| OCR Text |
Show THE ORIGIN OF PROFANITY. Linguistically It Is Primarily Due to a Desire for Emphasis. Ono proposition thoro Is which noecU to bo stated cmptiatioally at this point, writes Prof. Thomas U. Louns-bury, Louns-bury, In Harper's. Words and phrases which are amply suinclent for tlio understanding un-derstanding tiro often altogether lnodo-quato lnodo-quato for (ho expression of tho toolings. tool-ings. Tlio result of this mental dissatisfaction dissat-isfaction with the communication of mcro knowledge Is most conspicuously conspicuous-ly Illustrated In tho wldo prevalonco ot profanity. Into tho discussion of this practico Its moral and religious aspect as-pect does not enter at all. It Is purely pure-ly from the linguistic side that It le hero to bo considered. So looked at, Its existence and the extent of the Indulgence In-dulgence In It boar out the truth of tho principle Just nnnounced. Whatever What-ever ' Intellectual justification tbcro may bo for profanity Is based upon the fact that men are aiming to state strongly what they feel strongly The habit Is, In consequence, subject to tho general law governing intenslvcs. To a very great extent the practico ot swearing Is specially characteristic of a rude and imperfect civilization. With tho advance of culturo profanity declines. It declines not so much because be-cause men become peculiarly sensitive to its vlclousness, but they do to Its Ineffectiveness. The growth of refinement refine-ment both In tho Individual and In the community tends more to Its dig-uso dig-uso than all the exhortations of moralists mor-alists or tho rebukes of divines. Much must always bo allowed In tho caso of particular persons tor tho Influcnco ot early training nnd association. Hx-coptlons Hx-coptlons are, therefore, too numerous to lay Down any positlvo rule; still, It is safo to say In general that a man's Intellectual development Is largely determined de-termined by thn extent of his Indulgence Indulg-ence In profanity. No one, Indeed, doubts Its wldo prevalence at tho present pres-ent time. But compared to the practice prac-tice ot the past, It has been steadily, even If slowly, diminishing for centuries. cen-turies. This does not prove that men aro better morally or Intellectually than they were. It docs show, however, that there exists now a higher average aver-age of cultivation, which renders the habit distasteful to Increasingly large numbers. |
