Words are too powerful to use carelessly

I don’t necessarily take offense when people use coarse language in front of or around me. After all, from a surface perspective words are only sounds. I’ve shared before that the German word “Schlittenfahrt”–  whatever it sounds like to a non-speaker, only means “sleigh ride.”

 

Since I am a child of the sixties, it is quite likely I was raised to believe certain words are “bad,” so that could be an underlying reason I don’t use them. But now that I am in my sixties, I believe I have outgrown any childhood conditioning along those lines. There are rare occasions when I am quoting, providing an example, or perhaps trying to surprise my listeners, when I am willing to say the f-word and some of its usual companions.

 

But when a conversation takes place in front of me where such words are used freely and even repetitively, I find myself confused.

 

The f-word describer and the s-word noun have come to be non-specific synonyms for “bad.” So if I make the claim I am angry (to use replacement words) about this “faking sheet,” I am conveying nothing more clear than “I am angry about this bad bad thing.”

 

Would the communication not be more clear and powerful if I used genuinely meaningful words? “It angers me that people post lies on social media.” “I wish people who commit fraud would realize how badly their selfishness hurts others.” “When people’s driving endangers others, it makes me want to call the police and report them.”

 

So there is one source of my confusion: Why do speakers resort to “faking sheet” when they could be genuinely expressing themselves?

 

There are those who would claim the vulgar words get attention or make a point.

 

I would respond that they do–but in a way that reflects negatively on the speaker. The “point” might be “I am too lazy to find more appropriate phrasing,” or “I pay no attention to the sensitivities of the people who hear me speaking.”

 

Because make no mistake, coarse words send a message of a coarse life–and for some people the words bring up memories of coarse treatment at the hands of people who used those words.

 

I know some people began referring to faking sheets in middle school, when it was an attempt to be “cool.” Perhaps once middle and high school–and the need to impress others with shallow devices–was over, people continued using the words out of habit.

 

But is “habit” a good reason to continue speaking in a way that fails to deliver a clear message, is likely to be offensive to others, sends an impression of vulgarity, and is–I hope everyone recognizes–not evidence the speaker is “cool”?

 

In reference to the s-noun (“sheet”) I am confused why folks would want that word in their mouths. We all know what the word refers to, what that smells like, how disgusted we are to find the s-noun anywhere around us. Why would anyone put it in their mouth?

 

And as for the f-word, it makes dirty something that, in a good relationship, is a very positive thing. It takes one of the strongest bonding elements a couple shares and pulls up images of alleyways, brothels and mistreatment. Why would anyone purposely invoke such darkness?

 

So there you have it–the reasons I keep “sheet” out of my mouth–can be mostly summed up by saying “because there are far better things I would rather have there.”