"Eff that!" yells some derelict on the Chicago Transit Authority. The other passengers on the bus react similarly: The mother covers her child's ears, the businessman glares in disdain and the old biddy snarls. You've seen it happen many times. Someone says a seemingly arbitrary word, and it is received with offense, disgust and backlash. Why are certain words so much more offensive than others? What makes a swear word so bad?

I would personally be more offended if someone said "I hate you" than if someone dropped an F-bomb on me. Yet it is acceptable to say the word "hate" on most television shows, while the "F word" is banished to the cutting-room floor (or even worse, masked with that annoying bleep sound or a cheap voiceover).

If someone randomly said the "D word" in conversation, teachers, parents and laypeople alike would all cringe in disdain for the offensive speaker. But if someone said "Darn it!" in an emphatic tone, wouldn't it essentially mean the same exact thing? Then how come this word doesn't carry the same connotation?

Throughout history, every society has had taboo words. Swear words exist in almost every language and culture. Even fictional societies have their own set of curse words (like "Mudblood" in the wizarding world of Harry Potter).

I guess "forbidden words" must exist to fulfill a social norm so adults have an excuse to yell at teenagers, and so teenagers have a way to "stick it to the man."

Before I go any further, I'd like to mention that I do not by any means condone swearing. In my opinion, swearing is just linguistic laziness mixed with peer pressure and a dash of pent-up rage. On the flip side, I don't think swear words should be banished from the language. I think we should all get over our fear of the unknown and embrace swears for what they are: words.

Someone undoubtedly more clever than me came up with the idea to introduce pseudo-swear words into the vernacular that sound similar to their naughty counterparts but aren't similar enough to be banned from the language. Such words include "darn," "shoot," "heck" and "fricking" or the increasingly popular "friggin'."

At first no one knew what to make of these new words. Some accepted them as healthy alternatives for vituperation. Now, however, some people think that even these words are unacceptable! Do these people suggest that we ban any words which convey anger or hostility? Certainly it isn't healthy to bottle up our emotions in such a way. Besides, it is much healthier to express ourselves with language than with violence.

In my opinion, the perfect world would be one in which no words were off-limits, and expressing negative emotions with language was an acceptable practice. For now, however, I guess I have to be content with that annoying bleep sound.

Tell is a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences.