TABOO

TABOO. In language terms, something taboo is not to be mentioned, because it is ineffably holy or unspeakably vulgar. English Puritanism caused such words as God to be banned on the stage during the early 17c and references to Hell have also often been reproved. Sex and excrement are, or have been, taboo topics in English and other languages, and many of the words relating to these topics have been stigmatized as bad language, foul language, or four-letter words. They have been in effect banned in polite conversation, in writing, and especially in print; though occasionally recorded in earlier dictionaries, they were not entered in such works c.1760–1960. When taboo subjects must be broached, the techniques for doing so include:

Truncation

Taboo words can be amended both in writing (by a dash as in G–d and asterisks as in f**k) and in speech (by using the letter p, usually spelt pee, for piss).

Adaptation

Because of a combination of the sense of taboo and the need for expletives, taboo words when used as exclamations have been adapted and softened so as to be less direct, sacrilegious, and offensive: (by) God! becomes (by) Gosh! Jesus! is shortened to Gee! Christ! becomes Crikey!, Jesus Christ! becomes Jeepers Creepers! Damn (it)! becomes Darn (it)!, Damnation! becomes Tarnation!, Hell! becomes Heck!, and Fucking hell! becomes Flipping heck! See MINCED OATH.

Substitution

Taboo expressions can be replaced with other words through EUPHEMISM, as with make love for ‘have sex’, and through the use of elevated technical terms, such as coitus/coition and sexual intercourse. In dealing with smuttier topics, users of English often find that there is no neutral phraseology available. Furthermore, the substitute for a taboo word can itself become socially awkward if its referent remains taboo: intercourse is avoided by some people in any of its other uses because of its sexual use. See ELLIPSIS, SWEARING.