Last week, in making my Wacky Wednesday arguments for the idea that we’re better off not having children, I made reference to a hypothetical book I want to write, entitled, “Children suck in a thousand different ways, but they’re totally worth it.” One of my listeners emailed me to explain why he thinks that I shouldn’t have used that expression in talking about children, but particularly shouldn’t use that expression, mostly because of its etymology and sexual connotations. So I thought it would be a good idea to talk about whether Christians (and Christian broadcasters, more specifically) should use words that are not profanity per se, but still are surely on the fringe of polite conversation. Examples I’m thinking of include: pissed off, darn it, crap, that sucks, and screw it. Are these just toned-down expletives? Do they have linguistic value? The culture around us has no problem with them at all, but should we say them as Christians?
Bible References: Psalm 19:14, Matt 5:34-37, Matt 12:33-37, Matt 15:11-20, Eph 4:28-32, Eph 5:1-6, Col 3:5-8, James 1:19-21, James 3:1-12, 2 Peter 2:17-20
Links:
Euphemism by Wikipedia
Why we use "sucks" by ChurchMarketingSucks.com
Vulgarity essay by Duke University Department of English
Mild swear words (Has some profanity) by Everything2.com
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