Who decided what is classed as "cuss" words?

I'm not talking about religious ones...just normal swearing/cussing like f*ck, bastard, etc.

Most of the words we call cuss or curse words are really just vulgar. That means they were used by the poor common class and not by the upper crust. Profane words, however, are words that denigrate God. There's a big difference between the two but many people don't realize that.

As for me, I think words are words and I don't value any of them above the other.

Society and as society changes, certain words lose their power to shock.

EG You would rarely if ever had heard the words c*nt, pr*ck, f*ck etc on British TV 20 years ago but now days these are more common place.

It was not so long ago that a word such as damn was still thought of as a heavy cussing word in the USA.

that's true.
there effect lessens in time.
it's not so shocking now.

Not all languages have really offensive words, I've discovered. In French there are some rude words people use to swear mildly, but none of them have the shock value of the English sexual swear words. This is a problem, as French people learn the English 'bad words' and then use them indiscriminately, and I've seen English people really upset by that! But it's good to know not all languages value the power to shock.

I really don't know.
I find it weird how they are chosen because all the words have a logical meaning, like a** and b*tch.

Vulgar words are words which society has given a vulgar meaning to.

Don't follow me? Look at it this way. When you use one of those words, you use it because it has the vulgar meaning. I have friends who, in their infinite geekiness, will use the term frell as a substitute for the word f*ck. Problem is... the intent is the same, so it's really no different than the original curse word it replaced.

What's vulgar isn't the word itself, but the meaning assigned. If, for instance, one were to talk about a man from unmarried parents sitting on his donkey watching his female dog give birth, it's perfectly acceptable to say:

The bastard sat on his a*s while he watched his b*tch give birth.

(***editors*** For the record... I understand the words are banned... but banning the words necessarily based upon possible uses of the words limits the potential for use of the words in a non-vulgar sense... thereby invalidating my point.)

Because I mean the above sentence in a non-vulgar sense, it's not vulgar language. If, however, I meant it about a callous husband who were sitting idly by in a waiting room while his wife was in labor, all of a sudden, it's entirely vulgar.

the french contributed a lot I think. for example, in the hundred years war, I think, the french and england fought and the french used to use bows and arrows, flaming I think. anyway, if the british captured the french soldiers they would cut off their middle finger which the french needed to be able to shoot their bows. they would either let them go or kill them, I think. anyway, the french won and whenever they won a battle, or maybe at the end of the war, they would hold up their middle fingers to the british and saysee? we can still pluck you! plucking is how they shot the arrow and they did that to sho that the british hadn't cut off their middle fingers. so the u.s. took that, changed the p in pluck to an f and viola! the f word