When we entered the classroom to receive this TOK lesson, we heard our teacher using a word I think none of us would ever expect to hear from him during school time. Words are just sound combinations, someone, somewhere mixed up some phonemes and gave the resulting mixture a meaning that others decided to accept. They have the meaning we chose to give them, so it seems curious to me how people react to words. Our teacher said one simple word consisting of four letters: fuck, and that was enough to make silence in the room and cause us to stare at him unbelievingly.
When he explained we were going to have a class on swearing everything made more sense and we were able to relax and think of how funny our reaction had been towards the mention of a simple word. During class, we took turns to read aloud a text about the origins of swearing, the text obviously contained several swear words and it stroke me as rather strange the fact that some people found funny hearing these words being said out loud, as their functions is to allow people to express their frustration or to insult others. I also thought it was weird to see how people acted when they had to read a swear word, some began to laugh and others blushed.
I know that words affect us as much as they do because of society, we have learned their meaning and we have grown up seeing how others react towards sound combinations, but it is still strange to think that people, having the power of giving words their meaning, have decided to provide our vocabulary with words that make them so uneasy, what was their purpose with it? Why do we need swear words? If we want to express frustration or anger we have a vast extension of words to do so without using these, but then, what makes them different? If there are other words that mean the same things why do these ones make people feel so uneasy?
Do you remember how interesting it was when Munhe said swear words in Korean and hid behind her hand in embarrassment? Interestingly, none of us speak Korean and therefore the words were mere sounds. But when she came to read the words in English from the text that we all understood she did not display the same level of embarrassment. Can you make any links to swearing in different cultures from what we read and spoke about?
ResponderEliminarWell done for this reflection! I am glad that four letter word I used )in a controlled and appropriate setting) had an impact on how you view the function of language.
Mr. T.
I do remember that Mun got very nervous when she swore in Korean, and I think it is really interesting because I have noticed that depending on the language they are talking in some people can change slightly the way they act. In my case I am a lot more quiet and shy when I speak in English than when I do in Spanish. I think it is because people are usually more comfortable and confident using their mother language and they feel more linked to it, so when they say a swear word in their language it has a bigger impact in them.
Eliminar