Don’t know what a taboo is? This is what taboo means, why taboos should matter to you, and how to avoid them in your daily life.
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Kevin
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January 8, 2022
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Have you ever heard the word taboo and not known what it meant? Don’t worry — in this article, you’ll find out what taboo means, its origins and current cultural implications, and how you can use it in your own daily conversations!
Taboo isn’t a word that comes up all the time, but it’s important to know what it means so that you can be aware when a taboo subject comes up.
What Does Taboo Mean?
The most commonly recognized definition of taboo (təˈbu) is something that is “not acceptable to talk about, do, or engage with.” Taboos are typically seen as a mostly unspoken social custom or emotional aversion that people do their very best to avoid.
If someone engages with the thing or activity that is taboo, they will often experience social prohibition, exclusion, and ostracism.
If someone mentions or tries to discuss the taboo, they will often be heavily judged or condemned by their social circles. People typically have lots of prejudice against the things or people that have been tabooed, and those things and people usually become outcasts in society.
What Is the Origin of the Word Taboo?
Taboos, also occasionally referred to as tabus in proto-Polynesian language, are actually a part of almost every society. However, the first cultures to have a strong direct link with the word itself are cultures in the islands of the South Pacific Ocean in Polynesia.
The term was initially introduced into the English language as “Tongan tabu” by Captain James Cook during his voyage to Tonga in 1771. Following this, the meaning of taboo spread from its Polynesian origin throughout the English language and became a common word in many English-speaking countries and dialects.
In these South Pacific islands, the comprehensive meaning of taboo had to do with a ban and ritual restriction that their culture had on a wide variety of different activities.
In most cases, the Polynesian religious beliefs held that some of these actions or topics of conversation were either too sacred for human action or displeasing to their gods, so they believed they needed to stay away from them. The sacred nature of these taboos caused lots of fear and rejection around people who they believed broke the taboos.
What Does Taboo Mean Today?
While taboos don’t usually exist in modern countries in the same way that they did for the Polynesians, taboos are still around in the world today. The word has come to describe topics, actions, and ideological stances that are rejected and avoided by most people.
Scholars of sociology, social sciences, and psychology have noted that almost all societies have taboos in their culture, even if they aren’t based on religious beliefs. Some examples of taboos in modern society noted by Sigmund Freud include fratricide and incest, with many others like pedophilia, cannibalism, and open display of sexual behavior existing alongside them.
Many of these taboos are universal across almost all cultures and are almost entirely rejected by ordinary individuals. While some exceptions do exist, these taboos are overwhelmingly common.
Some taboos are legally punishable because they are almost universally considered morally reprehensible. This means anyone who engages in these actions will generally experience high levels of punishment and social rejection for what they have done.
Are Taboos Universal?
Some taboos are based on a universal social distaste for an action. These may not be punishable by the law, but they will likely result in very negative reception within most cultures or communities.
A common place where you might see this negative reception is large social events when the person who is taking the stage says or does something that is universally unliked. They are often met with choruses of boos, which can show that the action they committed or thing they said was tabooed.
However, taboos are not always universal across a society. Instead, many of them depend on specific social groups. For example, in countries like the United States and the UK, there are specific taboos associated heavily with a particular political or social group. Showing support for the other side’s ideas or morals will typically be met with a high degree of social ostracism and rejection.
The prohibition of an action may not always be written down clearly, but it is still something that is universally and heavily despised within that specific social group.
While taboos may not look the same as they do in highly spiritual cultures like the islands of the South Pacific, there are still many actions that are placed under heavy scrutiny.
Understanding the taboos of a society helps people to integrate with it more effectively and enables social cohesion. However, those who break taboos are may suffer rejection and likely will not fit into their society.
Example of Taboos in Regular Conversation
The word taboo can be incorporated into speech in a variety of different ways, such as a noun, a verb, or an adjective. Here are some real-life examples of how the word taboo can be used:
- Even if it isn’t a written rule, that specific subject is highly taboo in this town.
- The people in the southern part of this country have a taboo against talking about where babies come from.
- This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but marrying any kind of even remotely close relative is a taboo in almost all modern cultures.
- In this office, dating a coworker, and especially a higher-up is considered by pretty much everyone to be taboo.
- Even if having conversations about these kinds of important subjects is considered taboo where you grew up, it’s still important to talk about these things.
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