Profanity vs Obscenity - What's the difference?
profanity | obscenity |
(uncountable) The quality of being profane.
(countable) Obscene, lewd or abusive language.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=
, volume=189, issue=1, page=37, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (countable) Something that is obscene.
(countable) An act of obscene behaviour.
(countable) Specifically, an offensive word; a profanity; a dirty word.
(uncountable) The qualities that make something obscene; lewdness, indecency, or offensive behaviour.
In uncountable terms the difference between profanity and obscenity
is that profanity is the quality of being profane while obscenity is the qualities that make something obscene; lewdness, indecency, or offensive behaviour.In countable terms the difference between profanity and obscenity
is that profanity is obscene, lewd or abusive language while obscenity is specifically, an offensive word; a profanity; a dirty word.profanity
English
(wikipedia profanity)Alternative forms
* prophanity (qualifier)Noun
Sam Leith
Where the profound meets the profane, passage=Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths. Consider for a moment the origins of almost any word we have for bad language – "profanity ", "curses", "oaths" and "swearing" itself.}}
obscenity
English
Noun
(obscenities)- Martha wouldn't go into the art museum because, as she put it, "They have obscenities just sitting out, on display!"
- Bestiality was outlawed as an obscenity in the strongly conservative community.
- Eliza couldn't stand her daughter's music; as she saw it, it was just shouted obscenities and a heavy drum beat.
- The coalition of religious conservatives was campaigning against, in their view, rampant obscenity in the entertainment industry.