Taboo Swearing Essay

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For as long as there has been language, there have been ways to use it that are generally viewed as taboo to the society to which the language belongs. In arguably every time period and amongst every culture there have been such uses of language. There is and has been a large variety of ways to use language that is perceived as taboo, some stronger than others, but an interesting phenomenon that is inevitable with taboo language, as history has proven, is that sooner later, the effects that it can have on its hearers are weakened more and more until it is no longer largely, if at all, viewed as taboo. One aspect of taboo language that is no exception to the aforementioned phenomenon is what is known as “loose swearing”; this is when someone takes an oath without the proper reverence behind it (Eggert, 2011). Webster’s Dictionary defines the word oath as a “solemn usually formal calling upon God or a god to witness to the truth of what one says or to witness that one sincerely intends to do what one says”. Historically, oaths were taken more seriously than they are today, and the breaking of an oath or the act of “loose swearing” was viewed as highly taboo and often was subject to severe punishment. In Ancient Macedonia, if someone were to make an oath and later break it, they could be subject to banishment or even death (Hammond, 1988). One such oath that has, over time, lost its ability to shock society when broken is one still commonly practiced in our society; it is the witness oath used in courtrooms in which the witness places his hand on the Bible and swears to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help him God”. According to Koerner (2004),practice of this oath is believed to date back to the year A.D. 930, when King Athelstan codified Britain’s law to require a neutral third party to be a witness and taking an oath to act
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