Warning! This video contains swear words.
Keep an eye on the swear counter to see just how many.
If you turn on the TV or the radio in the middle of the afternoon in the U.S., you’re
probably not going to hear “fuck, shit, mother-fucker, ass-hole, bitch.” If you turn on the TV or
the radio in the middle of the afternoon in Germany, okay, you’re probably not going
to hear that either, but it’s been my experience that if you did hear that here in Germany,
it wouldn’t be such a big deal as in the U.S.
Hey everyone! I’m Dana and you’re watching Wanted Adventure Living Abroad.
Back in college I studied abroad in Spain, and that’s actually when I first realized
that English swear words don’t seem hold the same strength of meaning in other countries
as they do in the U.S.
I was just walking around a normal Spanish department store at eleven in the morning.
It was full of lots of families and kids, and just whoever, and about halfway through the song
that was playing on the department store loud speakers -- you know, I was singing along
to it, when suddenly I noticed….wait a second; this is the uncensored version of "Fuck It"
by Eamon, which if you don’t know, has a total of twenty fucks in it. And it was just
playing in the department store in the middle of the day.
Fast forward to several years later when I moved to Europe, I realized that this was
not just some kind of “Spain thing.” Both in Prague, where I first lived, and then here
in Munich, I’ve heard the uncensored versions of English songs just blasting away in clothing
stores, grocery stores, in restaurants -- pretty nice restaurants too -- um, on the radio.
It’s totally normal to hear the uncensored version of an English song on the radio here
in Germany, and I’ve also heard the radio broadcasters and DJs themselves say English
swear words. I know I’ve heard the broadcasters say “shit" several times; I can’t recall
them ever saying the word "fuck," but I know they've said "shit."
Also, people in general just seem to use English swear words more comfortably here in Germany
than they would in America. I’ve noticed people at the office, for example, tossing
them around just like “normal” other words, and some of my students, when I was an English
teacher; they seemed pretty comfortable using the English swear words -- it didn’t really seem
to bother them. And people don’t really seem to care about swearing in English around
their kids, or anything like that. As far as I’ve noticed.
So what’s going on here? Well, my first thought was that because it’s not their
own native language, there probably aren’t all those feelings of taboo and societal inappropriateness
surrounding these words. I know that being on the other end of it, for me, German swear
words seem pretty harmless as well. I have no problem throwing out a "scheiße" or "Arschgeige,"
because for me, they’re the same as Tisch or Gabel. German words just don’t have an
emotional connection for me in the same way that English words do.
Science seems to back this up too. A study published in 2013, done out of the University
of Warsaw, found that bilingual speakers are more emotionally connected to their native
language and, therefore, it’s easier to swear in their non-native language.
The actual study only looked at the effect on offensive words, but there was a web
questionnaire done on expressing emotions in general in a second language, and it seems
that people may feel some sort of a disembodiment they said -- so a disconnect -- from the emotional
words in a non-native language.
So, emotionally charged words, whether good or bad or taboo could feel less natural than
in your native tongue. And if they feel less natural in a non-native language and you’re
somewhat disconnected from them, that would make sense that they are then easier to say
in the non-native language.
I know for me, not only do swear words hold less meaning in German, but it’s also easier
to talk about sexual things and just uncomfortable topics in general in German; also, good emotions
are weaker in German. So “Ich liebe dich” holds a lot less emotional meaning for me
than “I love you” in English.
But getting back to the swearing thing, I also just wonder if here in Germany and
Europe in general, if swearing is, itself, less of a big deal than in America, even in
one’s own native tongue. It seems to me from my experience living in Europe, that
Americans are way more worried about swearing than people over here are. Now, I don’t
have any concrete data to back that up, but I do have some anecdotal evidence.
So, when I went back to the U.S. this past summer, I realized that this more relaxed
attitude toward English swear words, and perhaps swear words in general, had kind of rubbed
off on me.
I met up with one of my girl friends in California and, if you watched the video, you know that
we went to the San Diego Zoo. And while we were there, walking around, something happened
and I blurted out, like “Agh that’s bull shit,” or something like that. I don’t
really remember what it was that I said, but it was something with “shit,” and my friend
was like “Dana, there are kids around!” and sure enough, I looked around; right around
us were several families with kids, and I was like “Oops!” And I suddenly remembered
that in the U.S. it is not appropriate to swear around kids. You will get glared at
by parents, and just made to feel really guilty about it. So in the U.S. people really try
not to drop any swear words around kids.
And people in general just seem to feel a lot more guilty about the swear words that
they do use even if kids aren't around, in the U.S. than in Europe. So people in America
are often starting these little money pots, so if they swear, you have to put fifty cents
in or put a dollar in. And people just seem to always be trying not to swear. They feel
guilty about it if they do.
And I don’t know if in Germany that’s also the case. Or it’s just that way with,
people are okay with English swear words or they're okay with German swear words or what?
So my question for you is: actually this time I have quite a few question for you. There's
a lot of stuff I’d like to know.
First of all, is swearing in your native language a big deal to you? Wherever you’re from,
whatever your native language is; German, Spanish, whatever, how do you feel about swearing,
and if you have any experience with the American culture, how do you feel swearing in your
own country relates to swearing in the U.S.? Secondly, is it easier for you to swear or
express other emotions in a non-native language. Do you experience that emotional disconnect
when speaking a second language? Please let me know in the comments below, to be entered
to win this grizzly bear crossing clock from the old background. Mr German Man and I will
read through the comments and pick the winner of this lovely working clock. Full details
to the contest in the description below.
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Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!
...not done. You really try not to drop any swear word...
I've also heard the radio broadcasters and DJs themselves say English swear words. I
know I've heard the broadcasters say "shit" on the radio several times; I can't recall
them ever saying "fuck," but I know I've heard them say "shit." The actual word; not just
that they've said shit. Although they have said shit as well.