I want to get across in our piece the power of words. Not necessarily go on some endless verbal manifesto about how if we listen to the poetry our heart creates that we can brave a thousand storms or nonsensical bollocks like that but rather get across the genuine power of words.
Swear words, combinations of letters, are banned from television before a certain time. ‘Cunt’ is deemed to be one of the worst insults in our language.
Sometimes I wonder if I disagree with swearing, I wonder if it makes you vulgar or uneducated. But then I think about it, and that’s not true at all. I like that we have designated words for when we have this burst of passion- positive or negative- and all we can use to express them is man made clusters of vowels and consonants. ‘Fuck’ is possibly the best word in our language- with so many variations and meanings that essentially boil down to that same resounding idea of passion, I’m only grateful for it. Let it be banned before 9 o’ clock. Let it be owned by grown ups and very daring children.
It’s not just singular words that have this impact either though. I’ve always wondered why it’s so much easier to remember an insult than a compliment, and I think it’s because compliments are always sovague.If someone said ‘you look bad today’, or ‘your hair looks bad’ , it lacks a lot of care and conviction, I think I could brush that off pretty easy. Insults are made to hurt you in a way that compliments aren’t made to fix you. Insults choose something specific, and we always care more about specific things. Try complimenting someone specifically, and I bet you it’ll stay with them. It disarms them. It’s wonderful.
CW.