Words create our reality, shapes our character, the way we speak, the way we talk. When we change the words we accept, we change the moral boundaries of our society. Language is the foundation of empathy and mutual respect. Real maturity is not how far one can push the boundaries of vulgarity. It is about having the discipline to elevate our conversations.
By introducing vulgarity and slurs into daily dialogues and conversation, the youth is desensitising themselves to disrespect and immorality, and this is not just about harmless slang. What is universally recognised as offensive, lawfully as an offence is now being used as casual humour.
When invective language becomes normalised, accountability vanishes, discipline erodes, and immoral behaviour slowly becomes the new cultural baseline. Laughing on some baseless, vulgar and abusive jokes shows how the youth is used to disrespecting others and disrespected themselves. When they bring online slang into real life, abusive words start to feel weightless and normal, making it easier for everyone to ignore their harm. The change in language does not happen by accident; it is pushed forward by modern social media platforms.
Today’s youth spend hours on online forums that reward shock value and dark humour. In these online spaces, being offensive or cruel is often passed off as “shitposting” or a joke. This digital habit slips into daily conversation.
Using abusive language is not just bad behaviour, and not just about having bad or immoral conversations. It harms communities at large because most of the absurd words and slurs refer to women, transgender persons and any community which society views with a lower gaze. Trash talking about women has become the favourite way of joking invectively and these slurs are rarely neutral or random; they are deeply rooted in patriarchal structures that weaponise a woman’s body or family honour as the ultimate punchline.
Diluting vocabulary with slurs downgrades our capacity for civil discourse. The youth may normalise it by thinking that it’s cool and attractive, but if a generation can casually dehumanise an individual through everyday vocabulary, it becomes significantly easier to tolerate or ignore real-world discrimination, hostility, and systemic violence against them.
A backfire
Diluting this type of language will ultimately diminish their capacity for meaningful, intelligent conversation. In reality, the choice of our words provide mirror into our true character.
When an entire generation surrenders its vocabulary to vulgarity, the space for thoughtful discussion, debate, intellectual growth, genuine empathy and emotional maturity disappears. When abusive words become filler language and used as adjectives and verbs, the brain stops searching for better words.
The person who suffers most in this habit is the one who gets trapped by their own tongue, they become prisoners of that style of speech. When someone builds their identity around casual abuse, they lose the ability to speak with sincerity, respect, and gravity when it actually matters. Bad vocabulary leaves a person unprepared for a serious life moment and ultimately, they lose their original voice and become trapped in an identity built on cheap laughs and disrespect.
Our choice of words is a direct mirror of our true character. Fixing this issue requires us to change how we view maturity and individuality. In a world where many people use loud, cheap insults to get attention, choosing to speak with clarity, dignity, and respect is the real sign of strength.
Some of them are trapped with the way they speak, they want to start a good conversation but end up using so many absurd words. Some of them blame their friends, co-workers and the groups they live in for the way they are but this is something which should be realised by their own and must be controlled themselves. In a society, where youth think using absurd and invective language is cool and should not be changed be the one who do conversations in a good manner.
A good way of talking builds our character, nature and mindset. We do not understand the gravity of the way we talk and how our language encourages others to make this normalise. We must realise that words are not just noise; they are tools that build or break our character and relationships. Make our image in society. By taking control of our tongue, we can break toxic habits and build a more respectful, thoughtful, and mature environment for everyone.
Deepshikha Dhakad is a B.B.A LL.B student of Rashtriya Raksha University, Gandhinagar. Views are personal.
Also Read: From Thalapathy to ‘anna’: Vijay and the politics of the ‘male saviour’