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Comment by SoftTalker | Hacker News Reader

I do agree actually. And I guess that I'd say there are "swear" words (crude verbal punctuation) and "curse" words in the sense that you describe.

I do know people who think "g-- damn it" is a far worse thing to say than 'fucking piece of shit' for example.

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> I do know people who think "g-- damn it" is a far worse thing to say than 'fucking piece of shit' for example.

That would be my mother. Hasn't been to church in decades, curses like a sailor, but will never take the lord's name in vain.

Although, maybe with enough time, she will, it took her until she was 60 before she started saying 'fuck.'

A curiosity about GDI - what if the thing already sucks because 'god' has in fact damned it? That is, if someone believes it to be a statement of fact (spin on the phrase) rather than somehow compelling a mystical spirit to curse something.

It wasn’t considered to be transgressive in the same way. If you said something was damned by God, that was a serious statement but not particularly blasphemous. If you used something sacred casually to express displeasure or frustration, it is.

The development of phrases like "g-- damn it" is interesting to me. I think its recent increase in use (especially in the media) and seemingly social acceptance is normal as cultures become increasingly secular. However, slurs against religious groups, especially certain monotheistic ones, seem even more taboo now than in the past. Perhaps a result of giving more power to identity in the current culture.

To your point, I know groups who would find the slur less offensive than "g-- damn it."

It’s interesting that the origin of “swearing” is also the blasphemy / vain oath sense.

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