Be careful of taboos....NOT tatoos...well and tatoos but thats not what i am trying to say

On monday in my Linguistics class, we were learning about all kinds of slang, taboos, epithets and euphemisms. Well, let me give you a little example of each and especially when we hit the epithets...be careful.

• Slang- Everyone one should know what these are. It just a use of casual speech often invented and spread by a close nit social group. For example, I notice I use a different speech when I am around different groups of people. Let's say I am snowboarding...some things a snowboarder might say would be, "Shred the Gnar" "Pow Pow" "SPORE" "Skeeze" and then the typical, "dude" and "sick" hahaha
• Taboos- This is any type of word or activity that is considered inappropriate. I won't go into detail but for example, it's taking anything those scientific names of your reproductive organs and making them into those four letter words, or calling the process of making love into another four letter word....you get the picture...they are bad...don't use them!
• Euphemisms- It's a word or phrase to take and replace a taboo word or avoid reference to certain acts or subjects. For example, it's relacing those curse words with good ol words like "crap" or "dang it" :)
• Racial or National Epithets- Its a taboo that is  degrading towards a race or nationality. I just learned this but have any of you guys said the phrase..."Man, we got gypped!" ? Well, did you know that gypped comes from the word gypsy? So basically, when we say that phrase, we are making fun of gypsies and implying that all of them are thieves and steal...Bet you'll think twice before you say that again!