A High Court judge has ruled that people should not be punished for hurling obscenities in public because such words are now so common they no longer cause distress. Should the courts punish profanity?
But swearing in public, previously a criminal offence across the UK, appears to no longer offend the legal system as much as it once did.
**At the heart of the issue is the question of whether - for better or worse - terms that would once have been considered taboo are now so commonplace that they have lost their power to shock, **giving the courts no business to tackle them.
He has no interest in banning swearing in the privacy of one’s home or in like-minded company. But he argues that the violence of some phrases and the upset they can cause mean it is right in certain circumstances for the courts to intervene.
If Martin is right and humour undermines the shock value of taboo terms, it might follow that comedy, not the courts, is the best way of tackling verbal abuse.
Of course, others will seek more formal methods of redress. The debate will continue - very courteously, no doubt.
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In Pakistan, members often exchange pleasantries in parliament. CXO’s often hurl them at employees, share dirty jokes…
And that article explains how is it handled in UK nowadays. Italy and french are far worse than uk.
Sooner or later, we will completely stop being surprised or offended by though. Such are the falling societal standards.
Its the beauty of freedom of expression. If you can post drawings or caricatures and protect them under freedom of expression you can do the same with profanity and racial slurs.
Farting in public should be banned and punishable.......it causes physical distress to people compared to swearing...which is some oscillations of air particles....
Its the beauty of freedom of expression. If you can post drawings or caricatures and protect them under freedom of expression you can do the same with profanity and racial slurs.
Agreed, except for the use of racial slurs. The use of racial slurs may still be actionable in many contexts and social settings. In the workplace, it's use is absolutely prohibited (in jurisdictions where there are employment and discrimination laws). If someone were to use racial slurs In hate mongering materials, then again even that may get the person arrested for a hate crime.
As a society, standards of decency and morality have become increasingly individual-based as opposed to community-based. Before everyone was everyone else's keeper and commented on/judged/reprimanded their conduct. Now, it's a "MYOB and my actions, and in this case words, aren't hurting anyone, so stay out of my business" society.
ABC does a whole segment around this MYOB concept called "What Would You Do?". They have actors pretend to harass or even physically assault each other, to see if people would intervene. A lot of the people who don't respond say they didn't want to get involved.
To answer the OP, I don't think it should be against the law but there are laws against disturbing the peace. If the cops received enough complaints about something or someone, I'm sure they would take action. Probably a short spell of jail time or a minor charge.