Who Or What Are We?

Question

There are two words in the English and other languages that describe the status of children born out of wedlock:
1. Illegitimate.
2.Bastard.
As so many people do not now marry and have children, should these words be withdrawn from the English language?

This is NOT an ethnic question, please do not introduce race or colour into your answers.

I've just had a violation for lesbian & homosexual (words). Strange or what?

Answer 1

Grasshopper, just because more people do it, or you don't like the term that does not change what you are. A bastard is a bastard. You are the illegitimate offspring of careless youth. Don't get angry, this does not mean you're a bad person. This is the problem with the world today. Youth trying to make sin not sound like sin, and easier to live with. Just make sure you don't make any more little bastards.

Answer 2

Until the law is amended all children born out of wedlock are technically and legally illegitimate and also bastards.

These two words have other connotations and therefore should not be removed from the English language.

Engineers use a bastard file, which relates to a non-standard grade of cut.

Illegitimate means illegal, forbidden by law or unlawful. It is possible to amass wealth by illegitimate activities.

The current euphemism for a child born out of wedlock is a LOVE CHILD. A ''bastard' is no longer the label of shame and condemnation as it was in Victorian times and the question is therefore invalid.

Removing 'bastard', a general term of abuse, from the English language is impossible.

Rather than quibble about language and sensitivity we need more emphasis on responsibility.

Unfortunately, children have no choice in who their parents are and there are 'families' today where one mother has a number of children by different fathers. In many cases the father is unknown.

Conventions in society became established over generations and in general led to a cohesive society.

Casting all conventions to one side is stepping onto the slippery slope of the decline of civilisation.

Before you leap up and down ask yourself whether today's society is becoming more or less civilised. Violent crime, using knives and guns, is on the increase.

International studies show Britain has the highest percentage
of teenage pregnancies and British children are at the bottom of the league compared to other European states.

Answer 3

bastard as a word has been used since the time of shakespeare, so i doubt people are removing it in a jiffy. Illegitimate as a word can also be meant for something else that is "against the law" sort of. Although i agree with you that it is not nice to call children born out of wedlock "bastard" or "illegitimate".

Answer 4

In the 1700's 1800's women were put in jail
if they did not appear in court to put money
up for the ill. child they were carrying. The
alleged father was subpoened to appear also. This money was used for the child
so that the "county" would not be responsible for the child. These were called bastardy bonds.
today, there are thousands of children out
of wedlock. Times have changed-time to delete a multitude of terms.

Answer 5

There are allot of good people out there regardless if they parents were married or not and this should not be an issue ppl have to learn to live and let live and stop judging others and look at they own mistakes coz after all children are a big gift .

Answer 6

As those words pertain to people born outside of wedlock yes, they should be removed, however they have use in other ways as language goes.

Answer 7

Marriage is a convention brought about by the religions of the world and as such should only give meaning to those words in their own context and not in a supposed multi-cultural society.

Answer 8

no they are words and are used so they are there ..is only an insult if used out of context .....every child is a blessing and wouldn't dream of calling any of the above used more as swear words now and not meant literally maybe the interpretation in dictionary should be changed

Answer 9

Why does the number of people have anything to do with whether or not we need a word for it?

While I don't like this terms, since they have a bad connotation thanks to religious people, we still need some word to describe the situation.

Answer 10

Bit of a contradiction from the Hindu freak, have you seen his questions. Personally I agree with you though, however maybe we should treat it the same way our Black brothers did with the n word and just use it more ourselves to take the sting out of it.