This thread will not go the way I’m intending, so I left the title general enough to cover all the other ways it will go.
With that said, I’ll open with this - why are curse words like fuck and shit offensive? I have never understood this and I’m curious.
I just remembered one reason I’d read about for fuck and shit being offensive: after William of Normandy conquered England in 1066, the ruling class and aristocracy of England became French. English was a still a very Germanic language at that time, but eventually, the (Old) French and (Old) English of the time merged. However, though many words of Germanic origin, like fuck and shit, were not yet considered offensive, they did have a strong association to the language of the lower classes. Over time, the subjects they were associated with became taboo, and the words began to take on an offensive meaning, which grew over time.
Words of French or Latin origin, like defecate, urinate, copulate, fesces, etc. are not considered offensive because they belonged to the language of the upper classes (and eventually scientists), and were not used by the common people.
That’s part of the reason, anyway, but this isn’t the case in every language, or with every swear word.