It’s not necessary. As if that should stop one from doing it. It’s not necessary to have colored socks. Things not being necessary is what makes life interesting. Little extras in life.
Stephen Fry
Great thoughts from Stephen Fry on swearing, though they apply much more broadly as well.
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In the translator’s introduction to a copy of Don Quixote I started to read, the translator pointed out one of his greater challenges was the curses. Apparently there was a wealth of curses back then that have been reduced to a handful of dirty words today. They used to be colorful and descriptive, I remember it saying, but those curses sounded silly today.
The translator said that our language today is poorer as a result of the loss.
That’s really interesting, Josh. I imagine this is a problem with a lot of old or translated works.
I remember reading Shakespeare in school, and not even recognizing a lot of the more underhanded insults, let alone understanding them, and that was written in English. Makes me wonder what the old Greek/Roman/Latin or even more modern German/French works contain that we’re totally missing.