Words are important.If this claim seems self-serving coming from someone who will be trying to make a living off them in a few years, maybe it is. But that doesn’t change the fact that words and what they mean are of tremendous value to society.I’m not going to insult anyone’s intelligence by telling stories of wars and lives lost by a few misconstrued sentences. The very fact that you’re reading this paper illustrates the premium we place on language and those who can use them effectively.Words can persuade people to take action. Words can make people laugh, they can make people cry and they can teach people a lot about the world in which we live.And words can certainly offend people — something opinion columnists learn the first time they end up in the paper.Sometimes it takes a careful (or careless) combination of words to set people off. But, especially in America, there are those select few words that create instant controversy. But why do these “dirty” words evoke such harsh reactions regardless of the context?It’s a hard question to answer. Arguments range from obscure linguistic justifications to moral and religious cries for modesty.The generally accepted answer on a college campus is “no reason at all” — as many once-starry eyed freshmen can attest, college is a place where vulgarity is as common as punctuation. As most students would have it, curse words are only abberrant because our parents and our society told us they were, so our parents and society can go ahead and — well, you get the idea.For the most part, this argument is totally correct. But saying this argument justifies the widespread use of vulgarity misses a larger understanding of how language works.Denotatively (like the dictionary says) there’s no difference between “poop” and “the S word.”  But connotatively, once we apply all the associations piled onto the words by society and everyday use, the two are entirely different.The difference between denotative meaning and connotative meaning doesn’t just apply to taboo language. In the strictest sense, “eat” means the same thing as “gorge.” “Homely” means the same the same thing as “ugly.”Social conditions and personal choice influence most of the words in our language. So saying we can curse our hearts out because the words are only bad because we made them that way is more than a little juvenile.But if that linguistic argument is too boring — or if you’ve got “a great personality” and it didn’t make sense — consider it this way.In the final analysis, there’s nothing inherently wrong with obscenity, as long as it’s in the proper context. Most vulgar words are meant to be used during times of extreme emotional distress. When your professor hands you back a paper with nothing marked on it but a D, go ahead and air your grievances. When your car breaks down in pouring rain on the interstate, fume as much as you need. And when some merry dumbass sets off the fire alarm at 3 a.m. in your dorm or apartment the night before finals, no other words really suffice.But using these words in every other sentence in common conversation does nothing but make the words useless. If you say “the F-word” as often as you say “the,” they’re eventually going to have the same level of intensity. It won’t mean anything to you, and it won’t mean anything to those you hang around — you’ll just be another cretin who relies on shock value rather than anything approaching intelligence.But when you eventually drop that bomb in front of your grandmother or prospective employer — well, you’ve got no one to blame but your freaking self.Matthew Albright is a 21-year old mass communication sophomore from Baton Rouge.  Follow him on Twitter @TDR_malbright.____Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]