What makes a bad word, bad? If it's because it's offensive, then why isn't "Fat" a cuss?

Answer 1

It's more than that. It's a word that is always considered offensive no matter the context or use.

Most words are neither good nor bad in and of themselves. It depends on the context, and how they are being used.

A good test: can you use the word in a sentence around your grandmother? If not, it's probably bad.

It's possible to use "fat" in a sentence that is non-offensive. "This notebook is too fat for my backpack." but there is no way to use the infamous "four-letter" words, in a way that is non-offensive. That's how you know. They're bad in and of themselves.

Answer 2

There are several reasons why a word can become bad.

Most of the traditional bad words (the F word, the C word, etc) are considered bad because England was conquered by the Normans. These "bad" words were Old English words. They were replaced by the "more sophisticated" French words. Anyone using the old words was considered crude.

For example -- the old English word for nose was "Snotte." The French word is "Nez." The French word became "nose" -- and "Snotte" became used for two things that are less sophisticated -- snout and snot.

Recently,other words have become bad. It used to be that the correct word to use for African Americans was "*****" -- which is a variation of the Latin word for "Black" (it is still the Spanish word for Black). The "N" word is just a variant of this. As such, it doesn't seem like it should be a bad word. But it carries so much history with it -- because it was used by racists and slave owners in a derogatory manner.

"Fat" will never be a bad word for the same reason that "gay" will never be a bad word or "vagina" will be a bad word. It doesn't carry the same connotation as other words that seem to mean the same thing -- but connote more than just the meaning.

Answer 3

it is to some people and a bad word is determined by what the person being called it thinks ofi t.