Moscow State University teacher explained why it is useless to ban swearing in everyday life

Slipped, fell, oops

A press conference dedicated to the World Day Against Profanity, celebrated on February 3, was held in Moscow. The participants in the discussion discussed the problem from a scientific and spiritual point of view.

The most weighty opinion was expressed by Vladimir Slavkin, Head of the Department of Russian Language Stylistics, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University.

– Before that, we practically did not speak on this delicate topic, – the presenter announced, and gave the floor to the representative of academic linguistics.

Slavkin, to the surprise of those present, declared that swearing (which scientists include in the broader concept of obscene vocabulary) is part of the national Russian language.

The teacher defined the function of such vocabulary as “very emotional”. According to him, vernacular and the lowest layer of vernacular – obscene language, people use when they are in a situation of a sharp emotional change: “Our streets are now slippery. I slipped, fell” … (“Oops,” the presenter inserts a substitute word, forgetting that in Russia they propose to fight against excessive foreign borrowings).

At the same time, Vladimir Savkin urged to share emotions and the use of obscenities in order to “shock the surrounding public”, “to shock with the fact that they (swearing) can use this vocabulary in public.”

– They can send someone on a famous journey, but this is not for expressing emotions, but for verbal self-affirmation.

The philologist is sure that attempts to ban everyday everyday swearing by legislative means will not be successful, but it is necessary to preserve the culture of speech in the media – but a law on this topic was adopted many years ago.

As for literature, there non-printable words can “serve a certain artistic intention”, and this, again, does not seem shameful to a professional linguist.

In the Russian Orthodox Church, of course, they are 100% against abuse.

Priest Alexander Volkov, editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchy, outlined the church’s point of view: swearing is called foul language and is directly called sin, one of the most significant and noticeable that every Christian needs to fight:

– Representatives of higher education speak of this as going beyond the limits of the norm of the Russian language, but what the Church sees as sin is a component of spiritual life. Foul language is what stains a person, or what it stains the person he addresses to.

“The church knows how to treat this spiritual disease,” says the priest. But he called for discussing this problem at the confession lectern, and not at public venues.