Yo! What’s up motherfuckers! Oh oops I apologise for my rude language. I didn’t mean to offend anyone. "Fucking shit I shouldn’t have said that”. It seems that swearing has become the norm of our evolving verbal English language. I was trained not to swear by my parents but societal pressure to fit in with the norm has forced me to communicate in such a way. This type of socially offensive language is called “profanity”, which is described as bad, strong, coarse, foul, vulgar, lewd. Synonyms of swearing include the use of expletives, cursing or cussing. On average, no matter the language we speak, we cuss roughly 80 - 90 words each day which make up 0.5% - 0.7% of all the words we speak. According to a poll conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion in 2010, Canadians swear more often than Americans and the British when having conversations with friends, while Britons are more likely to hear strangers swear while eavesdropping a conversation than both Canadians and Americans. I honestly feel bad typing this but here are the most common swear words I have heard people use in online and offline conversations:
— Fuck / Fucker / Fucking (F-Word)
— Shit (S-Word)
— Damn
— Cunt (C-Word)
— Bitch / Son of a Bitch c
— Motherfucker
— Damn
— Gosh
— Crap
— Hell
— Pussy
— Asshole / Ass / Assfuck / Fuckass
— Dumbass
— Cock / Cocksucker
— Whore / Ho
— Slut
— Douche / Douchebag
— Faggot / Fag
— Piss
— Bastard
— Darn
— Dick / Dickhead
— Twat
— Skank
— (Zounds = God’s Wounds / Gadzooks = God’s Hooks)
You will notice in my previous posts I censored all of my curse words until now with symbols we occasionally use like @,#,$,%,&,!. This is called a grawlix, which was first used by American cartoonist Mort Walker in 1964. On television and radio, whenever someone swears in the recording, those words are blocked out by a bleep censor with a 1000 Hz sine wave which sounds like this in the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKV5O7UKixQ
Even with the bleeping sound, we can still decipher what word was most likely bleeped out by the extrinsic changes in their mouth and the sentence it was used in the relevant context, also better known as lip reading. That’s why bleeps are sometimes accompanied by a digital blur or a black box covering the speaker’s mouth and their middle finger.
The term “profane” originates from the classical Latin term “profanus”, meaning “before (outside) the temple.” It carried the meaning of either “desecrating what is holy”, or “with a secular purpose” as early as the 1450s AD. In modern language, profanity represents secular indifference to religion and religious figures, whilst “blasphemy” is a more offensive attack on religion and religious figures, that are considered sinful, and a direct violation of the 10 Commandments.
In English, all swear or curse words have Germanic roots like “shit" and “fuck”. More technical alternatives like defecate, excrete, fornicate and copulate have Latin origins.
What fascinates me is that the 3 most common curse words are used in many different contexts. For those who are posh English speakers and cannot be bothered to understand the colloquial language of younger generations, there’s no need to feel offended because I’m here to help you translate what these variations actually mean depending on the context. The following definitions are provided courtesy of Urban Dictionary:
(a) F-Word, F-Bomb
Ever since its introduction to the English language, this word was considered to be obscene and vulgar. However this word has become increasingly less vulgar and more publicly acceptable in casual conversations. This is called a “dysphemism treadmill”. Its origin, however, is rather obscure despite its common use in everyday spoken language. Reports from Dr. Paul Booth claimed that its first use was probably during the early 1300s where the f-word was first used to define a sexual connotation. He believed it was used in an English court quoted by man local to Chester who is referred to as “Roger Fuckebythenavale”. In this context Booth says its use referred to either an inexperienced copulator, or someone trying to have sex with the navel, or a rather extravagant way to describe someone who is stupid to think that this is the way to have sex. In 1278, an Englishman named John le Fucker may have provided philologists the inspiration to record earliest instance of the f-word. Variants of the word in other Germanic languages include: German: ficken (to have sex); Dutch: fokken (to breed, to beget); Norwegian: fukka (to copulate) & Swedish: focka (to strike, to copulate) & fock (penis).
What makes this word rather interesting is that we use this word as a verb, adjective, noun and adverb meaning it’s a flexible word linguistically, albeit rudely. Below is a list of the most common uses of the f-word I overhear by people of all traits and races in casual conversations and sometimes on television.
— Let’s Fuck! = Let’s engage in quick and passionate sexual intercourse
— Fuck Me!
= A sing of exasperation which you shouldn’t take literally especially by someone who is not showing an obvious sexual interest.
= During your intimate sessions, it literally means ram the ham harder, faster and deeper hoping your partner experiences orgasm.
= Adds a exclamation to the realisation the full extent of the predicament you have fallen in
— What the fuck?! (WTF, Dafuq)
= An expression of extreme surprise, (incredulous) confusion, disappointment, pain, anger and irony
= An expression of extreme frustration, after a recent chain of bad events that has just been added to by something that just happened
= An emphatic way to say “What?!”
= Occasionally used in the context when you tire of considering a certain decision but you somehow commit yourself to that particular action whatever the consequences.
— Stupid Fuck! = A vulgar way to emphasise someone’s steer stupidity
— Fuck My Life! (FML) = A common phrase used by those who are experiencing misfortune, grief, humiliation, regret or simply having a bad day. These people may be feeling distressed, pressured or depressed about something.
— Fuck You!
= A expression of contempt, sometimes accompanied by erection of the middle finger.
= It can be used as an offensive gesture with the intention to emotionally hurt another person.
= It can be used as a way to express your sexual desire over someone you like like.
= It can be used, in an amiable accolade, as a way to express unobtrusive jealousy, where it may actually sound friendly.
— Fucking / Fucken… e.g. She is fucking hot!, I will fucking kill you!, I fucking hate / love you!, This fucking guy! Fucking Do it!
= On its own, it describes a man’s erect penis is rapidly thrusting back and forth in a woman’s vagina (or rarely anus).
= Also the name of small town in Austria
= A transitional adverb, to add strong emphasis to the adjective, verb, noun or emotive language.
— Fuck the system! = "When one wants to bring down their enslaving government who’s only will is become more powerful and wealthy at the expense of the common working class, a government that is sending the western world to ‘hell in a hand basket’ yet the so-called ‘retarded white trash inbreeds’ don’t take action into addressing communal issues as long as politically biased CNN reports headlines that approves their actions. These reinforces claims of lying and corrupting by the members of government who are disgruntling activists of all sorts, and the rumour that their society is being bribed by billionaire companies whom are close business allies with politicians in power, in an effort to maintain the status quo and tame the tiger.”
— Got Fucked! = When a person shouts “fuck you!”
— Fuck with me! = Contact me; Get a hold of me; Holler at me; Help me out; Let’s get together!.
— I’m fucked! = In the appropriate context, it predicts someone’s doom or downfall in the near future. It may also describe someone who is drunk and/or under the influence of drugs beyond the point of comprehension, rationally and all responses. They may be vomiting/puking everywhere and/or behaving abnormally, influenced by the effects of alcohol and narcotics within their system.
— Fuck off! = "Go away, Leave Me Alone, Don’t Talk To Me Again, Get out of my Sight!" These angry insults are usually accompanied by the middle finger gesture.
— Fuckwit = A person who is not only lacking in clue but is apparently unable or unwilling to acquire clues even when handed it to them on a plate in generous portions. In other words, it’s a person who lacks intelligence that they cannot grasp the simplest of concepts.
- Fuckboy / Fuckboii = A male, usually in their teens and early 20s who tricks girls into thinking they’re sweethearts and end up having romantic moments with them (hookups). Then over time they turn on you viciously and end the relationship in disgrace leaving the girls in a ripe mess through cheating.
— Fuckgirl = A girl who engages in behaviour similar to a fuckboy, who generally think they are the most beautiful creatures on the planet, more beautiful than any other girl who have the mentality to get whatever she wants. This behaviour is described as narcissistic and misogynistic, summarised by the “power of the pussy". They tend to be incomprehensible and guys are often manipulated to believe these girls intimately like them. They use their so-called beauty with their makeup masks, fake nails and fake eyelashes to get attention, sex and lots of money. They will show no emotion to guys who really care for them which is a pity. They actually fall in love with guys that just want to have sex and make money. Eventually they will make the call when the relationship is over leaving guys of all types devastated, angry and heartbroken.
— Fucknut = A person who is annoying and dumb that they can no longer be classed as an idiot. They are literally have less intelligence than a normal idiot.
— Fucked Up = This depends on the context of the conversation. It’s a level of status typically used in reference to being physically, mentally, morally / aesthetically, performance-wise, or even theoretically damaged in some way. It, in and of itself, has many levels, such as 'slightly fucked up’, or ‘so fucked up’, but all in all they have to do with describing the level of damage.
Physical: “Ouch, I just fucked up my thumb while I was hammering away at the nail.”
Mentally: That chick is SO fucked up, she are a full ounce of magic mushrooms!”
Morally/Aesthetically: See that mural over there? Now THAT is fucked up. Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t draw that!”
Performance-wise: “My grades are fucked up!”
Theoretically: “Man… that would be so fucked up if you did that!”
— Fucked Over = A British Slang phrase used to describe an unfortunate situation which is usually the result of 1 or more people taking advantage of another. Under normal circumstances, the person on the wrong side of the coin is unaware of the situation until it is too late. Being ‘fucked over’ does NOT normally relate to physical violence / assault, but it is more suited to describing a feeling of betrayal you experience when you realise that someone you once trusted has been deceiving and manipulating you for their own personal gain.
— Fuck all of you! / Fuck all y’all! = This term is usually pronounced very loudly to a large audience of haters who have criticised you.
— Fuck all! = You did absolutely nothing! Or the most extreme degree of nothing.
— Fuck the life out of him!
— Fucking Hell (Mate)! = A term used frequently by people native to the UK, which is an exclamation of feelings of frustration or anger.
— Fuck That! = An exaggerated way of saying “No”. In the right context, this term also depicts you telling someone you are completely against an idea they proposed.
— Motherfucker! = Literally, it means engaging in sexual activity with someone else’s or your own mother. A common slang derived most popularly from a form of “yo momma jokes” but it actually dates way back to the 1300s when it was considered the highest sin to sleep with one’s own mother (even above murder). More commonly, it describes a mean, despicable, or vicious person, or any particularly difficult or frustrating situation. Alternatively, it can be a term of admiration, as in “bad ass motherfucker!”, meaning a fearless and confident person.
— Fuck No! = The ultimate of all negative answers. When you say No with feeling and overreaction.
— I don’t give a fuck! = When you’ve had enough and seriously don’t care any less about a person’s business. This is commonly felt among people who have been walked all over for most of their life.
— Fuck Yes! = A different and better way of saying “Hell Yes”. You approve of something without even thinking twice about it which may have repercussions later if you’re not careful.
— Fuck Yeah! = When you experience significant, sudden, good fortune or accomplished something amazing that you never even dreamed would ever happen.
— … As Fuck (…af) = A phrase inserted after any adjective to give it emphasis. It generally means, “extremely”, or “to the utmost degree”.
— Fucker = One who is often rude, obnoxious, or mean…synonymous with asshole, dickhead etc. It can also mean someone who is the bulk of the work in sexual intercourse or a general term for a normal person.
— Fuck This Shit! = When one says when they are frustrated or annoyed to the point that they give up or no longer want to complete the task at hand. This usual results in the task being left incomplete.
— Let’s Fuck the Shit out of this…! = When you have sex with a woman so hard that she either bleeds or cries in pain, and not just on her first time.
— My Fucking God! = A more dramatic way to say “Oh My God” to give an exclamation of shock or surprise, often used repeated by gullible people who are shocked and surprised by almost everything you tell them and they insert this phrase into conversations whenever possible.
— Motherfuckin’ = Casually, it is used before a name or place or something to hype it up and suggest that is is really cool and awesome. As an adjective, it is synonymous with formidable or superior.
— Oh... Fuck! = An exclamation of immune frustration and awe of an overpowering catastrophe that is about to happen.
— Mindfuck = An idea or concept that shakes one’s previously held beliefs or assumptions about the nature of reality. This experience usually leaves the person stunned or speechless while they are wrapped their minds around this new idea.
— Fucking around! = Doing absolutely nothing productive; Wasting time; Not taking a task seriously; Purposefully performing a task poorly.
— For Fuck’s Sake = For Heaven’s Sake — A mixture between WTF and utter confusion, combined with annoyance.
(b) S-Word
As a noun it refers to faeces or faecal matter. As a verb it means ‘to defecate’. This word is likely derived from the Old English; nouns like scite (dung, attested only in place names) & scitte (Diarrhoea), verbs like scītan (to defecate, attested only in bescītan, to cover with excrements). Eventually it somehow morphed into the Middle English schītte (also meaning excrement), schyt (diarrhoea) and shiten (to defecate). These terms were most likely used by German tribes at the time of the Roman Empire.
This word can also be used as a generic mass noun similar to “stuff”. e.g. This meme is funny shit, this test is hard shit, that was stupid shit. e.g. Buy shit, lose shit, find shit, forget shit.
— Shit-faced = Describes someone who has drank too much alcohol, that speaks incoherently, has difficulty remembering the most simple details i.e. your address, your age, your best friends’ names.
— Smoke shit = The act of smoking Methamphetamine, and/or “ice”.
— Eat shit = An expression of extreme dislike or anger when used in the imperative i.e. Go fuck yourself
— Lucky shits, Dumb shits, Crazy shits
— Throw shit, Sling shit, Catch shit, Shoot the shit
— When shit hits the fan = The point at which an already unstable situation devolves into utter chaos, often in spite of a higher authority’s attempt to control it.
— Crock of Shit = Something is overly false, misleading or full of lies.
— Oh Shit! = An loud exclamation when you realise you have forgotten to do something important for you. e.g. Homework, Left your children in the car, You can’t stop your car from crashing or lost control of your car, or you’re about to get killed or injured in a bloody dramatic painful way
— Shithouse = Describes someone who is the epitome of scum, which is the lowest of the low. They have no morals who are just out for themselves and has to regard for anyone else, no matter how close they may be.
— Shit hole = A really bad place or building, especially a place that is undesirable for leisure activities, to live or work.
— Shit happens! = A universal religious concept used to describe something inevitable will happen without the control to circumvent or stop it from happening. It is a term of commiseration and you’re prepared to accept the outcome that lies ahead.
— Taking a shit / Having a shit = Commonly depicting the act of defecating. It can describe something that has almost become non-functioning or is poorly performing.
— Shitty = Of very poor quality, high inferiority, contempt, despicable, unfortunate, unpleasant (depending on the context). You’re in a state of discomfort, unhappiness, misery, incompetence or ineptness. It could also describe something trivial or insignificant.
— Shat = An Old English Past tense version of ‘shit’
— Shithead = A genuine moron. It describes someone committing an act that causes harm or temporary discomfort to another.
— The Shit = The best. Originated as a term to describe a high quality drug substance. Nowadays, this term has evolved to common usage of any item of high quality.
— Get shit done = To accomplish things and completing certain tasks
— Knowing shit = Someone who is very good at what he does, and has a profound knowledge about it.
— Feel like shit = When you feel down about yourself and express disgust. This is when you feel nothing matters to you and you couldn’t care less. You’re in a state of depression. Synonymous to “feel like crap”.
— Sounds like shit / Look like shit = A idiomatic way to denote something bad
— Don’t give a shit (Don’t give a fuck) = You don’t care, even in the slightest bit.
— Get my shit together = Refers to organising a particular set of personal belongings or tools, or to one’s wits, composure, to attention to the task at hand.
— Shit myself = When you perform badly at something
— Shit scared = Scared to the point where you metaphorically (not literally) defecated.
— Shite = A British and fun way of saying ‘shit’. It is also the romaji for the Japanese Hiragana (して), meaning “doing”
— Piece of shit! = Any object, person, or other existing thing that works incorrectly, is too expensive or just doesn’t the job it was assigned to do. It could describe an object or person that is worse than worthless, holding no values nor redeeming qualities whatsoever. They could be a stupid, low-life, self-righteous human being who makes life a living hell for themselves and others.
— Shoot the shit = Having a friendly but pointless conversation
— Pile of Shit! = Literally, it means a mound a faecal matter that is emitting an unpleasant odour. In slang terms, it describes an item or person as unusable, of poor construction, unwanted, unreliable or unacceptable in some fashion.
— Bullshit! = A way to call someone telling a blatant lie, a fragrant untruth, an obvious fallacy.
— Shit ton = A widely adaptable large unit of measure. In numerical terms, it is equivalent to 24 metric tons, or 1/10% of a fuck-ton.
— … and shit. = Used as an ending to a sentence to describe things that usually happen on a daily basis such as watching TV, making love etc.
— Too much shit, not enough shit, right shit, wrong shit, carry shit
— Weird Shit = Describes a situation that is beyond strange or out of the ordinary. No matter how hard you think, you can’t fully understand why and how it happened.
— Shit creek = A metaphor for 'deep trouble'.
— Turns to shit
— In deep shit = In a lot of trouble
— Colder than shit, hotter than shit
— Bucket of shit = When a person gives someone information that is considered useless or meaningless in any way possible.
— Shit his pants! = Someone who has had an accident in their pants and/or describes a retard.
— Shitter = Slang term for a toilet
— Shitting bricks = To be extremely scared or frightened
— Shit-talk = An connotation for bragging or exaggeration or talking in a boastful way about things which are erroneous in nature.
Bitch, literally means a female dog (above). In slang terms, it is one of the most sensitive pejoratives for a person, especially women, who is belligerent, unreasonable, malicious, a control freak, rudely intrusive or aggressive. When applied to a man, it is a derogatory term for a subordinate. Its original use as a vulgarism, dates back to the 14th century, which suggested high sexual desire in a woman, comparable to a dog in heat (canine reproduction). In a feminist context, it can indicate a woman who is morally strong or assertive. The term is believed to be coined in 1150, by the Old English word bicche. It may also have derivatives of the Old Norse word bikkja meaning ‘female dog’.
It is believed the definition of a female dog was derived from the Greek Goddess Artemis. As she is the goddess of hunting, she was often portrayed with a pack of hunting dogs and occasionally transformed into an animal herself, but it is unknown which animal(s) specifically. She was described as free, vigorous, cold, impetuous, unsympathetic and beautiful.
As a derogatory term for women, this definition has been in use since 14th or 15th century but it’s unknown who coined the definition. According to English Language historian Geoffrey Hughes, tts earliest slang meaning mainly referred to sexual behaviour.
— This (lil’) bitch = When you become tired of someone’s actions prompting you to say such. Then is when you feel annoyed of someone’s antics or disgusted by their comments leaving you speechless.
— Son of a Bitch / Sunavabitch! = A form of profanity used to refer to a man who is nasty, rude, or otherwise offensive.
— Bitch ass! (Punk, Scared, Coward)= When one who likes to yell to show their toughness but when someone is then not committed to get back at them, they are labelled as weak.
— Bitching = As an adjective, it describes something that is actually great.
— To bitch = To complain, usually pejorative with intent.
— You’re a bitch! = In modern language, it has different meanings depending largely on the social context and it may vary from offensive to endearing. It can refer to a person or thing that is very difficult to handle.
— Bitch Slap = This term is derived from American slang. In the original sense, it describes a powerful, full-swing slap in the face with the front of the hand, evoking the way an angry pimp might slap a defiant prostitute. This is not to be confused with a pimp slap which uses the back of the hand. However, this term is now frequently used figuratively to describe a humiliating defeat or punishment
— Bitch End = A term used in poker. If you have the “bitch end” of a hand, you have the weaker version of the same hand as another player. The bitch in this context is slang for the Queen of Spades .
— Bitchin’ = Describes something that is cool or rad
— Bad Bitch = Since its reappropriation in hip hop culture, rappers define this term as an independent, confident, attraction woman. This is a way to show their desire for a woman. If you have listened to the songs “Da Baddest Bitch” by Trina, “Bad Bitch” by Rihanna ft. Beyoncé & “Starships” by Nicki Minaj before, the definition of bitch has been reappropriated to show that women are positive and empowering.
It’s evident that swearing is quite flexible linguistically in online and offline conversations no matter what language you speak. It can be quite difficult to discern the tone and, quite often, you would sometimes elicit the wrong response which would be quite embarrassing to say the least. This would raise a few eyebrows and leave a bad impression in front of your friends.
According to Canadian-born British cognitive scientist, psychologist, linguist and popular science author Steve Pinker’s book “The Stuff of Thought, he believes there are 5 functions of swearing:
(a) Abusive = Verbally abusing or intimidating or insulting of others stigmatising emotion and retaliation within others. This is intended to humiliate, objectify those you like to pick a fight with because of the biases taught to you by those around you (e.g You motherfucking son of a bitch!)
(b) Cathartic = When something bad or unfortunate happens to you like spilling coffee on your new coat, you would let out a personal expletive. One evolutionary theory suggests that it is meant to alert your audience that you are undergoing a negative emotion or having a tough time of recent. (e.g. Awww fuck! Damn this coffee!)
(c) Dysphemistic = Dysphemism is an antonym of euphemism. You are forcing the listener to think about negative or provocative matter. Using the wrong euphemism can have a dysphemistic effect (e.g. He fucks her!)
(d) Emphatic = When you want to emphasise something to ensure we understand what you’re talking about. (e.g. It was fucking huge!)
(e) Idiomatic = When you swear without referring to the matter at all. You are just using those words to arouse interest, to show off, and express to peers that the setting is informal. (e.g. Fuck, man!)
What boggles my mind is why do we confine to swearing. Once we start swearing, why do we enjoy it so much we swear even more? Why do these so-called bad words sound so bad and offensive to the human ear? We swear when we feel pain, outraged, disgusted, emotionally charged or excited. It is believed what swearing can help you relieve stress and improve focus on the tasks at hand. It is also seen to reduce the pain and suffering of a serious injury and improve our resistance to the over-stimulation of our pain receptors. But I wonder why swearing can improve our mood and health mentally and physiologically? It seems that evolution gave us this special gift whenever our body needs to rapidly release energy and stigma caused by the release of Adrenaline, Cortical and Noradrenaline from our adrenal glands to our heart, muscles and the brain. Swearing is an important way to alarm those around you how you are actually feeling such as when there is danger lurking like when a pack of deers gets attacked by a hungry, frisky tiger. Swearing can also be a test of communication and understanding of your peers. If you can mentally translate those swear words into the actual message they’re conveying to you, you have proven yourself to be a trustworthy and emphatic person to your friend. Swear words can also signify how powerful, superior and dominant you want to prove to the others. Your language has the power to insult, intimidate, degrade, objectify and satirically mock your peers. This type communication can lead to a few best friends but also worst enemies. But what does swear words look like as a sound wave compared to other euphemistic substitutes like defecate, intercourse or screw you? So far no one seems to know which is disappointing to say the least.
Amongst asian people, I feel Vietnamese and Korean people swear the most, more often than Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian and Singaporean. Since I’m not a linguist, I’ll do some further research into the swearing amongst different cultures around the world. There is this Vietnamese word that can be often confused for a swear word whilst translated it isn’t. Phuc = A given male name. In fact it reminds me a famous story a few years ago. Do you know which I’m referring to? Click and link and enjoy reading it.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/25/man-says-he-made-up-vietnamese-name-hoax-to-fool-news-media-and-facebook
If you’re wondering why I have not been posting on my blog lately, it’s because life as a university student has never been so stressful. Recently, I have been inundated with test after test after test after test. But there’s worse to come with end-of-semester exams. This is a life cycle of every university student each passing semester and every primary and high school student every passing school term. On social media, I see memes being uploaded by stressed-out, sometimes introverted students who are not coping well with the pressure of maximising their performance for their upcoming standardised tests. The common memes I’ve noticed involve clips of facial expressions that imitate our feelings regarding assignments, cramming, procrastinating, listening to boring lectures, difficulty memorising examinable material and recklessness during intense study sessions. They thought that fishing for likes on Facebook would improve their mood and self-esteem, hence focus and performance on academia, but this is a university or college myth that is yet to be proven. These Facebook pages are commonly caused Stalkerspaces or Confessions. Since I study in Melbourne, my favourite Facebook pages are Unimelb Confessions and Monash Stalkerspace where each confession or overheard conversation and viral meme compiles 1000s of reactions including likes, laughter, depression and fury. Although these posts have some degree of hilarity, I find these posts quite distracting and it doesn’t help improve the situation in terms of study progress. Here is one of the most popular study memes:
https://www.memecenter.com/search/study
Ever since I left high school I thought life would get easier and studying would be more laid-back. This is partially true with uniform being non-compulsory and casual fashion being the order of the day every day. Most lecture class attendance is not compulsory because they are so many of us in one theatre. The only exceptions are lecture classes that require the use of a clicker to mark attendance such as the physiology subjects. Most lectures are recorded which is a luxury for the majority of students who cannot awake from bed to attend every 8am lecture whether they live a great distance from their university or within walking distance of the campus. So far I heard most mathematics subjects are not recorded in lectures which is peculiar and inexplicable. There are those who work late or attend late-night parties, clubs or any social events and a good night’s sleep of about 7 - 8 hours is of utmost importance to the health of our human body. I wish my parents could understand that. Graduating from a selective boys-only high school called Melbourne High School, entering an cohesive academic environment was something I wasn’t accustomed to. The last time I was surrounded by female students was back in year 8 when I attended Strathmore Secondary College which only a few of my friends knew existed. Being surrounded by so many girls of different ages, cultures, backgrounds, professions, interests, passions, personalities, fashion tastes was like heaven to me. I did not know who to initiate conversations first. I wanted to hug them all and know all of their names and their personal profiles. Most didn’t mind being hugged or have their hand shaken, whilst others detested physical contact and preferred their own private personal space. This type of behavioural response from the minority has got me curious. Why do some people avoid physical contact despite the hugger not intent to cause harm? What is this so-called personal space? Why do some people require a certain private space? I’ll try to answer these questions in another post.
Nevertheless there are endless opportunities to meet people you never dreamed of meeting before such as BBQs, camps, club meetings, boat cruises, cocktail parties, balls and end-of-year parties. The most prominent period is during the first 2 weeks of every semester where your friends bring their friends from other popular high schools who attend other universities like Monash Clayton/Parkville, Deakin, ANU, RMIT, La Trobe, Federation and Victoria. There’s a possibility these people have heard about you through your mutual friends before you have even met them, which may enhance the experience of making new social connections. Compared to high school, there is no need to sign all attendance forms by our parents to confirm our attendance with our teachers and the responsibility of organising these events is shared mostly amongst university students who undertake certain in a general committee. These student organisations include the Australasian Association, International Student’s Society (UMISS), The Student Union (UMSU) and student society’s of respective faculties and majors like Biomedicine, Arts, Science, Commerce (Accounting), Engineering, Design etc. Interstate and overseas (International) students from different countries also attend these universities such as England, USA, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, China and Vietnamese. Although these events welcomes newcomers and outsiders, how come I feel this sense of awkwardness loitering around the attendees? For instance, a biomedical student such as myself would be assumed to have extended knowledge in biology and chemistry, plus additional knowledge (if necessary) in mathematics and physics. An ordinary arts student, on the other hand, have tasks that assess their ability to generate arguments with sufficient sophisticated vocabulary. Most of them would not hold back from an argument whether it’s political, logical, ethical or sociological. They treat even the most casual conversations like a political debate at the national party conference, Question Time in Parliament or a 60 minutes interview. They form the majority of protests against almost any political movement like Marxism, conservatism, democracy or freedom of speech, cultural aberrations such as Muslims, and recent political decisions by the federal and international government from USA and UK such as increase in university fees, reduced funding for several universities and closing of TAFE schools. However what is likeable about them is how they are willing to recount their crazy experiences through their childhood and high school which may have almost killed them or got them into serious trouble forming both enemies and allies along the way. I do feel sorry for them because they are always on the wrong end of study and personality clichés and this illustrates an inaccurate and factually wrong impression of what arts students really are. They may cuss a lot, waste themselves after a few shots, shout unwanted remarks or make awkward gestures, but they are just as approachable and interesting as those around me and it’s worth tuning in to their exhilarating stories.
Inevitably every student will say this dreaded 5-letter s-word: “study”. In fact I hear students say this word almost every few minutes during the semester especially when they have lectures to catch up on or have approaching tests and exams. According to http://www.wordcount.org/main.php , study is ranked 416th in terms of frequency in any texts and conversations, whilst student is ranked 1341st. Here’s a fun fact, gene is ranked 3957th. I learnt about this website from VSauce’s video “The Zipf Mystery”. He describes how Zipf’s Law is applicable in every print involving language like newspaper articles, medical studies, novels, wikipedia pages, and verbal conversations. It states that given a large sample of words used, the frequency of any word is inversely proportional to its rank in the frequency table. So a word number N has a frequency of 1/N. The most frequent word “the” will occur about twice as often as the 2nd most frequent word “of”, 3 times as often as the 3rd most frequency word “and” and so on. We don’t know why Zipf’s Law miraculously works for every language ever spoken on the planet. But it poses an interesting question on how language works regardless of its variations and who speaks it.
Speaking of study, I should be studying right now but I feel blogging is more enjoyable and interesting than memorising every keyword, definition, and picture on 100s of lecture slides. Lecturers call it “learning, understanding and integrating concepts and principles using the example case studies to justify these concepts”. As a student, I call it “overworking your Hippocampi to generate short-term memories in an effort to survive the hardships of tertiary education”, which I feel is not the same as learning. The type of learning I’m concerned about is stimulated by self-curiosity making it interesting, enjoyable and more importantly memorable. Most of us don’t learn the same way which is the major flaw of today’s education system. Currently the standardised tests you do today relies on your short-term retention of information and knowledge regardless of understanding. Learning basically is the act of acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing existing, knowledge, behaviours, skills, values or preferences that lead to a potential change in synthesising information, depth of the knowledge, attitude or behaviour relative to the type and range of experience. The word "learn" may have originated from the Old English leornian meaning "to acquire knowledge by reading and pondering", the Germanic lernen or the Middle English lore. It was hypothesised this word was first used before the year 900 but we don't know who specifically was the first to say this word and where this person was and it what context. Humans are not the only creatures that can learn, but animals, plants and machines also learn too. There is still controversy regarding the actions and definitions of learning. The progress over time tends to follow a so-called learning curve shown below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_curve
The term “steep learning curve” describes the difficulty of an initial learning process. This common English use is due to metaphorical interpretation of the curve as a steep hill to climb. Theoretically, a steeper hill represents something hard, while a gentle slope is less strenuous.
As you may have noticed, the name of my blog is Live and Learn. This is borrowed from one of my favourite quotes by Terry Pratchett “We live and learn, or more importantly we learn and live.” It means you attain more knowledge the more you experience different life situations. Your brain is a vessel thirsty for information with the knowledge of nature on Earth and the universe refilling the daily knowledge cocktail glass to quench its thirst. Life around you provides your brain endless information through your 5 senses for it to process. However, we all perceive this information differently, meaning all of us who learn about different things perceive it in a different manner. There is a theory that learning does NOT happen all at once, but rather built upon and shaped by prerequisite knowledge acquired from previous classes. It suggests that learning may be viewed as a process, rather than a stressful recollection of factual and procedural knowledge, also more commonly known as cramming. So far scientists have described several different types of learning, but it’s possible there could be more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning
= A relatively permanent change in the strength of response to a single stimulus due to repeated exposure to that stimulus. Changes due to such factors as sensory adaptation, fatigue or injury do NOT qualify as non-associative learning.
— Habituation = Strength or probability of a response diminishes when the response is repeated. It is a typical reflex or unconditioned response.
— Sensitisation = Progressive amplification of a response follows repeated administrations of a stimulus.
(b) Active Learning
= Occurs when a person takes control of their learning experience. Since understanding the information attained is one of the key aspects of learning, learners recognise what they do or do NOT understand. These are called known knowns and known unknowns. By doing so, they can monitor their own mastery of subjects. This encourages learners to have an internal dialogue in which they verbalise their understandings. In addition, they will have an incentive to learn when they have control over not only how they will learn it but also what they learn. This type of learning is a key characteristic in student-centred learning.
(c) Associative Learning
= A process by which someone learns an association between 2 stimuli, or a behaviour and a stimulus.
— Operant Conditioning = The use of consequences to modify the occurrence and form of behaviour.
— Classical Conditioning = Involves repeatedly pairing an unconditioned stimulus (which unfailingly evokes a reflexive response) with another previously neutral stimulus (which does NOT normally evoke the response). Following conditioning, the response now occurs both to the unconditioned stimulus and to the other unrelated stimulus (which is not referred to as the “conditioned stimulus”).
— Imprinting = A kind of learning that occurs at a particular life stage that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of those behaviours.
(d) Play
= Describes behaviour that has no end it itself, but it improves performance in similar future situations. e.g. Cats playing with a ball of yarn when young helps give them experience with catching prey.
Nonetheless, play involves deadly risks by animals, such as a increased vulnerability to predators and the risk of serious injury and infection.
When young children play, they seek to learn social skills such as sharing and collaboration, and emotional skills such as learning to deal with emotions like anger. As a form of learning, play facilitates the development of thinking and language skills in children. There are 5 types of play:
— Sensorimotor Play = Functional play — Repetition of Activity
— Role Play
— Rule-Based Play - Authoritative prescribed codes of conduct are primarily used
— Construction Play - Experimentation and building
— Movement Play - Physical Play
These 5 types of play often intersect, but they all generate thinking and problem solving skills in children. This is a way to help children learn to think creatively when they learn through play. Specific activities involved in each type of play change over time as humans progress through their lifespan. Play as a form of learning, can occur solitarily, or involve interaction with others.
(e) Enculturation
= A process by which people learn values and behaviours that are appropriate or necessary in their surrounding culture. Your parents, and other adults, and peers (friends) currently shape your understanding of these values. This results in competence in the language such as the slang, values and rituals of the culture. Whereas in acculturation, a person adopts the values and societal rules of a culture different from their native one.
(f) Episodic Learning
= A change in behaviour that occurs as a result of an event. e.g. Developing a fear for dogs after being bitten by a dog. Episodic learning is so named because events are recorded into our episodic memory, which is one of 3 forms of explicit learning and retrieval, along with perceptual memory and semantic memory.
(g) Multimedia Learning
= A person uses both visual and auditory stimuli to learn information. This type of learning relies on dual-coding theory.
(h) Electronic and Augmented Learning
= E-Learning — A general term used to refer to computer-enhanced learning. When you interacts with e-learning, it’s called augmented learning. By adapting to the needs of you (the individual), the context-driven instructions can be dynamically tailed to your natural environment. Augmented digital content includes text, images, video, audio (music and voice). By personalising instruction, augmented learning has been shown to improve performance for a lifetime.
(i) Rote Learning
= Memorising information so that it can be recalled by the learner exactly the way it was read or heard. The most common technique used is learning by repetition, based on the idea that a learner can recall the material exactly (but not its meaning) if the information is repeatedly processed. However many lecturers and tutors criticise this technique of learning as meaningless and highly strenuous and the answers on the actual test aren’t guaranteed to be worded similarly like what they recall.
(j) Meaningful Learning
= The concept that learned knowledge is fully understood to the extent that it relates to other knowledge. This contrasts with rote learning. There is an implication there is a comprehensive knowledge of the context of the facts learned.
(k) Informal Learning
= Occurs through the experience of everyday situations e.g. Looking straight ahead while walking because of the danger inherent in not paying attention to where one is going. You certainly do not want to bump into a pole, fall down a crevice, crash into a person or get hit by a vehicle.
(l) Formal Learning
= Learning that takes place within a teacher-student relationship, such as in a school system. This has nothing to do with the formality of the learning type, but rather the way it is directed and organised. Therefore, the learning or training departments set out the goals and objectives of the learning.
(m) Non-formal Learning
= Organised learning outside the formal learning system. e.g. Learning by coming together with people with similar interests and exchanging viewpoints, in clubs or in (international) youth organisations, workshops.
(n) Tangential Learning
= A process by which people self-educate if a topic is exposed to them in context that they already enjoy. e.g. After playing a music-based video game, some people may be motivated to learn how to play a real musical instrument such as piano or guitar.
(o) Dialogic Learning
= A type of learning based on the dialogue
(p) Incidental Learning
= This type of learning is NOT planned by the instructor or the student, but occurs as a by-product of another activity such as a particular experience, observation, and outcomes assessment. This occurs in part as a product of social interaction and active involvement in both online and onsite courses.
(q) Multi-level Learning
= According to a theory of Practopoiesis, all biological systems learn at 2 different levels: fast and slow. Slow learning corresponds to long-term memory, whilst fast learning is impactful in storing information into working information, to direct attention or to make a decision. Most importantly the rules by which fast learning mechanisms are executed stems from learning by the slow processes over a lifetime. Therefore, according to practopoiesis, the main function of long-term memory is to store knowledge on how rapidly your brain reorganises its own neural networks at a second-by-second pace.
It’s obvious all of us have a different style of learning and our education system doesn’t support all of these learning styles. This may explain the complaints from parents regarding the discrepancy of their children’s academic potential and actual performance on the test. Below is a list of learning styles that have been identified according to Neil Fleming’s VAK / VARK model:
1) Auditory
= A style is which a person learns through listening via their ears. They depend on hearing and speaking as their main way of learning. Therefore they must have an ability to audibly comprehend something in order to understand it, but this may cause difficulty with instructions that are drawn unless it is written in a logical order. They have a knack for ascertaining the true meaning of a person’s words by listening to audible cues like changes in tone, pitch, tempo and volume. E.g. Phone Numbers - They will say it out loud and then remember how it sounded to recall it.
They perform best at written responses to lecture they’ve heard and oral exams which is effectively listening to information delivered orally to them. It is suggested that during intense study sessions auditory learners require sound(s) in the background in order to enhance their reading and learning skills such as music, TV and chatter in the background.
Being natural storytellers, they solve problems by talking them through by themselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_learning
2) Kinesthetic / Tactile
= A style which learning takes place by the the students carrying out physical activities, rather than listening or watching demonstrations. These type of learners are commonly called “do-ers”. There are different types of kinaesthetic learners including body learners, hands-on learners, doodlers, or learning through emotion experiences. They generate memories associated with emotions learning facilitated through dance, debating, drama, role-play, charades, sports, gymnastics and laboratory demonstrations. This leads to long-term memory since it associates with emotions like excitement, curiosity, anger, disappointment and success.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesthetic_learning
3) Visual
= A style in which a learner utilises graphs, charts, maps and diagrams. These learners develop and use graphic organisers, also known as concept maps, knowledge maps, story maps or concept diagrams to facilitate their learning. According to a study, these graphic organisers are found to enhance retention, reading comprehension, student achievement (with or without disabilities) and critical thinking skills.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_learning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_organizer
4) Read-White
Literally these learners utilise their reading and writing skills to learn concepts built upon words, sentences and literal devices. This is typical of a traditional learner in schools and universities that feature written notes for each lecture powerpoint. An example of a literal device they use is Mnemonic.
Mnemonic = Memory Device — A learning technique that utilises elaborative encoding, retrieval cures, and imagery as special tools to encode any information in a way that allows for efficient retention.
e.g. ROYGBIV = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet (Order of colours in a rainbow)
Try this at home. If you want to remember the months of the year, clench your hands into fists and place them next to each other in front of your eyes. Starting from left to right, each knuckle (hump) will represent a month that has 31 days & each trough will represent a month that has 30 days (or less i.e. February).
What type of learner are you and what is your most suitable learning style? Feel free to comment in the box below.
No one likes standardised tests. Not even the highest performing students enjoys sitting down completing exams under a time limit. Exams are one of the most lowliest, dreadful and stressful tasks we experience all the time. Standardised tests consists of either or a combination of multiple-choice, true-false questions, short-answer questions or extended questions requiring essay style responses. By definition, a standardised test is any form of test that requires all test takers to answer identical questions, or a selection of questions from a common bank of questions, in the same way and under the same time limit. Scores derived from the performance of these tests are conducted in a “standard” or consistent manner, theoretically making it relatively possible to compare the relative performance or intelligence of individual students or groups of students. In the modern era of education, you will see standardised tests used for large-scale students populations. On average, throughout your schooling life you will take part in as many as 112 standardised tests, starting as early as pre-kindergarten to your final year at university or college. The earliest known use of standardised testing was in China, during the Han Dynasty, where imperial examinations covering the 6 Arts: Music, Archery, Horsemanship, Arithmetic, Writing and Knowledge of the Rituals and Ceremonies of both public and private sectors, were used to select suitable employees for the state bureaucracy. Over time, Military Strategies, Civil Law, Revenue & Taxation, Agriculture and Geography were also tested. These intense and complex exams were institutionalised for more than a millennium. The standardised testing that you and I take today widely used around the world in the modern education system, more famously known as GaoKao (高考) system. In the past, all tests were scored by independent (human) examiners which created certain obstacles regarding hire cost and often variable range of scores. This is why computer scoring for multiple-choice and true-false question sets is preferred. Every dot you fill in the multiple choice letter bubble is scanned and read by a computer (a process known as computer-adaptive testing. Other types of standardised tests that involve essay writing, short written answers require independent markers to assign scores with the assistance of rubrics (rules or guidelines) and benchmark papers (examples of papers for each score). The scores given in these written assessments can vary due to the fact that humans are the markers and whatever mark you’re given depends on the teacher’s experience and knowledge of the subject, and interpretation of your work whilst comparing to the rubric and their expectations for what is an outstanding piece of work to them. If the hired scorers do not come to an agreement with the scores that have allocated, illustrated by a huge discrepancy (one has given 65%, another has given 85% for the same test), then this paper is passed to a master examiner and their allocated score will always have the final say for the paper’s assessment. There are 2 types of standardised test score interpretations:
(A) Norm-Referenced
= Compares test-takes to a sample of peers. If students perform better than those peers they pass the test, but if students perform worse than those peers they fail the test.
(B) Criterion-Refereced
= Compares test-takers to a criterion (formal definition of content), regardless of the scores of other examinees. They may also be described as standards-based assessments, as they are aligned with the standards-based education reform movement. They are concerned solely with whether or nor this student’s answer is correct AND complete. Therefore it is possible for all student students to pass or fail the test. Below is example of how different standardised test score interpretations work:
Once an administrator has collected every student’s scores for a particular subject they analyse the statistics of the performances overall and for each question. They check each question’s overall performance in terms of percentages. For instance the average (mean) score awarded for each question, the percentage of students who chose the right answer or other wrong answers. They illustrate the data onto a histogram, also known as a frequency distribution. Then they compile all overall test scores onto a graph to form a normal curve. This is where I start to sound mathematically boring, and I know everyone hates statistics, but bear with me.
Above is a bell-shaped curve that represents a standard normal distribution. A standard score (Z) is the signed number of standard deviations (σ) by which the test score is above or below the mean value. Values greater than the mean have positive standard scores, while values lesser than the mean have negative standard scores. The standard score is a dimensionless quantity obtained by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing this difference by the population standard deviation. This conversation process is called standardising or normalising.
μ = Mean of the population
σ = Standard deviation of the population.
z = The distance between the raw score and the population mean in units of the standard deviation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_score
The symmetry of the bell-shape curves gives an illustration on how difficult the test was according the students. If the curve is skewed to the left, it means the test was quite difficult, and if the curve is skewed to the right, the test was found to be easy. This is where scaling of scores come into play.
Raw scores are test scores that are not adjusted or transformed such as the number of multiple-choice questions you answered correctly. Scaled scores are the results of transformed or adjusted raw scores. Depending on how skewed the distribution is relative to the population mean of a normal bell-shaped curve, raw scores can be increased or decreased in order to achieve “consistency" and “fairness” across the entire student population. This is where I’m tempted to scrutinise and criticise the validity of these statistics and standardised testing in general. For a given multiple choice, if someone chose the right answer they either guessed it or evaluated their way to the correct answer. If someone chose the wrong answer, they either guessed incorrectly or made an error in their evaluation towards the correct answer. That means a person who has studied vigorously can achieve the same score as one who has not studied at all. Although the chances are slim (e.g. (0.25)^n) to be exact depending on the number of multiple choice questions, guessing your way to 100% is possible. They would achieve the same result as the top scorers of the test who perform consistently well on their tests. This is one of the major flaws of standardised testing. It’s all about choosing the right answer regardless of whether you can explain your answer or understand the question. It’s too bad for those who study hard don’t get credit for explaining your way to the answer in these type of tests and this may cause serious mental distress and suffering. It’s clear to me that standardised testing statistically does not illustrate how intelligent you are and elicit fairness amongst the student populations. My definition of fairness in the context of academia is quite complex and it’s not as simple as saying “they get the scores that they deserve”.
Intelligence is an individual issue not a cohort issue. Everyone is different. Everyone’s neural networks in the brain is wired differently. I cannot name any 2 brains that are wired exactly the same. Because of these differential learning styles, each and every one of us perform at our peak differently depending on the type of exam material and questions we interact with on our exams. Not everyone can learn and retain the same factual knowledge and concepts in the same amount of time. I, personally, am a slow learner therefore my short-term memory is not that great and I consistent achieve average scores in my intra-semester tests. Even though our education system provides assistance for those with mental and intellectual disabilities that prove to hinder their performance in exams like severe mental illness, infections, social and environment factors like loss of a friend or family member, the skills required to conquer these tests remain virtually the same. Traditionally, those who are fast read-write learners that have an active learning style will theoretically perform the best in today’s standardised testing schemes. 12 weeks is not enough time for me to digest and integrate the facts, ideas and concepts of different biological diseases. I feel it would take me about a year to do so. This does not mean I am stupid, it means the way my brain processes information is different to everyone else. I, personally, am a visual and auditory learner who utilises a meaningful learning style to understand and memorise certain concepts. Blindly learning facts and concepts doesn’t bode well for me. If I want to learn something I have to research the history of it, the etymology of the name, the discoverers and their process of discovering it, why they chose to research it rather than why is this discovery important for the relevant faculties and society. Although my lecturers tell me to not overthink, for some reason i cannot resist the temptation to do so. “There is no point learning something if I’m not going to use it in the real world.” That is my philosophy to life. Some people especially my parents think I’m dimwitted to think so, but they don’t realise the amount of brain space we are wasting on principles and concepts that we may never use in society just to pass our standardised tests, the demon of human education. These tests don’t prove how well you understand something because that is not why college or university exists in the first place. They exist to find the next generation of workers to supply the competitive job market in a range of different fields. This is why the words career, specialisation, masters, postgraduate, life after uni, employment keep emanating as you live through your 20s. These tests are a way of disciplining you to prepare for life’s relenting challenges and an indicator of how well you deal with mental pressure. It seems that those who have high expectations set upon them by their parents and peers and are uncertain of what role they want to partake in society’s job market will experience the most stress, which may be a sign they will experience an episodic moment of depression. Why do we learn? Or in that case, why are we forced to learn? Aren’t we already learning everyday? What’s the purpose of learning something that may be useless to us? Obviously these questions are quite difficult to answer and it can cause fierce debate and controversy.
Based on what I know about how our society runs, because humans are the most dominant organism on planet Earth and with over 7 billion of us loitering together, our curiosity to attain knowledge to eliminate threats and obstacles that may hinder our progress towards longevity, fulfilment and survival of the fittest. You and I are born as a human in a society where your life is scripted out for you without your knowledge. You would have no idea about your existence as a human on a fast-moving floating celestial rock named by humans, Earth, until your brain develops your ability of awareness and curiosity at a later age. Because there are so many of us around, those who have the superior mindset of manipulation and domination want to keep us occupied in a certain space by filling in a role that allows us to contract our muscles and perform basic tasks repetitively just to curb our ensuing boredom and curiosity. If national governments want to show how intelligent their country is, why not propose an assessment that analyses the type of natural learner each person is and the type of learning style each and every one of them utilises? Why not tweak our exams and generate tests containing different stimuli but testing the same concepts that are most suited to specific types of learners? Some may think these proposals may sound weird, ambitious, overly expensive and preposterous, but do you have a better idea? This may come down to how humans and animals react to competition and the thought of being the best that no one ever was is the ultimate reward in fulfilling life to our absolute potential. Obviously society is complex. Everyone around me including pets think it's too complex, broad and cryptic to contemplate. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to think so. I believe I could generate adequate neuronal connections to visualise and illustrate the most accurate model of human and animal society of the past, present and future. But my starting point is coming up with simple questions that require a detailed and philosophical response like "what is society?". I'll try to answer those questions in another post.
