why are bad words bad words?

I think b*tch is a good example, because while it undoubtedly began as a straightforward semantic curse ("you are of low manners and intelligence and I'd not be surprised to see you copulating in the street or rolling in excrement") it's now almost exclusively a vocal performance. Calling someone a b*tch is, well, calling them a b*tch. Just as sh*t and f*ck, while retaining their original meanings have become all purpose intensifiers.Our American cursing is rather unimaginative, I think, partly because a large segment of the populace is so easily offended that the same clichd words serve over and over. And they are almost all short, with just a couple of polysyllabic exceptions. Plus they're heavy on the fricatives (if I've got that right) which can be drawn out and performed as a vocal explosion.

Dan, I've no doubt it can be done, nor that you could provide some quality examples, but it's lost on the population at large. Although I agree with Loudmouth that the simple direct approach does have its uses.Wish I still had a copy of Henry Beard's "How to Talk Dirty in Esperanto" from the golden age of National Lampoon.