Gorram

"Gorram" had become the staple of the popular, yet short lived, show "Firefly". In the show, the characters in the universe use this word as a replacement for many normal obscenities. "Gorrammit" or "That Gorram ship" were popular sayings in the show, causing their dialect to be very unique along side the use of Chinese words and phrases. What does this say about our world now? Would many people who are offended by swearing be okay with just changing the words we use to one similar word? I had a teacher back in high school who was very Christian about his beliefs and I will never forget what he said on the subject of swearing. "I used to just substitute the swear word with another word. If i ever hit my thumb or something, I would say something like 'Chicken!' This went on for years until a friend of mine told me something. He said 'No matter what you say, chicken or fuck, the inflection is going to always be the same. It will not matter the word that you say, just the way that you mean it.'" Now I do not really agree with that, but it does bring up an interesting question: if we say something with the meaning of swearing, does it really change the way we say it? Whats to change in however many years, from us using "Chicken" as a swear word. Or maybe it wont matter, just saying a word wont have any meaning. Many people will tell you that if you say "Darn" or "Gosh" it is much better than saying the real thing. Honestly, if people really think about it, does it change the meaning to something softer? In the end, it doesn't really matter. If people are going to be offended by something you say, there really isnt much you can do about it.