Vulgar (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what something vulgar is and its two main meanings. Also, what is vulgar language and what are vulgarisms.

What is something vulgar?

With the adjective vulgar we refer, in a strict sense, to everything that belongs to or has to do with the vulgar, that is, with the rabble or the crowd, these three words being different derogatory forms traditionally used for the classes. lowest in society. That is to say, that In a strict sense, the vulgar is that which is associated with the plebs or the people, in a pejorative sense..

In fact, this term comes from the Latin words vulgus (“common people”) and vulgar (“spread”, “propagate among the people”). Historically it is associated with the lack of culture or education, that is, with contempt for the illiterate and popular classes, as reflected in the Latin speech. Odi profanum vulgus, et aceo (“I hate the ignorant crowd and I distance myself from them”), attributed to the Roman lyric poet and satirist Horace (65-8 BC).

The vulgar, then, Nowadays the ordinary is synonymousbut in two possible senses of the term:

On the one hand, the vulgar understood as rudeprofane, offensive and lacking in decorum.
On the other hand, the vulgar understood as populareveryday, colloquial.

So, for example, when we say that a joke is vulgar, we are saying that it is possibly offensive, daring or off-color. But when we say that someone is a common thief, we mean that he is not only a thief, but that he is a small-time, unrefined one.

Vulgar language

Vulgar language, foul language, profane language or rude language is called the set of words, expressions and phrases that, within a linguistic community (that is, a community that speaks the same language) They are considered vulgar, profane, rude, in bad taste and unbecoming of educated people.refined or cultured. Swearing, simply put, is part of vulgar language.

vulgar language It is used colloquially and exists in all human languages. It serves to give what is said a more intense affective or emotional tone, to release tensions on the part of the speaker, or simply to offend others and pick a fight.

They are usually accompanied by crude gestures or certain iconic language, and they usually address topics considered taboo or traditionally held sacred, such as sex, paternity or maternity, certain parts of the body or blasphemy. Sometimes they simply try to ridicule and caricature others.

However, We should not confuse vulgar language with vulgar languages or vernacular languages.. This last term is used in academic contexts to refer to the languages spoken todayin contrast to the classical languages of antiquity, and sometimes to refer to local dialects or languages spoken in certain geographies.

In other words, vulgar or vernacular languages correspond to modern languages (such as Spanish, English, Russian, Mandarin, etc.), while classical or dead languages are those that no one speaks anymore, but rather They are part of history (like Latin, ancient Greek, Sanskrit, etc.).

Vulgarisms or vulgarities

In certain contexts, the terms vulgarism and vulgarity are used as synonyms, that is, as a way of naming the bad words that make up foul language. But in other contexts, a distinction is usually made between the use of both words:

Vulgarity: It includes rudeness, that is, foul language.
Vulgarisms: From a linguistic point of view, they are morphological units, that is, uses and phrases of a language, which are not governed by the cultured norm of the language, that is, they are not academically correct. Vulgarisms usually derive from the use that the language was given by the common people, or by certain social strata, and that for historical reasons have survived, despite being, let's say, “badly said.”

For example, verb conjugations like haiga (rather is), delen (rather give it), let's be (rather are), satisfied (rather satisfied), are cases of vulgarism in which the cultured norm of the language is transgressedbut they are used in the everyday speech of many people, especially those with a low educational level.

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