Violence in Language

This informal paper asserts that the use of violence in language is generally misguided, possibly harmful, and generally not in the best interests of a free and open society. It cheapens discourse. Reason, being reasonable, and remaining calm, are much more acceptable, advisable, and admirable — and productive — than resorting to violence even if only in the form of language, and that violence in language is not a virtue. And this includes both written and spoken language, or any other form of expression for that matter.

And this includes force as well. Force and violence are close cousins. Force alone may not cause the kind of harm and destruction normally associated with outright violence, but the point is that whether violence or merely force is used, the intent is to unfairly and unreasonably deprive another of liberty and property, and the pursuit of happiness. Coercion, intimidation, and threats are unreasonable even if no blood is shed or bones broken, or property stolen, damaged, or destroyed.

Background

It has become common for language to be used as a form of force to compel or incite action or an involuntary response.

It is not uncommon to see language used in a very forceful manner, as if it actually were a form of violence.

Thesis

The thesis motivating this paper is that language is best used to communicate ideas and to persuade, with persuasion focused on positive arguments based on reason and appeals to positive emotions, and that resorting to the language of violence lowers the level of discourse and cheapens it, demeaning the value of facts, merit, and reason.

Communicate and persuade vs. attack and incite

The proposition put forth in this paper is that language should be restricted to communication and persuasion and not be used to attack and demean others or to incite a negative or irrational response or action from others.

Incitement

The main focus of this paper is on the actual language used rather than the intent per se. Incitement is generally prohibited anyway. And incitement can occur even with relatively mild language that conveys a heavy meaning even with words which individually may be quite mild. This paper suggests that even if actual harm or violence is not incited, the mere resort to violence in language is itself problematic.

Why resort to the use of violence in language?

People resort to violence in language for a variety of reasons, such as:

• Shortcut to their ends.
• A psychological need to dominate others.
• A practical need to assault and harm others, such as a political campaign or high-stakes business competition.
• Fun — some people actually enjoy it.
• Thrill of battle — some people get off on the visceral feeling they get, as if they were actually engaging in physical force or violence.
• Ego and status — some people respect people who can dominate others.

Shortcut

A lot of the motivation for resorting to violence in language seems to be as a shortcut to an end, compelling compliance or action, without the need for a more lengthy process based on facts, merit, and reason.

Words emphasizing violence and force

1. Aggressive, aggressively
2. Anger, angry
3. Argue, argument
4. Arm, armed, arms
5. Arms race
6. Arrow
7. Assault
8. Attack
9. Bang
10. Battle, battles
11. Beat, beating, beat up
12. Bellicose
13. Belligerent
14. Belt
15. Berate
16. Blast
17. Block, blocking
18. Blood — Draw blood
19. Blood money
20. Bloodbath
21. Bloody
22. Blow, blow up, blown away
23. Bludgeon
24. Bomb
25. Boom
26. Break
27. Bruise
28. Brutal
29. Bully
30. Bullseye
31. Burn
32. Burst
33. Bust
34. Castrate
35. Chain, chained
36. Chase
37. Choke, choke off
38. Clash
39. Clobber
40. Coerce
41. Combat
42. Combative
43. Confront, confrontation
44. Conquer
45. Coup
46. Cripple
47. Crosshairs
48. Crush
49. Cuff
50. Cut
51. Cutthroat
52. Dead, death
53. Deathmatch
54. Decimate
55. Demolish
56. Destroy
57. Detonate
58. Devastate
59. Dominate
60. Draw blood
61. Drive
62. Drive down
63. Drive out
64. Drown
65. Explode
66. Explosive
67. Eviscerate
68. Feel the heat
69. Ferocious
70. Fierce
71. Fight, fighting words
72. Fire
73. Firing shots
74. Fisticuffs
75. Force
76. Forceful
77. Fuck, fucked
78. Get in their face
79. Gun, guns, holding a gun to our head, holding a gun to their head, holding a gun to your head
80. Gut (verb)
81. Gut punch
82. Hand-to-hand combat
83. Harass
84. Havoc
85. Hit
86. Hit back
87. Hurt
88. Impale
89. Implode
90. Incite, incitement
91. Intimidate
92. Jab
93. Joust, jousting
94. Jump
95. Kick
96. Kill
97. Knock
98. Lash
99. Lash out
100. Leap
101. Lose
102. Medieval
103. Melee
104. Militant
105. Murder
106. Outrage
107. Pain
108. Pillage
109. Pointing a gun
110. Pounce
111. Pressure
112. Prevail
113. Prisoners, take no prisoners
114. Provoke, provocation
115. Pugnacious
116. Pull
117. Pull no punches
118. Push
119. Punch
120. Punch back
121. Rage
122. Rape
123. Ravage
124. Ream
125. Rebel
126. Revolt
127. Revolution
128. Riot
129. Rip
130. Ruin
131. Running scared
132. Sack
133. Savage
134. Scalp
135. Scar
136. Scare
137. Scourge
138. Scrape
139. Scream
140. Scuffle
141. Seethe
142. Seize
143. Shackle, shackled
144. Shake up
145. Shield
146. Shoot, shoot down, shot, shot down
147. Shout
148. Shove
149. Siege
150. Skirmish
151. Slam
152. Slaughter
153. Slap
154. Slay
155. Sling
156. Smack
157. Smother
158. Snuff out
159. Squash
160. Squeeze
161. Squish
162. Stab
163. Stand over
164. Stomp
165. Strangle
166. Strike
167. Strike a blow, strikes a blow, struck a blow
168. Struggle
169. Sudden death
170. Suicide
171. Tackle
172. Take a shot
173. Target
174. Thrash
175. Threaten
176. Throe, throes
177. Throw
178. Throw a bomb, throwing a bomb
179. Throwing someone under the bus
180. Ticking time bomb
181. Torture
182. Toss
183. Trip, trip up
184. Truculent
185. Twist
186. Uprising, rise up
187. Vicious
188. Violate
189. Violence, violent, violently — other than to reference actual physical violence (e.g., “I’m violently opposed”, “in violent opposition”, “do violence to” for words or concepts but not people or property or natural objects)
190. War, warpath
191. Weapon, weaponize
192. Whack
193. When push comes to shove
194. Whip
195. Win
196. Wrestle
197. War
198. Warpath
199. Weapon
200. Weaponizing
201. Wreak, wreak havoc
202. Yank

Coarse language

There is also the related general issue of cursing, cussing, profanity, and otherwise coarse language, which has much the same effect, to appeal to an emotional response rather than rely on facts, merit, and reason..

Violent or forceful intent of language

1. Provocation
2. Incitement
3. Scare
4. Demean
5. Belittle
6. Coercion
7. Embarrassment
8. Intimidation
9. Sexual violence or violation
10. Belligerent
11. Bellicose
12. Mean, mean-spirited
13. Nasty
14. Hostile, hostility

There is also explicit language vs. implied intent.

Tone of voice

There is also the issue of tone of voice. Tone can make the language of force and violence even more compelling.

Even if the explicit words do not convey a sense of force or violence, the tone used to express those words may indeed convey a sense of force or violence, the latter being as inappropriate as explicitly violent or forceful language.

Posture and gestures

Posture can also send a message of force and violence the same as tone, such as:

1. Hands balled up into fists.
2. A sharp, stabbing motion with a pointed finger.
3. Rapid, forceful arm movements directly at a person.
4. Invading the personal space of the other party.

Inflammatory language

Although not explicitly violent or forceful, inflammatory language can be just as harmful, such as referring to someone or a group as:

1. Childish
2. Crazy
3. Idiot
4. Ignorant
5. Insane
6. Mentally ill
7. Retarded
8. Sick
9. Stupid

And language which tends to express:

1. Bias
2. Disparagement in general
3. Prejudice

Hate language

Beyond general disparagement, hate language is inflammatory language directed at individuals or groups based on religion, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual preference, appearance.

Provocation and incitement

Violent and forceful language can be harmful, but language that verges on provocation or incitement is clearly intended to goad the other side into an ill-considered response, which itself may consist of either equally forceful and violent language if not actual force and violence.

Taunting and fighting words are forms of provocation and incitement.

I would define provocation as containing or pertaining to an intent to elicit a strong, emotional response, whether in words, actions, or even merely feelings.

Fighting words

Fighting words are indeed incitement, but at a much more personal level. They amount to a challenge that the opponent almost literally has no choice to ignore.

Taunting

Taunting may be more mild than outright fighting words, but they are still a harmful form of incitement, goading the other side into action, or even if action is not likely, to undermine the other side’s sense of self-worth.

Bullying

A form of taunting, bullying is intended to significantly undermine an individual’s sense of self-worth, possibly leading to suicide.

Nonviolent language

There are plenty of words available for asserting strong feelings without the need to resort to the language of violence and intimidation, just as:

1. Win
2. Compete
3. Challenge
4. Appeal
5. Encourage
6. Cooperate
7. Collaborate
8. Persuade
9. Discuss

Expressing feelings

There is the issue of how to properly express feelings when they may in fact involve a level of intensity that borders on the language of violence. Generally, the energy and content of feelings should be separated, with the energy channeled in some positive manner and the content of feelings expressed in a more calm tone of voice.

Future: Automated tool to highlight use of violence in language

It would be nice to have an online automated tool to highlight passages of text in a document where violent language is used.

It would be nice to have such a tool embedded and integrated with common online text editors, such as Google Docs.

Future: Suggest alternatives to violence in language

It would be nice to have suggested alternative language for instances of the use of each violent word.

And it would be even nicer to have an automated tool which could convert violent language to more benign language.

And it would be nice to have this feature embedded and integrated with common online text editors, such as Google Docs.