SWEARING

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SWEARING. A term that refers to both taking an OATH and using language that is regarded as foul, abusive, and profane. When people in a Christian culture swear on the Bible to tell the truth in court, they assume that God will punish anyone who then lies, quite apart from the legal consequences of ‘being forsworn’ (perjury). When people swear something or swear to do something, for example on their honour, they pledge that honour as a security to be forfeited if forsworn. Oaths sworn to a god or God are solemn matters, but over the centuries have passed from being ritual formulas to being exclamations. The negative aspect of oath-swearing (retribution) allows other kinds of negatively charged language to be called oaths, and their exclamatory use to notions from By God! through Hell! and Shit! to You son of a bitch! is striking but not surprising; the last three can be called both oaths and curses, and the activity in general can be called cursing and swearing. The notion of CURSING has undergone a similar development: solemn cursing invokes supernatural retribution on someone or something the curser holds odious. See ABUSE, ANGLO-SAXON, AUSTRALIAN, AUSTRALIAN LANGUAGE, BAD LANGUAGE, BLASPHEMY, DEROGATORY, EUPHEMISM, EXPLETIVE, FOUL LANGUAGE, FOUR-LETTER WORD, INFIX, OBSCENITY, PARTRIDGE, PLAIN ENGLISH, SLANG, SWEARWORD, TABOO, VULGAR, VULGARISM.

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