Is banning swearing the answer to stopping violent incidents? Shanghai’s city council thinks so. In addition, to cleaning up its rude reputation, they hope this will be another benefit to banning swearing in public places. So, how does this get policed? Surely, if someone is around to stop people swearing, they should be able to stop the fighting too?
I believe that by saying words are bad you only attach more meaning to them and give them more power. A word only has the meaning that you attach to it personally. Others may try to use them on you to evoke a particular emotion but if you free yourself from that emotion, then aren’t you better off?