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More and More, Kids say the Foulest Things (swearing)
The Washington Post ^ | 04/12/04 | Valerie Strauss

Posted on 04/12/2005 10:06:43 AM PDT by crv16

Dan Horwich's English class is a bastion of clean language, where students read the classics and have weighty discussions free of invective and profanity. But when the bell rings and they walk out his door, the hallway vibrates with talk of a different sort.

"The kids swear almost incessantly," said Horwich, who teaches at Guildford High School in Rockford, Ill. "They are so used to swearing and hearing it at home, and in the movies, and on TV, and in the music they listen to that they have become desensitized to it."

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: civility; culturalentropy; decencydeficit; profanity; pspl; swearing
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To: moog

One of my favorites is from the X-Files episode "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'", where the police investigator is always swearing, but the flashbacks show him saying "bleepity bleep".


301 posted on 04/13/2005 7:51:04 AM PDT by Disambiguator (This tagline should only be taken under the advice of your doctor.)
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To: duck duck goose
I am 33 years old, my mother never allowed us to say anything. Never the Lords name in vain, booty, nothing. To this day if I say something she doesnt approve of, I hear about it.

My Mom still gives me the evil eye if I use the word "butt." Strangely, she does the same if I use more gentle euphemisms like "backside" or "rear-end." To this day I don't know the acceptable term for that part of the anatomy. I guess we're just never supposed to speak of it.

Funny, though, my parents never, EVER swore, but I cuss like a sailor (I'm trying to stop).

302 posted on 04/13/2005 8:01:09 AM PDT by Trailerpark Badass
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To: orionblamblam

The true "outlet" which leads to true peace is humbling oneself to the Lord Jesus.


303 posted on 04/13/2005 8:56:00 AM PDT by lupie
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To: Gava

"Try to think of one example of an evil act which isn't instigated by fear. I sure can't..."

Greed is NOT motivated by fear, and neither is extortion.
You're reaching.
And rape is motivated by hate, not fear.
Nice try at dancing to the side, but this isn't disco.


304 posted on 04/13/2005 9:30:26 AM PDT by Darksheare (#####This tagline has been viciously run down to prevent it's escape. It has tire marks on it. #####)
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To: orionblamblam
When you were a little kid and had a report card, I'm sure you got lots of demerits on it in the column that said, "works and plays well with others".
305 posted on 04/13/2005 10:06:18 AM PDT by Protagoras (Christ is risen.)
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To: Protagoras

> "works and plays well with others".

... says the man whose mission it is to get shut down threads he doesn't like.


306 posted on 04/13/2005 10:29:43 AM PDT by orionblamblam ("You're the poster boy for what ID would turn out if it were taught in our schools." VadeRetro)
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To: orionblamblam

Give yourself some credit, your posts get them pulled.


307 posted on 04/13/2005 10:32:57 AM PDT by Protagoras (Christ is risen.)
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To: orionblamblam

Give yourself some credit, your posts get them pulled.


308 posted on 04/13/2005 10:33:06 AM PDT by Protagoras (Christ is risen.)
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To: orionblamblam

Give yourself some credit, your posts get them pulled.


309 posted on 04/13/2005 10:33:07 AM PDT by Protagoras (Christ is risen.)
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To: Protagoras

There you go, doing your spamming thing again. Grow up.


310 posted on 04/13/2005 10:56:33 AM PDT by orionblamblam ("You're the poster boy for what ID would turn out if it were taught in our schools." VadeRetro)
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To: orionblamblam
I was grown up when I was your age son.

Hey you are an unemployed engineer, maybe you have time to fix the posting error in the FR software between attacking other posters.

311 posted on 04/13/2005 11:39:50 AM PDT by Protagoras (Christ is risen.)
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To: Protagoras

> Hey you are an unemployed engineer

Do you even have the physical capability to tell the truth?


312 posted on 04/13/2005 11:43:36 AM PDT by orionblamblam ("You're the poster boy for what ID would turn out if it were taught in our schools." VadeRetro)
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To: Protagoras

> I was grown up when I was your age son.

You may be old, but the evidence clearly suggests that you're not grown up.


313 posted on 04/13/2005 11:44:24 AM PDT by orionblamblam ("You're the poster boy for what ID would turn out if it were taught in our schools." VadeRetro)
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To: orionblamblam

I'm a parent. I know frustration better than any engineer.

And I also know that four-letter words are not appropriate in front of my children.


314 posted on 04/13/2005 4:13:48 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day (I'm an "outraged moralist" and I have no good argument. I'm headed to Marie Callender's.)
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To: orionblamblam

In Utah, you would also hear expressions like "holy flip" and "fetch!" which, I would have to admit, are silly imitations.


315 posted on 04/13/2005 4:16:35 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day (I'm an "outraged moralist" and I have no good argument. I'm headed to Marie Callender's.)
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To: Choose Ye This Day

> In Utah,...

Since moving here, I've heard "Oh, my heck" more times than I can count. Which is odd, since "Oh my hell" and "crap" are equally common.


316 posted on 04/13/2005 4:34:49 PM PDT by orionblamblam ("You're the poster boy for what ID would turn out if it were taught in our schools." VadeRetro)
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To: Darksheare

What emotion is more basic than fear? Even amoebas scuttle away in fear when they are prodded. It can lead to many things. Fear alone would most likely lead to increasingly complex unsound emotions.

Suppose this hypothetical (and probably correct) argument:
There is love and there is fear. They are conscious affection and unconscious excitement respectively. Having love (a strong interest or affection) surely cannot mean having a strong dislike (hate). Therefore hate is a product of the other basic emotion, fear. Evil cannot be the sole product of love alone since it is mutually destructive and involves affection for nothing.

Therefore evil is the product of fear.

(Note: Love and fear can supposedly be ultra-simplified to attraction and detraction respectively when considering non-humanisitc terms)

Getting back to the original situation: How can something as basic as fear be used to teach something as complex as morals? Morality requires awareness and rational thinking, sound decisions. Of course fear can be drawn upon to get someone's attention (yelling at someone who is about to walk off a cliff) but the primary tool MUST be love. If a child ONLY fears a parent and there is no love, we can be sure that morality will not be learned.


317 posted on 04/13/2005 4:45:17 PM PDT by Gava
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To: orionblamblam

In many families, "hell" and "damn" don't even count. To each his own.

My pet peeve is that at church, here in Minnesota, the youth--and even some adults--say "crap" while giving talks in front of the whole congregation.

There is a time and place for such things, and at church is neither the time nor the place. Even though some people don't like it, there IS still such a thing as "polite society," where profanity is to be avoided like the plague. In certain locations, and in certain company, it is NEVER acceptable, regardless of one's emotions.


318 posted on 04/13/2005 5:31:01 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day (I'm an "outraged moralist" and I have no good argument. I'm headed to Marie Callender's.)
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To: Gava

Wrong.
Selfishness is more basic, as with fear you're still GIVING something to someone.
With selfishness, you're giving nothing.
And hand in hand with selfishness is hate.
You're still trying to sidestep this dance.
And you're getting tangential.
I answered your question, you don't like the answers.


319 posted on 04/13/2005 5:44:36 PM PDT by Darksheare (#####This tagline has been viciously run down to prevent it's escape. It has tire marks on it. #####)
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To: Darksheare

"as with fear you're still GIVING something to someone."

You can fear the presence of something but fear itself does not give the presence of anything other than a reaction.
If fear leads to hate which leads to evil than you are giving someone a
wound (evil act).

You would have to rephrase it: as with fear you're still GIVING something to someone.

If it's just fear than you would have to claim that someone who is afraid will always fight and will never hide (hiding means being away from people while not giving them anything) What definition of fear are you using? I was refering to reactionary stimuli. Is there another definition of fear?


If by selfish you mean doing what's good for the self then:

"With selfishness, you're giving nothing."

yes you are, you're giving something to yourself.

"And hand in hand with selfishness is hate."

Not if you love yourself. That's selfish and it's not hate. It's love of self. You can love yourself and others at the same time right? There's also another flaw in your objection. If selfishness is giving nothing and selfishness goes hand in hand with hate, than how can hate ever lead to giving damage to the object of hate? If something is NOT GIVING than it is either TAKING or DOING NOTHING. If it exists than it is doing something, it's existing. note: creating is giving one piece to another

Since selfishness exists, as you state, we may assume that it does not involve doing nothing. Absolute, primal selfishness would be absolute nothingness which is non-existence.

That would mean that hate is taking in (consumption). How can that be? For example, a Kluxer can be hateful but he doesn't necessarily want to consume and "take" cultures that he hates. He wants to segregate. Separate them away from himself.

"I answered your question, you don't like the answers."

You're right, I like debate, it's more interesting. I can debate with you as long as a perfect argument your statement does not make. Telling me again that i'm not thinking or that I don't know an answer when I see one will only show that you lack the power to be convincing. Even the lack of ability to not convince a fool is still a lack of ability.

NOTE TO DARKSHEARE: ATTACK MY PREMISES IF YOU WANT TO WIN THE DEBATE

NOTE 2: This is a learning opportunity for both of us


320 posted on 04/13/2005 7:15:12 PM PDT by Gava
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