Trump’s profanity in context: Language is key to social, political, ethical struggles

President Trump said that Haiti and African nations were “S-hole” countries. Democrats were outraged. Republicans developed amnesia. And the word got repeated.

At first the media bleeped it. But now it stinks up the headlines. And the profanity proliferates. Trump's defenders suggested he said “S-house” instead of “S-hole. And so we are in the middle of an S-storm of swearing.

So what, we might ask? If your ears are fragile, cover them up. And at any rate, swearing is a bipartisan pastime. Dick Cheney, Joe Biden and John Kerry have dropped F-bombs on occasion.

Nor is this the first Trump cursing controversy. Last year we were discussing another dirty word that begins with “P.” That word was once unmentionable in polite company. But in response to something Trump said about grabbing women’s crotches, millions of women wore cat-eared hats or carried signs in public that said, “Hands off my p----.”

Those protestors strategically re-appropriated a derogatory word. This tells us something about why all this matters. Language is central to social, political and ethical struggles. Curses and insults are politically loaded.

A woman can say things about her own anatomy that a man cannot. A similar social dynamic governs the usage of the racially charged N-word.

Language rests upon a complex matrix of customary usages, cultural taboos and social identities. Meaning depends on who is speaking, to whom they are speaking, and where and when they open their mouths.

Even notoriously foul-mouthed cursers usually know better than to swear in church or at school. We expect the leaders of our country to have a similar capacity for self-censorship. We also expect them to respect the hallowed halls in which they work. Or at least we used to.

Some will applaud the plain speech of profane politicians. Critics think that civility is phony and that politically correct language is B.S. Populism tears down the façade of politeness. Trump’s fans admire his irreverent way of speaking. One liberating feature of the Trump era is that we seem to be empowered to say whatever the bleep we want.

We might also argue that swear words are only words. They are often almost meaningless. The F-word, for example, has a sexual meaning. But it gets thrown around in a variety of ways that have nothing to do with sex.

The same is true of the S-word at the root of the recent controversy. It often has nothing to do with excrement. The word in question need not be taken literally. To describe a place as an “S-hole” often merely means that we don’t like that place.

But this points to a significant problem with profanity, which is its lack of depth and complexity. Swear words are often linguistic fillers. They can function as exclamations and intensifiers, almost like grunts and groans. But that is why they lack specificity. The word “S-hole” is a general expression of contempt. It does not tell us why a place is deplored.

Education teaches us to be careful and clever with our language. Sometimes a curse is just right. But usually profanity is too easy. And swearing cuts off further thinking and discussion. When the curse words come out, the conversation usually ends.

Of course, fancy words can hide hateful attitudes. And cruelty does not depend upon cursing. It would still be awful if someone said he grabbed women by the genitals, without using the P-word. And one could be a racist without ever uttering the N-word.

In the best world, there would be no sexism or racism. But what about profanity? It is unlikely that angels swear. But angels probably don’t laugh either. Nor do they need politics. There is something deeply human about our struggles and our foul mouths.

One old moral maxim holds, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” But in many cases, this would leave a lot of silence. Maybe it is better when people actually speak their minds, even if what they say is crude, rude and obnoxious.

In this second-best world, it is better when sexists and racists speak freely. Then we know what they are thinking. And we can judge them according to excrement that trips off their tongues.

This story was originally published January 21, 2018 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Trump’s profanity in context: Language is key to social, political, ethical struggles."