John Franklin Stevens Use Of Offensive Language

Provocative words or indecent words that are either harming or might bring about the listener to promptly hit back or break the peace are considered to be the part of fighting words and offensive speech. Utilization of such words is not considered as a "free speech" under the First Amendment. On the off chance that the listener is indicted for such offensive words assault, this may lead to mitigating situations (Dorf & Michael, n,d).

The old idiom, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” has been used for decades, and although a good sentiment, can be disproven by any person with an basic understanding of their feelings. The power of the words one hears can greatly affect their self esteem and confidence. The fact that words hurt is an issue everyone faces, but some words hold too much power, power that can be used in not so ideal ways. Slurs, or words that are used to oppress minority groups, are used too casually in the modern world, with grave consequences on the minorities they are used against. The word faggot, a term used to describe gay men, has become popular in modern America between school boys as a way to either mock their peers or intentionally hurt an actual queer person. This word in particular moves farther away from offensive and can be categorized as oppressive due to its both psychological and social ramifications. The use of the word faggot is an act of oppression when one looks at both the social and psychological effects the word has on both the user and the recipient of the slur.

The n-word is considered one of the most vicious racial slurs in the English language today. True that the n-word is closely associated with slavery and the oppression of blacks. Even after the abolition of slavery the word still haunted African Americans, especially in more segregated areas; where blacks were viewed as inferior to whites. In recent years the n-word has become less of a malicious slur in parts of our country. Public figures who use the n-word run the risk of losing their jobs. However, since the 1960s African Americans have coined the term “nigga”, when addressing one another. The rise of hip hop culture also enhanced the use of the word-they felt as though they are using the word as a term of endearment. Critics of the

Despite that students now use profanity in their public schools and even more out of school, this could cause more children and teens to use the offensive language around their peers.

In today’s society curse words and insults are used in many people’s regular vocabulary. Most of these insults, if not all, are being said without prior knowledge of the meaning behind the word. An example of an insult like this is porch monkey, a derogatory term for African Americans. The people that use derogatory terms like this are often ill-informed and unaccepting of other cultures.

However, many groups claim that political correctness in society is justified in its efforts to sanitize offensive material created though years of oppressing minorities. What was originally a noble idea, to remove blatant words of offensive meaning, has turned into an “over the top” effort to rid any words of possible controversy. We are regulating our ways of plain speaking, freedom of choice, and freedom of speech. Laws of restrictions on slander and public decency should be decided on the common law methodology and not by the interests of the liberal “mob”. If plain speaking is not allowed, clear thinking is

Besides literal uses for cuss words (as verbs), over two-thirds of all swearing is linked in expressing some kind of emotional connotation. These help with expressing the speaker’s anger, frustration, and surprise (“son of a bitch”, “f*ck me!”, “holy shit!”) which are done in emotional outbursts of these single words, also known as epithets. In addition profanity has a direct connection with emotional response in that when one utters one of these “worser words” it helps increase heart rate and work as an analgesic, showing how it can help manage emotional pain as it has a direct connection. One such emotional connection could be noted in the use of “FUBAR” (F*ucked up beyond all recognition) in the movie Saving Private Ryan to help the convey the soldiers emotions in how sick of they were of the war. Commonly physical fights take place to help express emotional pain or anger, these are normally avoided by voicing this anger through these taboo words. For example one can use name calling (bitch, asshole), or curse in the form of a put down (eat shit and die) all spur emotional responses and can help avoid physical confrontations by giving a voice to inner feelings. This is commonly seen in rap songs where many cuss words are used to unveil inner feelings. Such the rap group NWA used

    Everyday we read and hear profanity from books which we should shelter our children from having to learn more about the awful things we have in life. Having profanity in our everyday lives affects us in a negative way because if our children hear the foul language then there is a greater chance that children will pick up the words we would not like them to say. In the article “Potty-Mouthed” by Martin Chilton, states that swearing in Young Adult fiction is a controversial and complex issue. Young Adult fiction is controversial issue because some parent let their children read books that other parents would not agree with based on the language, violence, suicied and sexualactivity. A lot of teenage books have very mature points of view that some or most of our teens can not even

According to the Oxford English Dictionary many words and phrases we use today are at their root, offensive. For example cretin is used to mean an idiot but, in the Nineteenth century this word was used for those with severe congenital birth defects similar to cerebral palsy. This word came from the Swiss French meaning “Christian” to remind others that these unfortunates were still human beings. The phrase “no can do” is actually Pidgin English from Chinese immigrants meaning “I can’t do that”. Too much effort is made to not offend people and political correctness is out of control threatening to end our way of life.

The sad truth here is that we are in an era of out of control political-correctness. Anyone can at any time manipulate a situation to make themselves feel offended. What a pathetic waste of time.

I love this saying from Washington he states something that I believe is true, profanity usage commonly used on a day to day is out of control. What one says and practices daily is who they are.

The first amendment to the United States Constitution protects people’s rights to their freedom of speech. Words can be very offensive, however, how someone responds to them depends on the type of misconduct being construed and the person it is offending. A person who calls themselves a true Christian may take the bibles approach which states in Matthew 5:39 “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek also,” meaning do not retaliate. Someone who may voice their opinion could either diffuse the situation or make it much worse depending on the type of offensive misconduct that is taking place. The way someone was brought up, their mental stability, morals and ethics I believe would depend on how one responds to something they may find offensive.

In the 20th century of course, it has become extremely offensive. It, along with cunt are just about the only taboo words in American discourse today (it's interesting that the most offensive terms have strong racial or gender discrimination components). About the only acceptable use is in Black English when African-Americans use it to refer to themselves.

With today’s growing appetite for interaction, whether that is through social media or in person, we will often either see or hear items that may be offensive to us. These terms can be identified as offensive speech and offensive conduct. Although that may sound the same, there are differences.

The objective of this last activity is to challenge students to identify offensive verbal and nonverbal language. To accomplish this, pseudo scenarios will be acted out by volunteers. This is an interactive activity that requires all students to participate. Present teachers are also encouraged to participate and look out for students who react to certain lines. Some students may find some lines familiar. To prepare for this activity, we will need to make between 30-40 medium sized red flags, enough for everyone in the classroom, and small sized stickers with a 1-800 Hotline phone number to put on the backside of the flag. An outline also needs to be prepared with clear talking points and several examples of “Red Flag” remarks and expressions