There is no reason to swear (vulgar language)

Hello and thanks for the opportunity to debate. I accept the stringent and unusual rules posted by my opponent. I will not post this until 24 hours after his challenge was issued and I will attempt to keep sources to a minimum. I would like to point out however that voters are by no means bound by the unusual voting guidelines and should vote as they think fit. It is my burden in this debate to demonstrate at least one reason to swear, I believe I can provide many. It is clear that I don't need to justify every single usage of vulgar language, but if I can prove at least one valid reason to swear, I shall have fulfilled my burden and won the debate. _______________________________ Words exist because people find them useful and beneficial to communication. For a word to be included in a dictionary there must exist specific, sited examples of its usage in written and verbal forms. Swear words are no exception. Emphasis This is the basic reason why we swear and most (perhaps all) of the subsequent reasons I provide relate to it. Language is an imperfect tool for expressing emotional information. Often more conventional words do not adequately represent the depth of emotion we want to express. Sometimes "I am very annoyed" may not paint a complete picture, and "I'm fvcking p1ssed off" will communicate our feelings with far more accuracy. This is a valid reason to swear in itself, but often there is an underlying reason why the additional emphasis provided by swear words is appropriate. Emergency Sometimes people may not listen as attentively when addressed in polite language as they would if expletives were employed. Occasionally paying attention to instructions may be a matter of life and death. Sometimes it is not suitable to say "Excuse me, I'm dreadfully sorry to bother you, but you appear to be in imminent danger" and "FVVVVVCK!!! LOOK OUT!" may be a better option for reasons of practicality and immediate impact. Literature Poets paint pictures with a palette of words and put a great deal of thought into what they write.Obviously a good poet wouldn't include any word, let alone a swear word, without having a good creative reason for doing so. Philip Larkin (RIP) is "widely regarded as one of the great English poets of the latter half of the twentieth century". http://en.wikipedia.org... His famous composition This Be The Verse would certainly lose a lot of its power if the expletive was censored from the first line. http://www.artofeurope.com... Another obvious poetic reason to swear would be if it gave a composition a stronger rhyming structure. Sometimes in fiction it can also be necessary to use vulgar language within dialogue, to give a realistic portrayal of a character who would swear. Language codes and group identity Often language that may be deemed offensive by some people can have everyday casual or humourous uses for others. Use of certain swear words can often help bonding within groups and even signify a particular outlook or membership within a social clique. Arousal Some people find vulgar language exciting in the context of sexual activity. To enhance your partner's pleasure can be yet another good reason to swear. Anger release I'm a little intrigued that Pro chose to construct his strawman against this particular reason, which I personally wouldn't think would be the most obvious, but yes, I suppose it is a valid reason. The thing Pro's example fails to take into consideration is that while his 1 and 2 examples do both feature an exclamation mark, 1 is likely to release far more anger than 2. It is the very fact that swear words are taboo that makes them an effective anger release mechanism, saying "drat! blast! bother!" simply doesn't feel the same as saying "fvck! sh1t! cvnt!", try it for yourself the next time you are angry. Intentional offense I believe there is a self rebuttal in Pro's round 1: "swear words have very offensive, often suggestive meanings. This offense can often be taken literally by the one who the words are intended for". Pro is quite rightly pointing out here that swear words may be used to cause intentional offense. He seems oblivious to the fact that this demonstrates a clear reason why some people may swear. ____________ Most of Pro's arguments don't have any real relevance to the resolution. Pointing out the negatives of swearing in no way negates the many valid reasons why someone may choose to swear. Politeness is indeed a virtue and swearing is by no means always necessary, but it remains a useful tool for certain kinds of communication. Appropriateness is everything. I swear freely amongst my peers but don't swear when I'm looking after my daughter or when working with kids in a professional capacity. I'll leave it there for now and hand the debate back over to my opponent. Thanks.