Fuck This Post

Most of you have heard the old adage: “Using swear words shows that you have a poor vocabulary.”

This is somewhat true – people with a poor vocabulary have to improvise with the small collection of words they know. When fueled by anger, their mind retrieves the most prominent insults lying dormant in their head. Taking note of their belligerent use of the language, you’ll find the same insulting phrases being parroted over and over again.

Like any word or phrase, use it in too many different contexts and you’ll render it meaningless. With a limited vocabulary your tiny pouch of words are in danger of becoming meaningless. Many people are faced with this dilemma – they don’t want to bother expanding their vocabulary, but face the cost of having their words turn meaningless. Surprisingly, this isn’t the case! If this dilemma were true, there wouldn’t be anyone comfortable with their small collection of phrases; they would be forced to expand if they wished to adequately communicate with others. So what is going on here?

The fact is: people are not monotone. A person can use the word ‘Shit’ to mean dozens or even hundreds of different things simply by changing their tone of voice in different contexts. Unlike those with a bigger vocabulary, these people depend more on their tone of voice to communicate. There is no wonder why so many people manage to express themselves with a handful of phrases. Some of the common phrases you might have heard are: “That was sick” “That’s hella tight” “I love you” “That’s hot” and the list goes on. I am sure you’ve never heard or said these phrases in the same tone.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe these people are less intelligent at all. They have mastered a different aspect of communication. Where they lack in vocabulary they make up with a better understanding of body language, social behavior and human psychology.

Upon hearing, “Using swear words shows that you have a poor vocabulary” you are equally justified in saying “Not using swear words shows you have a poor understanding of human social behavior.” Two sayings that could be true, but are better off not being said.