These words all refer to crude or foul language. Profanity emphasizes abusive vituperation or rage expressed in irreverent use of religious terms and names applied to the deity. More loosely, profanity may be used as the general term for any sort of habitually foul language: the profanity endemic to army life. Blasphemy , a stronger term than profanity , as applied to choice of language, is restricted specifically to an irreverent use of religious terms, especially the name of the deity; this may be done as a habitual mannerism of speech, to shock others, or to insult a particular person, as with profanity : the common profanity of the fo’c’s’le peppered with lewd remarks and casual blasphemies .

Cursing and swearing may be used loosely as general terms for crude language, but each has a more precise reference. Cursing refers specifically to phrases that would call down misfortunes on someone or something: the fit of cursing with which he punished each person who refused him the price of a beer. Swearing most specifically refers to cursing that is reinforced by an appeal to a deity to carry out the wish expressed. It is thus a specific form of blasphemy as well.

Obscenity refers to that element in coarse language that is lewd or suggestive in reference to sexual matters: calling out obscenities to every unaccompanied girl who passed the corner. Vulgarity is milder than obscenity , indicating reference to normally unmentioned bodily processes: speech larded with scatological vulgarities . In an even milder use, vulgarity may refer merely to blunt, tasteless or even ungrammatical language: disc jockeys who take crash courses to rid their speech of common vulgarities .

Bad language is a common euphemism for all the above words and thus has the force of none of them: Police alleged the man was drunk and used bad language in front of the other guests.