Mouthful :D

As a teenager nearing the end of my teens, I am always wondering what it is that makes a ‘bad word’ really popular amidst adolescents. When I say a ‘bad word’, I mean something specified as vulgar slang in the dictionary. In the past decade, we have observed that these words in the English language have come out of oblivion and have attained utmost popularity.

   I would like to recount my first experience of encountering a ‘bad word’ in the English language. It happened while I was in the 8^th STD. One day, during our lunch hour, there was a chaotic situation in class, and many of my classmates seemed to be looking at a particular desk, which was supposed to be the root cause of the problem. I went up to them and enquired what is happening, not able to hide my curiosity. One of them pointed at something written in bold dark letters on the desk. I could not understand what it meant and hoped my friends would enlighten me. Someone said it was a very bad word, but no one knew what it actually meant. As I remember, the first thing that I did that day after getting back home from school was to hunt for the meaning of that word in the dictionary. I very well understood what it meant, but till today cannot hide my amazement when I hear any person uttering this word. That was about 6 years ago, and now I think even primary school going kids are familiar with these words, whose meaning does not make any sense to them.

 What strikes me as bizarre is that people resort to such words to express their fury, happiness, remorse, all alike. Teenagers are easily drawn to this way of communication because nothing seems to be easier than expressing every feeling of yours through a set of words, which are used in every context. Sentences with a sprinkling of bad words are heard everywhere these days, sometimes in the most unexpected situations. If you happen to be walking in a hurry and run into someone by mistake, chances are that you will not escape the flurry of cuss words emanating from that person! More so if that person is a college-goer. No one is spared for that matter, whether you are young or old, rich or poor.

 One of my teachers used to say that while trying to learn a new language, we always learn the bad words first. The wonderful idea of learning a new language is reduced to the unproductive purpose of enjoying one’s self by scolding another person in his own language. The one factor that seems to give bad words such an immense mass appeal, in my opinion, is the versatility wrongly associated with these words. They are used as nouns, adjectives, verbs and what not! The very fact that these words are not wholly disclosed in the print media and the visual media, who try to cover them up with beeps and *s, render them an aura of mystery, which only adds to a young mind’s urge to stock up on them.

 Gone are the days when parents were responsible for every word that their child spoke. This is the age of helpless parents, who have no say, whatsoever, in moulding their ward’s verbal skills. The concepts of ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’ have now been forgotten, at least to a small extent, or are interpreted however we choose. The number of people who have not developed the habit of hurling out curses when in the least trifling annoyance is lessening quickly enough. After all, we are human beings…. Go with the flow, they say!