Column: The not so gentle art of cursing and its evolution in Irish culture

If a survey were to be carried out on the level of swearing or ‘cursing’ per county in Ireland, I suspect Donegal would be high on the list. 

We might even be a contender for the top spot.

I’m guilty of letting slip more than the occasional f-bomb (among other things!) myself, as are the vast majority of people I know. 

Working from home and our lack of travel in recent years has led to many of us turning off our filters and forgetting to ‘watch our language.’

A lot of people don’t have a problem with this, but some find it horrific, and this can be the cause of unintentional offence. 

And there is a scale of swear words, with some people ok with the lower level words but not with the midpoint or upper end. 

To add to the confusion, there is no hard and fast rule as to how this is determined. Social standing has little to do with it.

All we have to go on is that there is an etiquette that deems swearing in certain places and in certain company to be broadly inappropriate.

I remember as a child being told not to say bad words. In fact, at school when preparing for our First Confession, we had a list of potential sins to choose from, and one of these was ‘saying bad words.’

So how did some words come to be considered socially ‘bad’ while others with exactly the same meaning became perfectly acceptable?

Philip Gooden is an author and is considered a leading expert on the origins of the English language. He believes that society as a whole takes a subconscious decision to decide that some words are taboo.

The human mind really is a funny thing. Because while we have universally decided that these words are taboo, we are incredibly drawn to them, verbally feasting on the forbidden fruit. 

When we learn a new language, or even meet someone from another country, often the first thing we want to know is their swear words. People who move here and are learning English quickly pick up the f-word and use it with relish.

Furthermore, language - and what is deemed acceptable - evolves. We only have to go back a few decades for it to have been considered very daring to swear on television. 

Nowadays with so many comedy-based panel shows and post watershed chat formats that push boundaries, swearing is perfectly acceptable - at least to any given show’s target audience.  

In older television shows and movies, there was a politeness of language that suited the gentler style of the cinematic era, but would feel forced and false today. 

In contrast, by the 1990s we had movies like Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction which shattered the boundaries for a lot of things, including acceptable levels of swearing.

Likewise in literature and song, a swear word would have been very risqué  until  around half a century ago. Yes, they were used in those art forms before that, but only sparingly.

Personally, I like the honesty of language that exists in all these platforms in modern times, including the liberal use of swear words where it is authentic and not gratuitous.  

I understand that it is not to everyone’s taste. Fortunately there is a massive choice of entertainment on our screens, devices and shop shelves so no one has to put up with something with which they are uncomfortable. 

I did however, have to smile recently when I overheard a woman tell her companion: “Language has got so bad these days, with young ones cursing left, right and centre with no respect for anyone.”

The reason it made me smile was because, like a lot of us here in Ireland,  she chose to use the word ‘cursing’ to refer to the  use of swear words.

Cursing is a whole other art, though the sentiment behind a heartfelt swear word and an old fashioned Irish curse is much the same.

Many curses have their origins in the Irish language and are evocative, colourful and definitely intended to convey discontent and cause more than a little discomfort to the person at the receiving end. 

Some examples are:

- That you may die roarin' like Doran's ass.

- Burning and scorching on you

- Pissmires [ants] and spiders be in your marriage bed.

- May the cat eat you, and may the devil eat the cat.

- That God will never grant you peace

- May you be afflicted with an itch and have no nails to scratch with.

No nails to scratch an itch? I think  I’d rather be told to F-off! 

Either way, the culture of cursing is far from being a modern phenomenon. It is a rich part of our heritage that is continuously evolving. 

It will be interesting to see what colourful language the future holds.