Profanity In Literature
Drowning in a sea of vulgarity
The ubiquitousness of obscenity
When is the last time you’ve gone a full 24 hours without being exposed to profanity? Seriously. Take a moment and think about it.
Profanity is so ubiquitous, you likely can’t remember the last time you went a whole day without seeing or hearing it. The overabundant use of profanity has become so pervasive in our culture, we’re now at a point where we can’t avoid it.
Both the LA Times and The Guardian reported on a study about profanity in literature. The study, led by San Diego State University psychology professor, Jean Twenge, revealed what everyone not living in a cave already knows: there’s been a “dramatic” increase in the use of profanity in books. In one example, the study found that one specific cuss word “was used 678 times more often in the mid-2000s than the early 1950s.”
That was not a typo: 678 times more often. Let that sink in. And that’s only one cuss word out of our vernacular’s smorgasbord of vulgarity.
“Over my lifetime, heavy usage has woefully eroded profanity’s power.” — Lionel Shriver
