Who invented curse words?

Question

(No smart *** comments) LOL Just Kiddin

Answer 1

Since the earliest moments of modern human language 100,000 years ago, there were things which people feared--death and the spirit world. Linked to this were processes which were not completely understood--conception (including the procreative act) and the inner workings of the human body. As a response to that fear or ignorance certain groups of words became taboo, which means that you don't talk about them. Why not talk about them? Because by naming death, you summoned it to you; by talking about reproduction, you risked the life of the unborn; by naming a deceased relative, you summoned their ghost; by talking about a body part used in reproduction, you risked its malfunction; by naming a deity, you called it to you and that was never a good idea.

Death is a common one. No one says, "My father died". People say, "He passed away", "He went to meet his Maker", "He went to the great golf course in the sky". In fact, we know that there was an Old English word that meant "to die", because the Middle English word is clearly derived from an Old English word, but it was never, ever written down anywhere in all the Old English texts that exist. In some cultures, you never again mention the name of a dead person.

Another common place for taboo words is in human reproduction. We don't say, "I f**ked her and she got pregnant" in polite company. You say, "We fell in love and she is now eating for two." The same goes for waste elimination processes.

When someone says a taboo word, the common reaction is to cringe or shy away from that person. You don't want to bring the wrath of deity down on your head, you don't want death to come, you don't want a woman to miscarry. All these things are common responses to the use of taboo words.

"Cursing" is just an extension of the use of taboo words. In Modern English, there is a certain set of words referring to body waste elimination, the reproductive act, and the body parts used in that act, that are considered wrong to use in polite company. This is just a modern version of the taboo words that have always been with us.

EDIT: And BTW, there is not a single solitary curse word in English that is derived from an acronym. They are all ancient words in English and date back to Proto-Germanic. In fact, 2500 years ago, "f**k" was the POLITE way to talk about intercourse. Then it was the POLITE way to talk about breeding animals. It is only in the last few centuries that it became taboo and not a respectable word to use in formal settings.

Answer 2

Curse words date back to the early 17th century. It was said that Witches invented them. It was believed that when a witch put a spell (or a curse) on something, they would yell certain words. These words were thus believed to hold bad things and were not accepted. The history passed on for years and years, however, in the 1900's people started using the words as a means of pillory. The meaning of the words continued to evolve and are what we hear today.

Answer 3

We have biblical evidence that cursing occured in the old testament (its why God made it a commandment) Remember the word is not the thing, its the context that its being used in and the connotation the word carries. Damn is a shortened form of damnation, hell is a shortened form of cursing someone to go to hell ( a place). the F word is taken from licensed bawdy houses which were said to offer Fornification Under the Kings Consent they became F*** houses. Of couse many of the patrons got diseases or robbed etc. along with the obvious reason for going there IE they got f******.

Answer 4

Real-Life
Leperchauns

Answer 5

You mean profane words, curse is using God's name in vain. Whomever did it must have not been a very nice person.

Answer 6

well i know about the invention of the "f-word". A woman was making fudge and she pulled it out when it was done and started to say, "Look, I made fudge." Except for the fact that she tripped and ended the word "fudge" with a "ck".

Answer 7

Curse words were always there; society designated them as such

Answer 8

its in human DNA. why else would Turrets sufferers exhibit such profanity?

Answer 9

don't know who invented them, but sailors are quite good with em!

Answer 10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profanity