What about four-letter words? Sometimes one feels like using them against the atrocities we are witnessing.
Below is a summary of a very short essay by C.S. Lewis on four-letter words in discussions and literature.
Our knowledge will never cover all individual varieties of speech, but the evidence suggests a probable generalization.
1 – It appears that no nation, age, or class has commonly used four-letter words to “move desire.”
2 – Four-letter words serve as the vocabulary of either farce or vituperation; they can be either innocent or laden with a contrary evil that prudish individuals suspect—a kind of agnostic contempt for the body.
3 – Four-letter words represent a rebellion against language.
4 – They are a limited medium of expression.
5 – Four-letter words may hold some value but must be used with great care.
Our ancestors were sometimes shamelessly frank about the kind of pleasure they sought from certain forms of literature. As a result, we find that four-letter words are condemned not because they are aphrodisiacs, but precisely because they are not.
We are sometimes told that anything in the world can find its place in literature. While that may be true in some sense, it is a dangerous assertion unless we recognize that nothing can enter literature except in the form of words—in other words, nothing can be included unless it is rendered into words. And words, like every other medium, have their own power and limitations.
Thus, in a heated debate, while we need not suppress our emotions, we must remain mindful of the limitations of language—particularly those of four-letter words—to keep the conversation constructive and helpful.
However, at times like these, it is very hard not to fully express our intense emotions.
My favorite Dutch word: VERSCHRIKKELIJK, almost deserves its meaning: Terrible.
NOLE KSUM! NOLE KSUM! GRKH! ZNTV? SDFL! XQWP—MNRG!!
I have said.
Cheers,
Paulo