Mormon Swear Words

Swear words. I remember starting to hear kids say them in the later grades of elementary school. The number of swear words I heard per day peaked during junior high and dipped considerably in high school. But there’s a certain group of words that I’ve heard consistently throughout my entire life: Mormon swear words.

Yeah, that’s right, you know what I’m talking about. Those words that aren’t swear words but sound similar enough that you know what words they’re replacing. If everyone knows exactly what you’re not saying, then are Mormon swear words any better than the actual swear words?

Growing up, my mom had an unwritten list of “garbage words”—words we weren’t allowed to say. Swear words were on the list, naturally, but so were most Mormon swear words, mean words, and even words that we said too often (i.e. annoying words). I must confess I have said mean words upon occasion (sorry, Mom) and one Mormon swear word that inexplicably escaped the list, but other than that, I’ve been pretty good at not saying the garbage words. Yes, I am tempted to use these words upon occasion, but I feel I’m not tempted as often as I hear people say them.

However, I have said phrases that I probably shouldn’t. The Bible says that we shouldn’t swear by heaven or earth, and I’ve been know to say, “What on earth?” and “What in heaven’s name is . . .” Even phrases like these that we don’t think of as swearing probably have dubious origins.

One interesting thing I’ve noticed about all these words and phrases is that they’re commonly said by someone who is angry and/or surprised. Being surprised isn’t a bad thing, and being angry isn’t necessarily bad either, but let’s face it: we’ve probably all done something when angry that we later regretted. But does anger cause us to use garbage words, or does using garbage words make us more angry?

I’ve got a challenge for everyone. I want everyone to try to go a month without swearing and/or Mormon swearing. If you take this challenge, pay attention to your emotions and to the words you use. See how a change of vocabulary changes your life.