Freedom's Curse

[David Payne]

>From _The Atlantic_ (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/swear-words)

Freedom's Curse: _Why Washington’s crusade against swearing on the airwaves is f*cked up_

-- by Steven Pinker 

A word is an arbitrary label—that’s the foundation of linguistics. But many people think otherwise. They believe in word magic: that uttering a spell, incantation, curse, or prayer can change the world. Don’t snicker: Would you ever say “Nothing has gone wrong yet” without looking for wood to knock? 

Swearing is another kind of word magic. People believe, contrary to logic, that certain words can corrupt the moral order—that piss and Shit! and fucking are dangerous in a way that pee and Shoot! and freakin’ are not. This quirk in our psychology lies in the ability of taboo words to activate primitive emotional circuits in the brain ...

[more: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/swear-words]
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