I thought the idea strange —one series of sounds from someone's mouth forms an unacceptable word while another series of sounds makes an acceptable word. Sounds are sounds, right? But like a "good" Christian noob, I obeyed first and asked questions later. [...]

Well, finding broad commands to not curse was surprisingly more difficult than finding the same for not swearing. Whereas swearing was forbidden directly and clearly, cursing seemed to be handled more circumspectly. [...]

There's a third way explicit language comes under attack, empowered by Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth..." [...]