Skip to main content

The Art of Profanity 粗口藝術

We react to life’s little vicissitudes – nicking the car door, dropping the phone on a concrete pavement or losing hours of work to a computer crash – with a curse word or two. If some brute walks by and knocks the coffee right out of our hand, the appropriate response is: What the fuck? 

Swearing is one of those things that we do everyday and nearly everywhere. But like breaking wind and picking our nose, profanity is only bad when someone else does it. Most of us are too squeamish or sanctimonious to own up to it. Rarely in the human experience has something so universally shared been so vehemently condemned and denied.

Turning society into a nanny state

Profanity exists in every culture. Curse words are the first vocabulary we learn in a foreign language and the only one we remember years later. The linguistic phenomenon can be traced as far back as Ancient Egypt and Babylon. Literary giants like William Shakespeare, James Joyce and George Bernard Shaw were known to use obscenity inventively in their works, as did J.D. Salinger in his coming-of-age classic Catcher in the Rye. These days you can’t enjoy a Hollywood action flick or a crime drama on cable television without getting an earful of the f-word. Whether it is in literature or pop culture, coarse language helps deliver a jolt and a pinch of realism to reflect the way people actually talk.

But the near ubiquity of profanity doesn’t stop us from feeling prudish about it. In the ‘70s, American comedian George Carlin listed seven dirty words in a stand up routine to poke fun at society’s unease toward cursing. The act got him arrested for disturbing the peace and made him the First Amendment hero in a landmark Supreme Court decision. It also led to sweeping indecency regulation in American broadcasting, including the proliferation of minced oaths – euphemistic expressions like “gosh,” “heck,” “shoot” and “freaking” – in an attempt to remove the sting of the original words. Since then, obscenity has been bleeped on television and replaced with the phrase “[expletive deleted]” in the print media. The venerable New York Times, a bastion of free speech that prides itself on printing all the news that’s fit to print, has adopted an internal profanity policy to preserve “the newspaper’s character” and “civility in the public discourse.” The paper’s policy suggests that, even in this day and age, decorum and manners still trump honest reporting.

That was 40 years ago, so let's move on

Let’s face it, swear words are but a string of syllables. What makes “vagina” an anatomy term and “cunt” an abominable abuse is purely arbitrary. At some point we need to be adult about our speech and admit that there is a time and place for every word. After all, a kindergarten classroom is very different from a poker game, and The Sopranos shouldn’t be treated the same way as Pocahontas. So long as it is not directed at children or used in a pejorative way toward minority groups, profanity is an integral part of language to convey horror, confusion and extreme displeasure. Experienced writers understand that curse words are a literary device just like metaphors and puns: having too many of them takes away their effect, but a judicious use can go a long way. If Quentin Tarantino had sanitized Pulp Fiction by changing Vincent Vega’s line to “[the French] wouldn’t know what on earth a quarter pounder is,” the famous diner scene would have been flat and forgettable.


One of the memorable scenes in Pulp Fiction

What’s more, studies have shown that profanity is a coping mechanism and a form of anger management. Cursing is an instinctive response to shock and pain, like tripping over a rug or cutting ourselves while we shave. Dropping the f-bomb reduces stress and lets off steam. When used cleverly, swear words can also enhance our sense of humour and promote social bonding. According to Natalie Angier, science journalist for, ironically, The New York Times, a free flow of foul language among close friends may signal harmony instead of hostility. On the other hand, resisting obscenity can lead to asymmetry within a social group and signify a “holier than thou” attitude.

In Asia, the social acceptability of profanity runs the gamut from absolute prohibition to use-as-you-please condonation. In Japan, for instance, swear words are never uttered except during a bar brawl or in hostess clubs. By contrast, in Thailand and much of South East Asia, using coarse language is like adding spices to a stew – one must strike a balance between enhancing the flavours and overpowering the dish.

They don't even use the word "gosh"

Here in Hong Kong, the cursing culture lies somewhere between conservative Japan and permissive Thailand. In Cantonese, the city’s lingua franca, there are the “Famous Five”: a quintet of single syllable swear words that connote the male and female genitalia and what to do with them. While stressed out citizens curse out loud from time to time, profanity is a telltale sign of the speaker’s social standing – or the lack thereof. A liberal use of swear words in daily speech often indicates a deficiency in character and pedigree.

And so when primary school teacher Alpais Lam (林慧思) was caught on video shouting expletives at the police during a street protest earlier this year, the entire city came down on her like a ton of bricks. Lam, a mere bystander on the scene, took issues with a police blockade and vented her frustration at the frontline officers with a few choice words. Days after the video was posted on YouTube, angry parents demanded that Lam be fired from her job for the untoward behaviour. A crime squad was dispatched to investigate the incident as if it were a multiple homicide. Even our Chief Executive C.Y. Leung weighed in on the controversy and ordered the Secretary of Education to submit a report to explain the travesty of human decency.

Ms. Lam needs our support

The so-called “Miss. Lam Incident” (林老師事件) underscores a deep cultural issue in Hong Kong. The undue emphasis we place on civility means that the bigger offense often falls by the wayside. Eager to use our distaste for profanity as a diversion tactic, authorities shift the focus away from the real issue – the police’s mishandling of a peaceful demonstration – and throw the outspoken educator under the bus of public opinion. Those angry parents never think for a moment that while Lam’s choice of words may seem poor, it was the poor choice of a private citizen outside the confines of the classroom walls. And while the idea of shouting abuse at police officers may be bad, it is a constitutionally protected bad idea.

We would rather hear lies than curse words

British philosopher Bertrand Russell once said: “Obscenity is whatever happens to shock some elderly and ignorant magistrate.” When it comes to language and speech, the line between vulgar and provocative is not only blurred, but also subjective, personal and arbitrary. Like many preconceived notions about gender and race, our queasiness toward foul language is socially conditioned and does not hold up to scrutiny. To avoid self-censorship and aphasia, sensible adults should recognise that every word, even the dirty ones, serves a purpose. Profanity is not a question of right and wrong but rather a matter of taste.
__________________________

This article was published in the November/December 2013 issue of MANIFESTO magazine under Jason Y. Ng's column "The Urban Confessional."

As published in MANIFESTO

Popular Posts

“As I See It” has moved to www.jasonyng.com/as-i-see-it

As I See It has a new look and a new home!! Please bookmark www.jasonyng.com/as-i-see-it for the latest articles and a better reading experience. Legacy articles will continue to be available on this page. Thank you for your support since 2008. www.jasonyng.com/as-i-see-it

Tokyo Impressions 東京印象

Twice a year, I make a pilgrimage to Tokyo, one of my favorite cities. Like many in Hong Kong, I take guilty pleasure in all things Japanese. Saddled by the burden of history, all ethnic Chinese in my generation are taught to loathe the Japanese or at least keep them at bay. How we are to separate our sworn enemies’ heinous past from their admirable qualities continues to elude every Japanophile among us. Moral dilemmas aside, I find the Japanese aesthetics irresistible. The marriage of Shintoism and Zen Buddhism has produced such core values as wabi (侘; simlicity and transience) and sabi (寂; beauty of age and time). They are the underpinnings of every aspect of the Japanese culture from theater and architecture to food preparation and social etiquette. A perfect storm was formed when these values collided with bushido (武士道), the strict code of conduct of the samurai warrior, resulting in an idiosyncrasy that is exacting, nuanced and immensely graceful. At once a philosophy and

About the Author 關於作者

Born in Hong Kong, Jason Y. Ng is a globetrotter who spent his entire adult life in Italy, the United States and Canada before returning to his birthplace to rediscover his roots. He is a lawyer, published author, and contributor to The Guardian , The South China Morning Post , Hong Kong Free Press and EJInsight . His social commentary blog As I See It and restaurant/movie review site The Real Deal have attracted a cult following in Asia and beyond. Between 2014 and 2016, he was a music critic for Time Out (HK) . Jason is the bestselling author of Umbrellas in Bloom (2016), No City for Slow Men (2013) and HONG KONG State of Mind (2010). Together, the three books form a Hong Kong trilogy that charts the city's post-colonial development. His short stories have appeared in various anthologies. Jason also co-edited and contributed to Hong Kong 20/20   (2017) and Hong Kong Noir   (2019). Jason is also a social activist. He is an ambassador for Shark Savers and an outspo

From Street to Chic, Hong Kong’s many-colored food scene 由大排檔到高檔: 香港的多元飲食文化

Known around the world as a foodie’s paradise, Hong Kong has a bounty of restaurants to satisfy every craving. Whether you are hungry for a lobster roll, Tandoori chicken or Spanish tapas, the Fragrant Harbour is certain to spoil you for choice. The numbers are staggering. Openrice, the city’s leading food directory, has more than 25,000 listings—that’s one eatery for every 300 people and one of the highest restaurants-per-capita in the world. The number of Michelin -starred restaurants reached a high of 64 in 2015, a remarkable feat for a city that’s only a little over half the size of London. Amber and Otto e Mezzo occupied two of the five top spots in Asia according to The World’s Best Restaurants , serving up exquisite French and Italian fares that tantalise even the pickiest of taste buds. Dai pai dong is ever wallet-friendly While world class international cuisine is there for the taking, it is the local food scene in Hong Kong that steals the hearts of residents a

The Beam in Our Eye 眼中的梁木

With 59 confirmed deaths and over 500 wounded, the Las Vegas mass shooting is the deadliest one in modern American history. Places like Columbine, Aurora, Newtown, Sandy Hook, Orlando—and now Sin City—are forever associated with carnage and death tolls.  They don't get it Not a week goes by in America without a horrific gun attack in a shopping mall, a school or a movie theatre.People outside the U.S. can’t fathom why the world’s wealthiest country can be in such denial over a simple fact: more guns means more gun-related deaths. But they don’t get it, don’t now? Instead, they tell us foreigners to stay out of the debate because we don’t understand what the Second Amendment means to the Land of the Free. So the anomaly continues: each time a shooting rampage shocks the nation, citizens respond with prayers and tributes for a while, but their lawmakers do nothing to change gun laws. And we—the foreigners—shake our heads in disbelief and wonder how many more innocen

Maid in Hong Kong - Part 1 女傭在港-上卷

Few symbols of colonialism are more universally recognized than the live-in maid. From the British trading post in Bombay to the cotton plantation in Mississippi, images abound of the olive-skinned domestic worker buzzing around the house, cooking, cleaning, ironing and bringing ice cold lemonade to her masters who keep grumbling about the summer heat. It is ironic that, for a city that cowered under colonial rule for a century and a half, Hong Kong should have the highest number of maids per capita in Asia. In our city of contradictions, neither a modest income nor a shoebox apartment is an obstacle for local families to hire a domestic helper and to free themselves from chores and errands. "Yes, mistress?" On any given Sunday or public holiday, migrant domestic workers carpet every inch of open space in Central and Causeway Bay. They turn parks and footbridges into camping sites with cardboard boxes as their walls and opened umbrellas as their roofs. They play

Brexit Lessons for Hong Kong 脫歐的教訓

It was an otherwise beautiful, balmy Friday in Hong Kong, if it weren’t for the cross-Channel divorce that put the world under a dark cloud of fright and disbelief. Asia was the first to be hit by the Brexit shock wave. BBC News declared victory for the Leave vote at roughly 11:45am Hong Kong time – hours before London opened – and sent regional stock markets into a tailspin. The shares of HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank, both listed on the Hong Kong Exchange, plunged 6.5 and 9.5 per cent, respectively... It ended in divorce ________________________ This article appeared in the 29 June 2016 print edition of the South China Morning Post . Read the rest of it on SCMP.com as " After Brexit, Hong Kong voters should take a careful look at what our own localist parties are really selling localist politics ." As published in the print edition of the South China Morning Post

The City that Doesn’t Read 不看書的城市

The Hong Kong Book Fair is the city’s biggest literary event, drawing millions of visitors every July. The operative word in the preceding sentence is “visitors,” for many of them aren’t exactly readers. A good number show up to tsau yit lau (湊熱鬧) or literally, to go where the noise is. In recent years, the week-long event has taken on a theme park atmosphere. It is where bargain hunters fill up empty suitcases with discounted books, where young entrepreneurs wait all night for autographed copies only to resell them on eBay, and where barely legal – and barely dressed – teenage models promote their latest photo albums. And why not? Hong Kongers love a carnival. How many people visit a Chinese New Year flower market to actually buy flowers? Hong Kong Book Fair 2015 If books are nourishment for the soul, then the soul of our city must have gone on a diet. In Hong Kong, not enough of us read and we don’t read enough. That makes us an “aliterate” people: able to read bu

10 Years in Hong Kong 香港十年

This past Saturday marked my 10th anniversary in Hong Kong .  To be precise, it was the 10th anniversary of my repatriation to Hong Kong. I left the city in my teens as part of the diaspora which saw hundreds of thousands others fleeing from Communist rule ahead of the 1997 Handover. For nearly two decades, I moved from city to city in Europe and North America, never once returning to my birthplace in the interim. Until 2005. That summer, I turned in the keys to my Manhattan apartment, packed a suitcase, and headed east. A personal milestone My law firm agreed to transfer me from New York to their Hong Kong outpost half a world away. On my last day of work, Jon, one of the partners I worked for, called me into his office for a few words of wisdom. He told me that there was no such thing as a right or wrong decision, and that people could only make life choices based on what they knew at the time. “I assume you’ve done your due diligence,” Jon gave me wink, “in that ca

Helpers be Helped – Special Chinese New Year Double Issue 救救外傭 – 春節雙刊

The images are gruesome and the details are chilling. A woman held captive in a residence has been starved and beaten beyond recognition. Her teeth are chipped, cheekbones fractured and her limbs covered with cuts and burn marks. It sounds like the Ariel Castro kidnappings in suburban Cleveland or the Brixton Bookshop abduction in Lambeth, England – except it is not. It all happened in Tseung Kwan O, a densely populated community of high-rise residential blocks and large shopping centers. It was there 23-year-old Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was allegedly tortured at the hands of her Hong Kong employer for eight months. She was not paid a cent. Erwiana, before and after her eight-month stay in Hong Kong By now the story has captured the attention of the entire city – and far beyond. Not since Edward Snowden checked into the Mira Hotel last summer had so much spotlight been thrown on the not-so-Fragrant Harbour. Beneath the media frenzy and tabloid-s