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The assertion that vulgar words are not vulgarisms is nonsense, and contradicts how dictionaries define the word.
From the American Heritage Dictionary:
Vulgarism. 1. Vulgarity. 2a. A crudely indecent word or phrase; an obscenity. b. A word, phrase, or manner of expression used chiefly by uneducated people.
From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Main Entry: vul·gar·ism
Pronunciation: 'v&l-g&-"ri-z&m
Function: noun
1 : VULGARITY
2 a : a word or expression originated or used chiefly by illiterate persons b : a coarse word or phrase : OBSCENITY
From the Oxford English Dictionary:
Vulgarism:
1. A common or ordinary expression. Obs.1
2. A vulgar phrase or expression; a colloquialism of a low or unrefined character.
b. A popular corruption of a name. rare1.
3. The quality or character of being vulgar; vulgarity.
b. An instance of vulgarity; a vulgar action, practice, habit, etc.
08:17, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
When you work this material into the entry, I hope you'll distinguish better between vulgarisms and coarseness. Wetman 08:41, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
It seems there are two major senses (meanings) for the word "vulgarism". Certainly the one described in the bulk of the article article is one of them (corresponding roughly to AHD 2b, M-W 2a, and OED 2), but the others appear to be equally valid. Ideally the article will explain both senses, as they are both important. Nohat 09:14, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)
Man, that article isn't really saying vulgarism to me. But I'm in the position of being a complainer rather than a helper here. As is often the way. Sigh. --bodnotbod 09:43, Feb 27, 2005 (UTC)
This article is terrible. The meaning of "vulgarism" we deal with in this article is obscure, and I'm guessing it's not the first definition in any major dictionay. As for the article itself, it is written pedantically, and pretentiously, and is not proper for Wikipedia. Total rewrite? I'm down. Or should we have articles on more obscure meanings of common words? Seems like either a note at the bottom of the main article or a trip over to wikitionary would be excellent in such cases. --Tothebarricades July 4, 2005 06:17 (UTC)
You're down indeed, I'm sure! The shifting meanings of "vulgarism" are just an introduction to the phenomenon, which is what makes an encyclopedia something more than a dictionary. If this is still just an expanded dicdef it's not doing its job yet. Is a vulgarism just imagined, or is it a fact in life? One that is perhaps even more real than a character from Final Fantasy? A shifting cluster of phenomena. But perhaps one is not really thinking of adding and refining enriching with quotes etc, so much as running big lines through text with a big crayon, leaving only what's "proper for Wikipedia"... --Wetman 4 July 2005 06:39 (UTC)
Here's a useful brief essay on "vulgarism" to compare to the Wikipedia entry: http://www.ranez.ru/article/id/133 Make it an External link? --Wetman 4 July 2005 07:19 (UTC)
why the hell should Objects D'Art be merged with Vulgarism?
No, you may not. Whoever authored that website clearly needs to get a job. We do not condone the unemployed on Wikipedia (despite the fact that many of the contributors clearly have no job). See these: job, employment, workshy for more information. Thanks. 82.163.46.22715:32, 24 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]
For this reason, it's a misuse of an adjective "vulgar" as if it were a proper noun refering to a particular language; and then the claim doesn't seem to be correct as there are many other, earlier pieces of non-Latin European literature that "great". For example, Beowulf, the Old Norse Prose and Poetic Eddas, the Icelandic Sagas...all "great European literature"...all in Non-Romance languages...all written hundreds of years before Chaucer. And surely there is great Russian and Greek literature that pre-dates Chaucer, to say nothing of whatever might have been written in French, Spanish and Italian, Gothic and other Germanic languages...
There are also some problematic conceptualiztions here: If it's vernacular but non-Romance, is it non-vulgar? If so, then Chaucer doesn't count either... He wrote in English...NOT a Romance language the last we heard...
Seems to me that if there is to be a section that deals with "vulgar" as in vernacular languages, it should be worked out and sufficiently separated from the idea of "vulgarity" and "vulgar language" as it is meant today.