Expletives have place in our lexicon
By Roy Hu
Feb. 25, 2011 12:13 a.m.
“Gosh darn it to heck.”
No, this isn’t “The 700 Club” or the Disney Channel, this is college ““ namely, those few misguided universities that recently tried to curb cursing in unhelpful and unenforceable ways.
Based off of policies at other schools, Boston University placed a ban on cursing during all its sporting events after numerous complaints.
At Hinds Community College in Mississippi, public cussing is punishable with fines of $25 first and $50 on the second offense. Even more Orwellian, last year Hinds charged a student with “flagrant disrespect” for swearing in front of a professor after class.
This trend even extends as far down as middle school. Local middle schools in Mobile County, Ala., instituted a “No Cussing Day” this past Valentine’s Day to promote civility.
Though well-intentioned, these efforts are useless because they try to fix cussing like it’s a weed that needs to be uprooted. But cussing is not a weed, and it certainly does not need to be uprooted.
Even the staunchest Victorian campaigners gave up trying to get people to swear off swearing in the privacy of their homes, grudgingly accepting that it was pointless. There’s something too cathartic about cursing to stop it. Visceral, even ““ I’m sure Cee Lo Green would agree.
It’s not up to the university to be the arbiter and enforcer. Instead, the social and cultural context monitors what really counts as cussing.
Students cuss fabulously these days because we value different things than previous generations. On the outside it seems like we lack values because just about every traditional cuss word is acceptable. But obscenities just reflect what a culture happens to value at the time. It used to be religion and then for a while it was sexual purity.
These days, profanities connected with our various deities and excrements and bodily functions are easily accepted. On the other hand, you get crucified for making a slur connected with race and sexual orientation, and rightly so. There’s a concrete reason not to offend another human being’s race or sexual orientation.
In this way, social standards influence swearing in a way that colleges simply cannot.
Still, there’s no question that swearing should be kept out of the public sphere. To this extent, schools such as Boston University possess good intentions.
On Feb. 4, the Daily Bruin received a letter from a parent complaining about our “F**k ‘SC” chants during the basketball game, heard over a crowd of 10,000 and then over the broadcast. We were that loud.
We don’t need anyone to tell us that swearing in public can be rude and offensive. And it’s not unreasonable to keep cursing out of the public sphere, such as in Pauley Pavilion. But when you’re in your dorm, you can curse like you’re sailing on the Black Pearl.
Sometimes, such as at the USC game, we get carried away.
We should remember not to let it happen again. As Bruins, we know that senseless cursing doesn’t suit us, and not just because our university tells us so.
Are you gosh darn shocked that colleges are swearing off swearing? E-mail Hu at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].
