"profanity" (topic drift from Re: FPGA VAX update)

[Julian Wolfe]

Can you guys please take this off-list?  I have to read enough of this sort
of stuff on other messaging systems I'm on, I never thought I'd have to read
it here. 

-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org]
On Behalf Of der Mouse
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 6:36 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: "profanity" (topic drift from Re: FPGA VAX update)

>> (2) Plenty of non-"Puritanical Western Judeo-Christian" mindsets 
>> include the divide between the sacred and the profane.
> But not very many attach it to taboos against particular single words.

Actually, the two words in question were not profanity but vulgarity, if you
want to get picky about it.  (That is, they were expressing profane things
vulgarly rather than profaning sacred things.  But note that one dictionary
entry I've seen implies that one meaning of "profanity" is a subset of
"vulgarity", so it's not totally clear-cut.)

Still, though, your point is well taken.  I haven't studied it enough to
really know precisely why the words in question are taboo.  But it seems
very likely to me that it's because of the "body = profane = bad, spirit =
sacred = good" dichotomy, and that is, AIUI, mostly restricted to (the
cultures of) the Peoples of the Book.

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