Thuntonian Lore #1 - Swear Words (Patreon)

(The other day, I posted this bit of Thuntonian lore in a Twitter thread. I've decided to do one of these bits of info on my world every week, for my beautiful Patrons. Since this first one is just a repost of something from my Twitter, it's open to everyone, but the others will be at the $3 level. If there's specific things that you'd like to see me cover in future 'Thuntonian Lore' posts, let me know in the comments, here. THANK YOU!!!)

'Swear words' are mispronounced bits of the demon language that were appropriated in ages past. In incredibly rare encounters, mortals would hear the terrifying words that the demon would spit out at them. The ancient language was so pure in its evil and power that it would corrupt, sicken and or (if the demon was powerful enough) even kill the mortal just to hear them. Mortals who survived an encounter with a demon would sometimes try to recreate those ancient and terrifying words in attempts to either capture some of that imposing power for themselves and frighten their enemies or to "prove" that they encountered a demon and lived. Of course the mortals were incapable of properly speaking the demon words, so they came out mispronounced, watered down and were not something a demon would identify as their own language. Still, they possessed a fraction of the dark power and many generations later, are still used to represent rage, hate, insults or despair. Even these watered down, pathetic versions of what were once demonic words, are still able to cause us to react inwardly in a dark or unpleasant way. They may not corrupt us or make us sick, but they are sometimes able to make us feel a sense of offense. They stand out in a dark way that causes us to forbid children from speaking them. They can escalate disagreements into violence. They are forbidden from being spoken in church or in the presence of holy figures. In the fictional world of Goblins, this is why swear words stand out from other words.