Tabu you the language. On the inevitability of the mat

[DARPA]

In my opinion, the Soviet taboo on the mat was still appropriate. Until now, stick with it. Brought up the case.

A lower opinion of a linguist.

The point is not that people have become more and more likely to use profanity, though, of course, she can be heard everywhere. Fundamental changes in the other. In Soviet times there was a lot of taboos, such as the use of the mat in the public sphere, the official language, in an urban environment when dealing with children, between men and women. That is, for example, men can use this language to each other, but with women only very limited ... Today, many of these taboos destroyed. We see attempts to restore them legally, at least in the public sphere, in the media, films, performances. But these attempts immediately provoked protests: after all, in the Soviet Union are so strict regulation was not. So that legal prohibitions are perceived as an attack on freedom of speech, that's probably not entirely accurate.

How is it that taboos disappeared? The process of erosion at the turn of the restructuring launched intelligentsia itself. That is, together with the political restrictions were collapsed and culture, it's not just about the mat, but also, for example, about the "games" with spelling. We have witnessed attempts to get rid of all the past, to achieve absolute freedom. Then what began intellectuals went to the masses, and this is the result - a violation of linguistic taboos became commonplace.

In general, it has played a cruel joke, especially with art. When the mat first sounded from the stage or screen, he made a strong impression, was a kind of release of energy. But the weaker taboo, the less the effect of the breach. In this sense, today's mat has this impression does not produce, and a repetition of the routine, verbal mud.

Large European languages have already passed a similar way: the strong taboo in German, English, French, there are few. Something is still not welcome in public speech, but in the movies, at a certain age labeling, is now used quite freely. You do not need to think that there is a full exemption: a language must be different zones, they should not be blurred.

But the main function of the mat - wrestle as an insult - is perhaps the main and there, and here, in Russia. That is, in fact, we use profanity on various occasions. For example, as a verbal pad facilitates continuous speech. Or in the Soviet Union, where public space was strictly regulated, swearing in the bath serves to distinguish friends and foes to party functionaries. However, the idea of abuse still remains a major, and no crisis or social unrest in this sense does not change anything.
Maxim Krongauz, department head of the Institute of Social Sciences RANHiGS