Page 597 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

c Some words referring to the elimination of bodily wastes (what one does in the lavatory), and the associated parts of the body, are also regarded as 'dirty' or shocking (e.g. piss, shit). They are often replaced by more 'polite' words and expressions with the same meaning (e.g. urinate, defecate) or by substitutes
(e.g. go to the lavatory, wash one's hands).
Because taboo words are shocking, they are common in situations where
people want to express powerful emotions by using 'strong' language. This is called 'swearing'. When people swear, taboo words usually change their meanings completely. For example, fuck off and piss off have nothing to do with sex or urinating - they are simply violently rude ways of saying 'go away'. The strength of the original taboo word is borrowed for a different purpose.
Linguistic taboos in English-speaking countries are less strong than they used to be. Most taboo words and swearwords shock less than they did, say, twenty years ago. And increasingly, people are using informal taboo words which are felt to be amusingly 'naughty' rather than shocking, such as bonk or shag instead of fuck, or willy instead of prick (= penis).
None the less, students should be very careful about using taboo words and swearwords. There are two reasons for this. First of all, it is not easy to know the exact strength of these expressions in a foreign language, or to know what kind of people are shocked by them, and in what circumstances. One may easily say something that is meant as a joke, but which seriously upsets the people one is talking to. And secondly, using this sort of language generally indicates membership of a group: one most often swears in the company of people one knows well, who belong to one's own social circle, age group etc. (Children usually avoid swearing in front of adults so as not to annoy or shock them, and adults avoid swearing in front of children for similar reasons.) So a foreigner who uses swearwords may give the impression of claiming membership of a group that he or she does not belong to.
2 taboo words
The following are some of the most common English taboo words, with explanations of their literal meanings where necessary. Their approximate 'strength' is shown by stars: one-star words like hell, damn or blast (which are scarcely taboo in modem English) will not upset many people, while a three- or four-star word may be very shocking if it is used in the wrong situation Note, however, that individual reactions to particular words (and to swearing in general) vary enormously, and that attitudes are changing rapidly (and generally becoming more tolerant of this kind of language). So people of different ages and backgrounds are likely to disagree a good deal about the strength of the words listed.
The words associated with religion are not considered shocking when used with their literal meaning, and the stars show their strength when used as swearwords. The strength of the other words is mostly the same whether they
are used literally or for swearing.
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taboo words and swearwords 575
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