"Bad" swear words or "REALLY bad" swears words...why is this?

[indigomama]

My last name is a very mild alternative curse word, think "Gosh" instead of G*d (but it's not Gosh). I have meet both adults and children who have refused to call me Mrs. Lastname because they consider it a curse word. The really funny part is my DH and FIL are pastors :) 

 

I don't generally curse because I just don't think it sounds nice. And while I know it's not true, I find myself thinking less of another person if their conversation is riddled with curse words. It's as if they have no other vocabulary. 

[Miss Mousie]

My last name is a very mild alternative curse word, think "Gosh" instead of G*d (but it's not Gosh). I have meet both adults and children who have refused to call me Mrs. Lastname because they consider it a curse word. The really funny part is my DH and FIL are pastors :)

 

I don't generally curse because I just don't think it sounds nice. And while I know it's not true, I find myself thinking less of another person if their conversation is riddled with curse words. It's as if they have no other vocabulary. 

 

I accept the challenge.

 

Your last name is ...

 

Heck?

Samhill?

 

No, wait!  I've got it:  Tarnation!

[heartlikealion]

depends where in Australia you live.

 

To me it is one of the biggest insults to call a child  'a cheeky little bugger. I ripped into my MIL once (the only time ever) when she called my child a little bugger. He is absoultly not involved in sodimy at all and how dare she make a comment like that.

 

When I searched "bugger" the sexual definition wasn't the noun so I'm not sure if/when "cheeky bugger" relates to the sexual definition. The verb held the sexual connotation.

Maybe I am missing something.

[Guest]

I accept the challenge.

 

Your last name is ...

 

Heck?

Samhill?

 

No, wait! I've got it: Tarnation!

I was thinking the same thing...now we're all trying to figure it out.

[Bluegoat]

When I searched "bugger" the sexual definition wasn't the noun so I'm not sure if/when "cheeky bugger" relates to the sexual definition. The verb held the sexual connotation.

Maybe I am missing something.

 

Most dictionaries don't give anything like the most complete meaning of a word.  The dictionaries most of us use aren't actually complete, they limit the words and definitions.  You also have to look at how they compile their definitions - in many cases, it is essentially by asking a lot of regular people what they think the word means.  THat is why using dictionary definitions is generally out of place in any kind of technical or philosophical, or really any sophisticated discussions about meaning.

 

In the case of bugger, most people don't mean someone is somehow involved with buggery when they call someone by that word.  They mean he is a jerk.  I suspect if you looked up the word "dick" in the same dictionary, you would find that besides the anatomical meaning, you would find that there is a definition that just says something like "a jerk".  Because people don't literally mean someone is a penis when they call them that.

 

A better bet for seeing the connotations, online, is the Online Etymology Dictionary.  The applicable entry there says that it originally meant heretic, and later sodomite, and is related to the word for Bulgarian.  The more general use for just a person is later, from the mid 19th century.

[Laura Corin]

depends where in Australia you live.

 

To me it is one of the biggest insults to call a child  'a cheeky little bugger. I ripped into my MIL once (the only time ever) when she called my child a little bugger. He is absoultly not involved in sodimy at all and how dare she make a comment like that.

 

It's a normal jocular word in most cases in the UK.  In parts of England, 'You bugger' is an expression of admiration.  

 

On the other hand, 'Bugger off' means go away: it's about the same strength as 'Sod off', not as strong as 'F*** off'.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Laura Corin

[katilac]

When I searched "bugger" the sexual definition wasn't the noun so I'm not sure if/when "cheeky bugger" relates to the sexual definition. The verb held the sexual connotation.

Maybe I am missing something.

 

Anyway, if you bugger someone, that's a verb, so wouldn't the person doing it be a bugger-er? 

 

Calling someone a bugger doesn't imply that you think they've recently sodomized someone. I mean, seriously, people! All gerunds end in -ing, no exceptions, lol, so bugger as a noun clearly has a different meaning from bugger as a verb. 

 

You can call someone a cheeky little bugger, noun form, with no sexual connotations. 

 

You can say that you spent all night buggering your significant other, gerund noun form, sexual connotation. 

 

You can say he buggered me last night, verb form, sexual connotation. 

 

You could also call someone a buggering sodomite, adjective form, but it would be redundant.

[foxbridgeacademy]

There's only one swear word I don't use, and that's because I find it distasteful to be derogatory about female anatomy.

 

Idk. I guess we all have our own idiosyncratic lines in the sand. 

:iagree:  :iagree:  Also the only word I've never used, partially because Xh used to call me it regularly. I try not to ever refer to another person using certain words but I drive in city traffic so it's pretty much a losing battle. :auto:  :glare:  

[foxbridgeacademy]

Anyway, if you bugger someone, that's a verb, so wouldn't the person doing it be a bugger-er? 

 

Calling someone a bugger doesn't imply that you think they've recently sodomized someone. I mean, seriously, people! All gerunds end in -ing, no exceptions, lol, so bugger as a noun clearly has a different meaning from bugger as a verb. 

 

You can call someone a cheeky little bugger, noun form, with no sexual connotations. 

 

You can say that you spent all night buggering your significant other, gerund noun form, sexual connotation. 

 

You can say he buggered me last night, verb form, sexual connotation. 

 

You could also call someone a buggering sodomite, adjective form, but it would be redundant.

:smilielol5:

[Lady Florida.]

I know it has a different meaning in various British (or formerly British) countries, but where and when I come from a little bugger is basically a harmlessly mischievous child.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Lady Florida

[indigomama]

I accept the challenge.

 

Your last name is ...

 

Heck?

Samhill?

 

No, wait!  I've got it:  Tarnation!

 

 

Hahaha, I didn't mean to set up a challenge of "guess my name" :) I just thought it related to OP's post. Curse words can certainly differ among people/regions/cultures. I (and my in-law's family) obviously don't consider our last name a curse word, but I've met others that do.

[heartlikealion]

Anyway, if you bugger someone, that's a verb, so wouldn't the person doing it be a bugger-er? 

 

Calling someone a bugger doesn't imply that you think they've recently sodomized someone. I mean, seriously, people! All gerunds end in -ing, no exceptions, lol, so bugger as a noun clearly has a different meaning from bugger as a verb. 

 

You can call someone a cheeky little bugger, noun form, with no sexual connotations. 

 

You can say that you spent all night buggering your significant other, gerund noun form, sexual connotation. 

 

You can say he buggered me last night, verb form, sexual connotation. 

 

You could also call someone a buggering sodomite, adjective form, but it would be redundant.

 

This is the point I was trying to make. Nothing I saw made the noun sound sexual. But then bluegoat offered their perspective about the dictionary not being complete. Shrug. I am not around people that use the term so I don't have much to go on.

 

[SKL]

I am in the US and I also associate "bugger" with anal sex.

 

As someone said, being called a d!ck doesn't mean the speaker thinks you're a penis, but you still wouldn't ever call a child a little d!ck, would you?  So for the same reason I would never use "little bugger."

Edited April 8, 2016 by SKL

[SKL]

I have heard people refer to jerks as "old f--k" also, even though "f--k" is a verb.

[Laura Corin]

I have heard people refer to jerks as "old f--k" also, even though "f--k" is a verb.

 

F*** is both a verb and a noun.  'That was a really good f***'

 

L

[Bluegoat]

F*** is both a verb and a noun.  'That was a really good f***'

 

L

 

Is that a noun though?  I'd tend to think of it as a completed action.  Though if you said "You stupid f%$^, that is a noun for sure.  Though I would still strongly associate it with the action - the person is in some way being characterized as an impersonal sexual act.

[Laura Corin]

Is that a noun though?  I'd tend to think of it as a completed action.  Though if you said "You stupid f%$^, that is a noun for sure.  Though I would still strongly associate it with the action - the person is in some way being characterized as an impersonal sexual act.

 

It can take an article, for what that's worth.

 

[SKL]

Well anyway ... FTR I do not call people F---.  :P

[Bluegoat]

It can take an article, for what that's worth.

 

 

I am sure it counts officially as a noun.  But for me those nouns have a relationship to an action, in teh way a noun like "cow" doesn't.

 

Though maybe being a cow means participating in a king of cowiness?  Maybe really, it's all verbs.

[Bluegoat]

Well anyway ... FTR I do not call people F---.  :p

 

It seems to have two different meanings.  One kind of like "screw up" and one like "someone who screws people."  I don't really use it either, but I am not sure what I would say instead.

 

I tend to use a nasty female anatomy word for people who are beyond the pale jerks.  But they have to be pretty bad.

[SKL]

I am sure it counts officially as a noun.  But for me those nouns have a relationship to an action, in teh way a noun like "cow" doesn't.

 

Though maybe being a cow means participating in a king of cowiness?  Maybe really, it's all verbs.

 

Maybe a word like "taste" is a better comparable.  You taste chocolate (v).  You can have a taste (n).

[Bluegoat]

Maybe a word like "taste" is a better comparable.  You taste chocolate (v).  You can have a taste (n).

 

I think it's the same.  If you have a taste, it involves tasting.

[SKL]

I think it's the same.  If you have a taste, it involves tasting.

 

Right, well ....

 

And then you can have a taste of Italy for example.  You are not actually tasting Italy, you might be experiencing some things that are associated with Italy.

 

Or a taste of your own medicine - does not involve the tongue at all.

[Lizzie in Ma]

There is one word that I think is just absolutely vile under any circumstances.  Don't use the Lord's name in vain myself, though I am a prolific and inventive swearer at times.  I like a few because they are expressive and amuse me, current favorites are asshat and crapweasel. ;)  The Supernatural writers come up with clever ones I often adopt.

[Bluegoat]

Right, well ....

 

And then you can have a taste of Italy for example.  You are not actually tasting Italy, you might be experiencing some things that are associated with Italy.

 

Or a taste of your own medicine - does not involve the tongue at all.

 

But in those cases taste is being used as a metaphor for an actual taste.  So, metaphorically, you are in fact tasting your own medicine.

[SKL]

But in those cases taste is being used as a metaphor for an actual taste.  So, metaphorically, you are in fact tasting your own medicine.

 

Bottom line, a nasty word doesn't become kid-friendly just by using it as a noun instead of a verb or some other rationalization.  You wouldn't call a 4yo a "little F---," whether you meant screw-up or sex act.  Same thing with bugger.

 

[Bluegoat]

Bottom line, a nasty word doesn't become kid-friendly just by using it as a noun instead of a verb or some other rationalization.  You wouldn't call a 4yo a "little F---," whether you meant screw-up or sex act.  Same thing with bugger.

 

 

I think when people say this, they are thinking of a totally different meaning for the word.

[Ravin]

a$$ vs d!ck might partly be due to what is more common. It's way more common to hear a$$ and variations of it (a$$hat) than the other. At least, in my personal experience IRL and viewing media. I suppose someone could spin it to say they meant the animal.

 

Yes, I find things to be worse with religious references for the reason stated above.

 

I'm more comfortable with certain expressions than others, even though one may not be "worse" than another. I really despise the word that starts with a t used in place of breasts. One time my MIL used the term ____ baby and my mouth may have dropped. I've also heard "colder than a witch's ____" and it does not sit well with me.

 

As far as pejorative uses of words for male anatomy, the religious group whose gatherings we attend has only one rule for guests (and members) in attendance:

 

"Don't be a d!ck."  :lol:

 

Male anatomy words tend to lack the misogynistic overtones the female ones do.

 

Teats (pronounced with a short "i" sound) is not nearly as charged, IME, as the C-word.

[Ravin]

I am in the US and I also associate "bugger" with sodomy.

 

As someone said, being called a d!ck doesn't mean the speaker thinks you're a penis, but you still wouldn't ever call a child a little d!ck, would you?  So for the same reason I would never use "little bugger."

 

I am in the US and associate the word "bugger" with 1. an old fashioned British slang word for sodomy, or 2. a cheeky Aussie term with broader and less charged usage (as mentioned by Sadie). I might call a child a "little bugger" if I was feeling like using cheeky Aussie slang. But mostly I don't. It is NOT as charged, IME, as "F--".

 

Of course, I don't use the word "sodomy" either. "Anal sex" is a perfectly serviceable term and doesn't reference religious implications of immorality.

[Bluegoat]

I am in the US and associate the word "bugger" with 1. an old fashioned British slang word for sodomy, or 2. a cheeky Aussie term with broader and less charged usage (as mentioned by Sadie). I might call a child a "little bugger" if I was feeling like using cheeky Aussie slang. But mostly I don't. It is NOT as charged, IME, as "F--".

 

Of course, I don't use the word "sodomy" either. "Anal sex" is a perfectly serviceable term and doesn't reference religious implications of immorality.

 

Sodomy actually includes oral sex as well, though for some reason that is not well known.

[heartlikealion]

As far as pejorative uses of words for male anatomy, the religious group whose gatherings we attend has only one rule for guests (and members) in attendance:

 

"Don't be a d!ck."  :lol:

 

Male anatomy words tend to lack the misogynistic overtones the female ones do.

 

Teats (pronounced with a short "i" sound) is not nearly as charged, IME, as the C-word.

 

Teat (long e) and the other word containing "it" are different words to me. I find the c word very charged, but wasn't comparing the two.

Edited April 8, 2016 by heartlikealion

[Bluegoat]

I guess a male anatomy word would not be misogynistic, but I think it does have gender related overtones.  A lot of them seem to me to have an implication of being an oaf, that female anatomy words lack.  As in, the bumbling oaf men who sit and drink beer in commercials, or can't figure out laundry.

[Laura Corin]

I am sure it counts officially as a noun.  But for me those nouns have a relationship to an action, in teh way a noun like "cow" doesn't.

 

Though maybe being a cow means participating in a king of cowiness?  Maybe really, it's all verbs.

 

I like that idea.  Something like Platonic Ideals.  A cow is a pale copy of essential cowiness, cowing furiously, but not achieving the ur cow.

 

Then we would have to move onto 'To have a cow.'  Is that internalising cowiness, verbally expressing it, cowing away?

 

[heartlikealion]

I think when people say this, they are thinking of a totally different meaning for the word.

 

This.

 

[Bluegoat]

I like that idea.  Something like Platonic Ideals.  A cow is a pale copy of essential cowiness, cowing furiously, but not achieving the ur cow.

 

Then we would have to move onto 'To have a cow.'  Is that internalising cowiness, verbally expressing it, cowing away?

 

I always thought "to have a cow" was implying giving birth to a cow.  As in, that would create quite a hullaboo.  But I am not sure I have any good reason to think that.

[Bluegoat]

Teat (long e) and the other word containing "it" are different words to me. I find the c word very charged, but wasn't comparing the two.

 

I remember being at a 4-H show once, and the participants being told that "teat" was the proper word, but "tit" was not.  I don't think of teat as being improper at all.  Tit is slightly rude, but often in a comical way.

[SKL]

I am in the US and associate the word "bugger" with 1. an old fashioned British slang word for sodomy, or 2. a cheeky Aussie term with broader and less charged usage (as mentioned by Sadie). I might call a child a "little bugger" if I was feeling like using cheeky Aussie slang. But mostly I don't. It is NOT as charged, IME, as "F--".

 

Of course, I don't use the word "sodomy" either. "Anal sex" is a perfectly serviceable term and doesn't reference religious implications of immorality.

 

I agree "sodomy" was not the best word choice, but any term with sexual connotations does not work for talking about a child IMO.

[SKL]

I remember being at a 4-H show once, and the participants being told that "teat" was the proper word, but "tit" was not.  I don't think of teat as being improper at all.  Tit is slightly rude, but often in a comical way.

 

This reminds me of something my sister told me.  As a youngster, she asked the difference between f--k and frick.  She was told:  "People f--k.  Dogs frick."  Never heard that anywhere else, might be considered archaic now.  :P

 

[Laura Corin]

This reminds me of something my sister told me.  As a youngster, she asked the difference between f--k and frick.  She was told:  "People f--k.  Dogs frick."  Never heard that anywhere else, might be considered archaic now.  :p

 

 

The word 'frig' is used more than 'frick' in the UK as a lesser version of f***.  It has its own meaning, however (masturbation, particularly female - I looked it up and it derives from the Middle English for 'to wriggle').

 

Edited April 8, 2016 by Laura Corin

[Miss Mousie]

I am sure it counts officially as a noun.  But for me those nouns have a relationship to an action, in teh way a noun like "cow" doesn't.

 

Though maybe being a cow means participating in a king of cowiness?  Maybe really, it's all verbs.

 

But one can be cowed....

 

I love words.  :)  Words are fun.

[Laura Corin]

But one can be cowed....

 

I love words.  :)  Words are fun.

 

And one can cow someone, 'She cowed her son into submission'.

 

[Lady Florida.]

Only on the WTM forums do you find a discussion about the grammatically correct way to use specific swear words.  :lol:  :smilielol5:

[foxbridgeacademy]

I always thought "to have a cow" was implying giving birth to a cow.  As in, that would create quite a hullaboo.  But I am not sure I have any good reason to think that.

I've seen a cow give birth and I can't imagine the term "have a cow" meaning anything else. Seriously you'd think someone was killing her the way she wailed about it.  Maybe it was just our cow?

[foxbridgeacademy]

The word 'frig' is used more than 'frick' in the UK as a lesser version of f***.  It has its own meaning, however (masturbation, particularly female - I looked it up and it derives from the Middle English for 'to wriggle').

 

Huh. I've tried over the years to "clean up" my language by replacing f*** with frick.  Who knew I was suggesting..... well shoot, now I don't know what I'm going to use. Thanks Laura  :glare: .   :lol:

[Laura Corin]

Huh. I've tried over the years to "clean up" my language by replacing f*** with frick. Who knew I was suggesting..... well shoot, now I don't know what I'm going to use. Thanks Laura :glare: . :lol:

I don't know if frick and frig mean the same though.

[Guest]

I don't know if frick and frig mean the same though.

The Assistant Headmaster at my son's school goes by the nickname "Frick." I think his given name is Frederick, but he is always called by Frick.

 

I do say "Frickin'" or "freakin" as a substitute F-word.

[Laura Corin]

 

I do say "Frickin'" or "freakin" as a substitute F-word.

 

According to the OED you are right: 'Fricking' is a 1930s substitute for the F word, whereas 'Frigging' refers to female masturbation.

[Lady Florida.]

Huh. So many varieties and other meanings of the f-word replacement. In NE NJ in the 60s (we moved in 1969 so if the slang changed after that I'm unaware) frig and friggin' were a substitute for the f-word. I also heard it through the 70s here in Florida. Frikkin' or fricking (sometimes spelled with kk, sometimes with ck, sometimes dropping the g, but all the same meaning) were also a substitute I started hearing in the late 70s - early 80s in both Georgia and Florida. After the popularity of the show in the 2000s (not so much after the movie or the first tv series), frak and frakking became popular around here. 

 

It seems to me that one should either use the full term f#$k or not at all. Even when a substitute is said around kids or someone who would be offended by the f-word, no one is really being fooled, and in the case of kids who might not know the actual word, they do know you're saying a "bad" word.

 

As we know, words and phrases do mean different things in different parts of one country, as well as in different countries that essentially speak the same language. I had a pen pal from Syracuse, NY, starting in high school, and continuing until we lost touch when we were somewhere in our 20s. One year when we were in college. our spring break weeks coincided and she came down for a visit. This was our first of only two meetings in all the years we wrote.

 

She was staying with my family but wanted to experience a Daytona Beach spring break (about 45 north of me) so we, and another friend of mine split the cost of a room for a weekend. We were discussing what we wanted to do that evening after we came off the beach and took showers. My friend and I suggested we go out and party. My pen pal got very quiet and said no thanks, she'll just stay in. It took some coaxing and discussion before we discovered that word meant something completely different to her. Partying meant going to do drugs, any kind of drugs. To my friend and me it simply meant going dancing at clubs. 

 

Oh, and meanings change as well. At one time to hook up simply meant to meet up. Ds had to tell me to stop using that phrase.  :lol:

[foxbridgeacademy]

According to the OED you are right: 'Fricking' is a 1930s substitute for the F word, whereas 'Frigging' refers to female masturbation.

I say that one too. :blushing:

[SparklyUnicorn]

I guess there are all kinds of people in the world.  There aren't too many swears that bother me.  Yet some people are bothered by damn.  So whatever.  At some point we will piss someone off.  I'm sure someone here is pissed off that I said pissed off.