What constitutes profanity?

Today, the use of ‘profanity’ is not nearly as weighted as it might have been 20 years ago. Take it from me, the son of a southern Criminal Defense Attorney, who’s father uses ‘fuck’ as though it were a preposition. I am so accustomed to the way it sounds and its usage that I never hear quite in the way I might hear the dreaded N-word. It’s almost as though I am deaf to its obscenity. Now, do not misunderstand me. I am aware of its harsh, informal and adverse nature. Yet, I often find myself judging the weight of a swear word based off the inflection attached to it.

What do I mean? The tone and pitch, along with several other factors, can distinguish whether the word is being spoken to a friend or enemy, in humor or in anger. I believe that Mamet uses profane words because they can be considered multipurpose and, at times, they succeed at conveying an emotion or even a hierarchy far better than a normal adverb or adjective.

Language today tends to infix words. “Abso-fucking-lutely.” Also, it has a nature to prefix: “ass-hat.” And, finally, even affix: “fuckable.” One might argue the vulgarity of these words, which they are. However, they do add something. Profane words behave as intensifiers. They are more grounding, more absolute, and more communicative. They can convey the emotion and intent in one word what might normally take ten. Which, considering the subjects of Mamet’s play are salesmen, whose every word is important and detrimental to making a sale, it is no wonder that they err on the side of a more succinct, expressive vocabulary. ff