? Originally, it started in medieval period in
the British and French war. The power of British longbowmen was so mighty that the monarchy of
French was concerned and requested that his knights cut off the British middle fingers if they
defeated them. Because it was hard to pull a bow without middle finger, the middle fingers were
essential. Nonetheless, in the end, the French knights suffered great losses in the battle from the
English longbowmen who used longbows made from yew trees and launched arrows with keen tips
that could pierce into the French knight armors. The French failed utterly. At that time, all of the
British knights raised their right hands and show off their middle fingers to certificate their triumph
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and insult the French while they exclaimed that see, we can still plug the yew! Plug yew! Thus, the
middle finger is regarded as a symbol of insult. It is said that showing the gesture of middle finger
turns into the greeting of “fuck you” gradually after word-of-mouth spread for a long time.
III.1.3 History of shit
Shit is a word in common English, which means feces. Scholars trace the word back to Old
Norse Origin, which is referred to as skita. It is virtually sure that this word was used by preliterate
Germanic tribes. It was called scitte in Old English. History is found in Law, Politics and Property
(2011). In the Middle English, it is referred to as schitte. This word can be further traced to
Proto-Germanic, skit-, and finally to Proto-Indo-European, skheid-. Shit is usually avoided in
formal speech, but modern people can use crap, which is still impolite, to replace this word. Many
people get satisfaction from using this word and see it as a good way to relieve stress. For example,
people use this word as expressions of displeasure, fear or surprise. Although shit is commonly used,
the literally meaning is still seldom absent. Thus, some people may feel offended if they hear this
word. In any case, this word is largely accepted. Shit often appears on American shows and radio.
Many songs with this word in them will be unclear or covered up through the censor on the radio.
III.1.4. Other findings
In all cultures, curse words are offensive and divided into dissimilar classifications in detail in
the Language Most FOUL (p30-36) and in the yourdictionary (2011). They are abusive swearing,
blasphemy, curse/cursing, expletive, obscenity, and taboo words respectively. Abusive swearing us
used to condemn or dispraise people and call people in an impolite tone. Blasphemy is used to
insult anything related to religion. This kind of curse words is commonly seen nowadays. It means
that using it will not be regaded as insulting gods, unless you want to outrage Christians on purpose.
Curse means that you wish something bad for people you hate. Tranditionally, it is not approved to
curse people because of some religious factors. In contrast, it is not that serious to use cursing.
Expletive is used in an excited situation, which indicates that the speaker want to release pressure.
The point is in venting emotion, but with no bad intention. Obscenity means using words related to
sex, down to private human body parts. Taboo words mean something that is prohibited to say in
certain cultures. These words may not be respectful to religions. It also means talking sexual
behaviors in public, even including some insulting topics, such as mental disorders and death.
III.2. Senior high school students’ attitudes toward the use of curse words
The researchers present the results of the questionnaire as follows.
4
Where do people learn curse words
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
males
females
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
friends
media
Internet
school
others
Figure 1
According to the chart, it shows an idea about where the senior high school male and female
students learn the curse words. The result shows that both male and female learn curse words from
different sources, including their friends, their school classmates, media, the Internet, and so on.
Surprisingly, male and female share close numbers on each category, that is, there are no differences
between males and females to get the sources of curse words. Moreover, the result indicates that
most of juveniles learn dirty language from their friends. The study concludes that friends really
have a great impact on the use of curse words for teenagers.
The reason of swearing
Figure 2
As the pie graph shows, the reasons why teens swear are as follows: 45 % of males and 41% of
females express that they swear for showing their present feeling, and 34% of males and 40 %
females think they utter curse words as expletive. On the contrary, fashion, power, self-recognition,
and other reasons are far less likely to be incentives for youngsters to swear.
5
Teens realize the meanigs of curse words
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
males
females
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
strong agree
agree
disagree
strong disagree
Figure 3
From the figure 3, it points out that majority of young people do not know much about the
meaning of curse words. Thus, the researchers conclud that most teenagers do not use curse words
for the purpose of insulting other people because they do not really know the meaning of curse
words but they simply use curse words as expletive and expression of emotion.
Do teens accept people around them who say curse words?
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
Males
Females
Strong agree
Agree
Disargee
Strong disagree
Figure 4
The figure 4 is aimed to find out whether teens accept people around them saying curse words.
Apparently, most participants accept that, no matter male or female. Therefore, the researchers
conclude that curse words have become a subculture among teenagers because up to 70% of
teenagers are not against curse words appearing in their life.
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Do teens’ elders forbid them to swear?
0.6
0.5
0.4
Males
0.3
Females
0.2
0.1
0
Strong agree
Agree
Disargee
Strong disagree
Figure 5
This survey is planned to find out whether teenagers are banned to swear by elders, such as
parents and teachers. Generally, their elders forbid them to swear. Only few elders allow them to
swear. The figures can suggest that although they are forbidden to swear, most of them still say
curse words and learn curse words from their friends (see figure 1).
Teens’ opinions toward whether curse words should exist
0.7
0.6
0.5
Males
0.4
Females
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
Strong agree
Agree
Disargee
Strong disagree
Figure 6
The figure 6 points out that most young people agree that curse words are essential to their life
and they should exist. However, there is a little difference between male and female. Males are
more likely to agree the existence of curse words than females by 10 percent. In conclusion, curse
words are important in the view of young people.
7
Why do not people swear ?
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
male
0.4
female
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
domestic
eduation
belief
personal value
keep image
indecorum
other
Figure 7
This figure shows that why people do not swear. For females, they do not say curse words
because their parents prohibit them, referred to as domestic education. Furthermore, males and
females have two things in common. Most of them do not swear owing to personal value and
indecorum. .
IV. Conclusion
IV.1.Summary
This paper is aimed to find out the origin and the deeper meaning of curse words. It is also
intended to investigate the attitudes and opinions of Miaoli senior high students toward the use of
curse words. This research finds that, although the use of curse words is still offensive, it indeed has
some beneficial effects and function to human beings. Nowadays, the usage of curse words is not
limited in insulting people. As the result of the questionnaire shows, most teenagers now take curse
words as expletive words and view swearing as a way to release pressure. The result conforms to
Sharples’ study (2009), indicating that curse words can lower the physical pain when getting hurt.
In brief, the researchers study the evolution of curse words, and realize young people’s perspectives
toward them in order to have more insight into the deeper meaning of curse words.
IV.2. Limitation
Every research has its own limitations. First of all, due to the lack of money, it is hard to gain
nation-wide teenagers’ data. Secondly, there are not abundant books about curse words in the
libraries; thus, suffering from insufficient references is a big problem. Finally, the views from adults
are not investigated when thinking about the matter of time.
IV.3. Further investigation
In terms of the limitation mentioned, the researchers would like to conduct a further
investigation. We will spend more time collecting data about the opinions of adults and other
teenagers. Moreover, other related questions will be devised in attempt to gain more modern
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people’s point of view. Then, these data will be combined so that this paper will be more precise
and the difference between adults and teenagers will also be clear.
IV.4. Self-reflection
The researchers learn about deeper information about swearing curse words after finishing this
study. Take the culture tradition for example; the researches realized all the curse words are
different from country to country. In addition, we realize it is of importance for us to unite the spirit
of our teammates. We also learn how to get our different views together and then reach an
agreement. Last but not least, the researchers have learned how to organize the massive amount of
information well, and it is the vital mission for us to achieve.
V. References
Aubrey, A. (2008). Why Kids Curse. NPR.org. Retrieved September 27, 2011, from
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89127830
Bad Word List & Swear Filter. Retrieved May 3, 2011, from
http://www.noswearing.com/dictionary/e
Cambridge Dictionary Online. Retrieved June 29, 2011, from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
Handinhand. ( n.d.) Bad Words from Good Kids. Retrieved November 17, 2011, from
http://www.handinhandparenting.org/news/184/64/Bad-Words-from-Good-Kids
Herron, C. (2009). Curse words trendy language amongst teenagers. THE SIGNEL. Retrieved June
25, 2011, from
http://www.gsusignal.com/2.14076/curse-words-trendy-language-amongst-teenagers-1.1948560
Law, Politics and property. (n.d.) Shit. Retrieved November 22, 2011, from
http://www.bushywood.com/shit.htm
Sharples, T. (2009) Bleep! My Finger! Why Swearing Helps Ease Pain. Retrieved June 23, 2011,
from
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1913773,00.html
Sohn, E. (2010).Why Do People Swear? DiscoveryNews. Retrieved July 15, 2011, from
http://news.discovery.com/human/f-bomb-swear-curse-words-biden.html
Staedter, T. (2010). Swearing Helps When You're Bleeping Hurt. DiscoveryNews. Retrieved July 8,
2011, from http://news.discovery.com/tech/swearing-helps-when-youre-f-hurt.html
Tae-jong, K. (2011). Most teenagers use swear words habitually. THE KOREATIMES. Retrieved
October 15, 2011, from http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/09/117_88372.html
Wajnryb, R. (2006). 髒話文化史(嚴韻)。台灣：麥田。(原著於
2004 出版)
髒話文化史
Wu, H. M. (2010). Swear word usage: A Study of Gender and Age Differences. Department of
English Language, Literature, and Linguistics, Providence University：Master Thesis.
Yourdictionary. (n.d.) Where Did Curse Words Come From? Retrieved October 15, 2011, from
http://answers.yourdictionary.com/language/where-did-curse-words-come-from.html
蔡珮 (2004)。從髒話看父權在語言使用的權利展現
從髒話看父權在語言使用的權利展現。國立政治大學新聞研究所：博士論文。
從髒話看父權在語言使用的權利展現
蔡慧齡 (2006) 。 蛻變的髒文化，髒的有理－髒話大影響，開口多考慮。中正 e 報。2011 年
9
10 月 13 日，取自 http://enews.ccu.edu.tw/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3705
髒話解讀：和孩子啼哭很相似 (民 97)。北京新浪網。民 100 年 9 月 25 日，取自：
http://news.sina.com.tw/article/20081030/1015347.html
Wesley Morris(2006).Presenting the history of a four-letter word. boston.com.
Retrieved April 19, 2011, from
http://articles.boston.com/2006-12-08/news/29243027_1_adult-film-star-obscenity-centuries
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