comment: >
  
  I don’t wish to engage in a semantic debate. If this is not what you’re doing then perhaps you can be more clear, and my preemptive apologies, English isn’t my first language, despite being fluent in it.
context: This is really not a debating point but I'm from the UK and everyone I know swears a lot.. Its not even something I ever think about. To me, most are just words, aside from slurs. So yeah I guess they are important here. My wife is american and I've noticed Americans either don't swear much or swear a lot. Not that many in the middle >
  
  That is entirely true, it's completely based on how you were raised and your experience in your young adult years. For me, swearing is second nature and best when combined with certain tones & accents to really add insult to injury. >
  
  If you check the frequency of profanity verses other words, you would not find them being used in 'special occasions'. They essentially used to add emphasis, or as filler. They aren't taboo anymore, unless you're using slurs, they aren't rare, and they don't convey much information. I can't see how they are important, delete them and nothing in language changes. >
  
  Sure, it's pretty fuckin' common to swear... but a yelled "FUCK!" has more impact than "GOSH DARNIT!", no? >
  
  isn't a louder "GOSH DARNIT" with hard articulation worse than a quieter "fuck"  ? there's more context to factor here >
  
  Obviously I meant all other things being equal.
  Sure, a blood curdling "GOSH DARNIT!" from a mormon who just got into an accident and noticed his intestines are falling out has more impact that a quiet "fuck" from someone who just stubbed their toe, but this is obvious. >
  
  Blood curdling "GOSH DARNIT" from Mormon vs blood curdling "FUCK" from non-Mormon: 
  which is worse and why? >
  
  I don’t think cursing is used for expression of emotion nearly as much as it is an expression of identity.   Cursing is used as a litmus test. You may throw out a low level (ass, damn) curse word early in a new relationship to see how the individual responds. If the person then also picks up cursing you may now know I can be a bit more genuine or a bit less censored in what I discuss.  I may know that I can say something controversial and still be accepted.  I’m thinking of handmaid’s tale (TV series) when a handmaiden would say something slightly non-pious to test if the other handmaiden could be trusted.
  I also think high levels of cursing help me identify what kind of lifestyle you may live. In the fire service and military, for example, cursing is used incredibly frequently. I think physically demanding or perhaps just demanding work cultures can lead to high levels of cursing and the cursing much like the work is really a part of your identity.
  I agree cursing is vital to communication and society but not for means of emotional expression. >
  
  I think you can convey most sentiments without needing to resort to profanity, but that's not what I think the most significant change to this view could be. Languages sort of boundary of the shape of how experience can be interpreted and it is not just in language that cultures have taboos. I think taboo has its origin somewhere in the physiological reaction of disgust shock or recoil and it extends down into our collective past a lot further back then the place that language comes from in our history - closer to when we crawled out of the mud then the present day. Tl;dr taboo isn't a phenomenon exclusive to language and it is not taboo that is important for culture it is the other way around - language is descriptive not prescriptive >
  
  Emotional emphasis can be achieved in other ways. Someone yelling “ARGH!” would surely get the point across, and in less extreme situations, emphasizing specific non-profanity words gets the job done as well.
  I’ve lived over thirty years and have used regular curse words less than 10 times in my life (excluding the milder variations like “darn” or “crap”, which I also don’t use often because I’ve simply not found the need for it). It has never stopped me from fully expressing any emotion or intensity of emotion I want. I use volume for that. >
  
  Perhaps it’s a personal perspective then. I do wonder what others perceive though, if you ever were to break your collar bone and all you uttered was “oh my goodness gracious lord almighty!!” or some other such similar phrase. Probably nothing, but in retrospect, it would be a bit unusual. Most people would have used profanity. I’ll have to think on this a little bit. >
  
  I would shout “AARGH! ARRGH! MY COLLAR BONE!!! ARRRGGGGGH!” >
  
  The majority of swears have other reasons why they shouldn't be said. Even ones that are considered mild, such as bitch, are equating women with female dogs. >
  
  
  Even ones that are considered mild, such as bitch, are equating women with female dogs
  
  Have you never heard of guys being bitches? 
  Bitch, just like asshole is a gender neutral word. Now if someone said "women are bitches" that's a different thing. But bitch in general isn't a sexist word, and if you think so it's you that are sexist thinking that word only applies to women. >
  
  I've never seen a guy being referred to as a bitch, no. >
  
  Guys are sometimes referred to as bitches, but it only reinforces your point because the insult is used on effeminate / "weak" men which is just another way of being sexist and borderline homophobic. >
  
  That's a good point. I'm guessing I'm only getting downvoted because people don't understand psychology of how saying we're like that can affect you and the people around you on an unconscious level. >
  
  Is it language or culture/expression you feel these ideas are. There isn't really a set area of language for taboo, ideas and words can enter and leave that status all the time. Language is a tool for communication and being able to communicate is a function of language. Taboo is a social boundary and as such I'd say comes under culture regardless of the language. Someone can be speaking a different language from the native one and still cross a taboo using different words. >
  
  Crossing boundaries when speaking a different language accidentally is really irrelevant.
  And yes languages can change and evolve. This isn’t really relevant either. >
  
  ...because? Will you address any of the points I made?
  Profanity isn't a more or less important part of language than any other communicative words. It's culture where lines of taboo are drawn and become important. >
  
  Yes, lines of taboo are important, because of the reasons I outlined in my post. When tensions are high, sometimes everyday words aren’t enough to express feelings. So taboo words are used. >
  
  This doesn't address my comment. What you are talking about is not necessarily a function of language but of culture. This includes behaviour like code switching, tone of voice/shouting, and other cultural norms.
  There's not a section of a dictionary marked "taboo" it's not language which contains that meaning it's the culture, because taboo is contextual.
  Why is language your focus? When language is not the only context that a broken taboo can occur under?
  If you're struggling with my question please could you write what you think I'm asking in your own words before answering? That way I can understand how to better put the question to you.