don't know about other europeans (like Spaniards for instance), but seems to me Americans curse a lot more than Germans. here i get the feeling that only uneducated people use swear words a lot, where as in the US everyone does it, and sometimes especially intellectuals, i suppose trying to be hip or young or street or something.
someone said something about bad words are an indication of the insecurities and fears and apprehension and anxiety of a cultures. according to this theory Americans have some serious problems with sex, germans with shit, etc. i'm sorta, in some ways convinced.
my GF asked me why "sucks" means "terrible" and i really could not answer. it is so common place that i never ever stopped to think about it. and it's pretty sick now that i have thought about it. i am half heartedly trying to cut out vulgar language (at least in spoken conversation, web might take longer), and escape a bit of the American influence on my character...
someone said something about bad words are an indication of the insecurities and fears and apprehension and anxiety of a cultures. according to this theory Americans have some serious problems with sex, germans with shit, etc. i'm sorta, in some ways convinced.
my GF asked me why "sucks" means "terrible" and i really could not answer. it is so common place that i never ever stopped to think about it. and it's pretty sick now that i have thought about it. i am half heartedly trying to cut out vulgar language (at least in spoken conversation, web might take longer), and escape a bit of the American influence on my character...