There are many linguistic trends of the modern day, and those in educational environments are commonly seen as the largest group of instigators for such movements of vocabulary. Much of the time there exists the element of influence from popular culture; in particular television programmes, films, and the mother of all things viral – social networking sites. But once in a while a gem appears that spills from the mouth of youths and causes a glittering stir. A few years back ‘gay’ was adopted as a term used to describe something unappealing or ‘sad’, synonymous with phrases such as ‘tragic’ or ‘cringe-worthy’. It would casually find its self dropped into conversations as if it meant nothing else: “Seriously, what’s she wearing? That t-shirt is so gay”, for example. The term was obviously offensive – nobody defined anything as “that’s so straight”, after all – and yet a blind eye was turned and the trending phrase waved off with a simple “…oh but I don’t mean it like that!”.
‘Gay’ is becoming less and less commonly used in this colloquial fashion, though still lurks and rears its head largely within the virtual world of YouTube comments. Like Pokemon cards, jelly-like aliens and the movement from having your school shirt button rebelliously undone to quite the opposite (your vintage/Topshop university-wear done right up to your neck), us young’uns moved on. But what seems to have taken precedence in the current vocab-en-vogue is something else harbouring the shock-factor, if not amongst our own generation then at least for those beyond our years…
The “C” word. Yes, I mean C***. (N.B. Ironically, due to Her Campus guidelines, this word still has to be censored.)
“The Shock-Factor”
Words are completely underrated and completely over-used in today’s society. We’re a desensitised community because we are constantly bombarded by them: through advertising, through the rise of never-ceasing, never-sleeping social networking… half the world is scripted – “Would you like fries with that?”, “Did you find everything you needed today?”. Guilty, as charged, being a writer myself I too am contributing to this tidal wave of verbal bombardment. However, most of us are at least self-published via the endless platforms of the internet, after all, who in this day and age hasn’t sent a tweet or updated their Facebook status? A rapidly growing number of us even have entire blogs. Censorship, therefore, seems to be a tricky area to navigate. Vocabulary is an area which seems to shift in use and reception more than many controversial areas of society; the difference between what used to be acceptable and what is now tolerated (by the BBC, for example) is pushed in opposite directions every day.
The C-word has always, in my opinion, been right at the top end of the “daring/swearing/not-really-caring” section of the vocabulary world – reserved only for risqué poets or the privacy of edgy bedrooms. Perhaps this was due to my upbringing, or perhaps it really wasn’t used as much as it is now. I’m pretty sure, though, that the only way primary-school me could have heard such a word would have been getting my hands on some Philip Larkin. Improbable. I am not the only one undecided about the everyday use of such a word: in 2005, the Guardian published a list of TV’s most offensive words alongside respondents’ reactions. The most offensive word to the majority, seen as “never really acceptable”, “very strong” and “particularly disliked by women” was… yep, you guessed it: c***.
However, scholar and advocate of the word Germaine Greer told the nation that it was “one of the few remaining words in the English Language with the genuine power to shock”. Perhaps this is why the use of the C-word has most definitely become a trend. Hand in hand with 90s grunge, hoards of youth are jumping aboard the C-wagon and in the irony of it all, their casual flinging of the word “c***” simultaneous displays their nonchalance attitude (“I’m cool”) whilst also making a shocking impact (“Oh gosh, I didn’t expect to hear that – I only asked for the time”).
It’s not entirely clear why this word became so offensive – its etymology is unclear but does sound similar to some Latin words, including those describing the vulva (cunnus) and other female anatomy. If the word is purely anatomical, then why the controversy? The word has been used in literary circles since Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, though does not appear to cause offense until Shakespearean times. The playwright alluded to the term with tongue-in-cheek wordplay, which did not go unnoticed. Shakespeare brushed off those who found offense with his gestures towards the term, however, calling them “prissy, puritanical party-poopers”.
With the rise of feminism, is finding offensive in what could be seen as an entirely reductive term really “prissy” or being a “party-pooper”? In the BBC series Balderdash and Piffle, Germaine Greer exposes that the word more commonly used as the “appropriate” term actually has more reason to cause offense. It in fact originates from the term “sword-sheath” – a clearly degrading connotation for women, and far more reductive than the term deemed more vulgar. The negative associations with the c-word, then, must arise elsewhere. In the 13th Century, a London street popular with the business of prostitution was called Gropec*** Alley, and it could well be this association that finalised its status as a taboo. So unless the word is used with offensive intent, why is it still so shocking to hear more than 700 years later?
The debate is ongoing, is this a term for the liberated or the louts? My opinion is that the word c*** could have been pivotal in incorporating a powerful terminology, particularly for women. Instead, it’s been degraded as a fashionable phrase adopted by those who have no care for the implication it could hold if spoken from the right lips at the right moment, but rather sport it alongside their studded sweatshirts and orthopaedic footwear. The quest to push boundaries as a mass will inevitably fall to the hands of younger generations following trends and counter-cultural fads. Although, if even this most shocking term is now becoming nullified, what next? I’m not sure if the word could be regained as anything objectively seen as appropriate or beautiful in the near future. What I am sure of is that my view of the word definitely changed through the research I did for this article, and so I hope it will get you thinking too. Unless you’re a “prissy, puritanical party-pooper”, of course…
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