#JustWondering… … … @!#&*”#*&^

“Cuss words”, “curse words”, “swear words”, “bad language”, “dirty language”, “four letter words”, “naughty words”, “profanity”, “expletives ”,“ obscenity ”,“ whammy” and several order words are what we use to describe what are generally known as “fillers”. Fillers do not mean anything but when used in a sentence, they portray an emotion be it anger, excitement, sadness, frustration, joy etc. More so, words only mean what society terms them to mean. For instance, growing up “gay” meant happy. I stand to be misinterpreted and probably crucified if I say “I feel gay” :D

Fillers are considered negative and are censored from written, audio and visual literature or media even in the most modernized societies. Decent people do not “swear” hence my dilemma. Decent people do not swear but they substitute with other words. These substitutes are termed “minced oaths”. A minced oath, also known as “pseudo profanity” is used to reduce the profanity of an original expression and is supposed to make the word more acceptable and less offensive to the audience. For instance, I can (and I will), use them in this writing without anyone raising eyebrows, however if I use the words in their original form, I will get a lot of “Odun has backslidden” “Odun has been Americanized” “Do you think Odun is still a Christian?” etc. Examples include “flipping” “shoot” “darn” “Jeez” “Oh mi gosh” “heck” “crap” etc. In fact sometimes regular words are used like “Forget.”

I am unapologetically a confirmed and proud “Gleek”, (Glee fan). I watched the episode where the cast performed “Forget You” featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, (enjoy the video below, one of my all-time Glee faves!) and as usual I immediately went on YouTube to compare with the original version. I discovered that there were two original versions by Cee-Lo Green, “F*!@ You” and the radio edit “Forget You”. Ever since then whenever I listen to “Forget You”, the original words, “F*!@ You” come to mind.  Also the same ways the original words come to mind when I use “shoot” “flipping” “crap” etc.

A friend of mine, when chatting usually writes “WTF (flip)”, yes he puts “flip” in parentheses, but I immediately think “f*!@” when he does that.

I don’t think there is any debate over whether it is what you say or what you mean that matters as a follower of Christ. Both matter, your heart, thoughts and intentions lend credence to your words. For instance I say “flip” but mean “f*!@”, “f*!@ matters not flip. But then, I am just expressing an emotion and do not mean any profanity neither word ought to be considered bad, no? It shouldn’t matter which of the variations I use. Personally, I do not use profanity but I do use pseudo-profanity. I know some are holy “like that” and use neither, well, kudos to you, we stained ones, do stuff like that. I guess that’s why we need redemption. :) 

Jesus said “A tree is identified by its fruit… You must give an account of every empty word you speak…” Matt 12: 33-37.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” Phil 4: 7-9.

“But really, are these words bad considering they simply express emotions?”