• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

The Power Of Swearing

That's never rung true with me. You wouldn't be saying 'Ow, my by Our Lady toe!'

Nope, it's an urban myth, bloody literally means what its says, i.e. to hit someone until blood comes out of them. It's a violence swear word, not a religious one.
 
Semi-interactive Periodic Table of Swearing, from Modern Toss.

I'm sure most people here will have heard most of these technical terms now and then, but it's decidedly-odd seeing them so...graphically layed-out.

Infinitely NSFW...you have been warned (especially if the audio play option is enabled)
http://ptos.moderntoss.com
 
Maybe the fact the most potent swear words in English, are still Anglo Saxon words, is relevant. We began to 'lose' that language nearly 1000 years ago, but still access it automatically, when swearing.

In the early, 1990s, I had a job teaching in the US and once horrified my class of middle school aged kids by casually letting drop the word "Hell!" Not particularly the bible belt, although it was a smalltown where a lot of people did go to church of a Sunday... They seemed horrified. I had to explain it wasn't really seen as a swear word at all "where I come from". The religious ones have lost their power over us, here.

Years ago, can't recall where, I saw a study on the kind of swearwords women use in childbirth and it varies (god-related or not) according to the ambient culture.
 
My granfer used to say that swearing is ''the act of a feeble mind trying to express itself forcefully''.
My grandad was in the trenches for four years of WW1 and a sargeant in WW2 which he fought the whole way through... so literally swore like a fecking trooper. Without the 'e'. And taught us songs about prostitutes. He was ace. My mother was not thrilled.
 
Maybe the fact the most potent swear words in English, are still Anglo Saxon words, is relevant. We began to 'lose' that language nearly 1000 years ago, but still access it automatically, when swearing.

In the early, 1990s, I had a job teaching in the US and once horrified my class of middle school aged kids by casually letting drop the word "Hell!" Not particularly the bible belt, although it was a smalltown where a lot of people did go to church of a Sunday... They seemed horrified. I had to explain it wasn't really seen as a swear word at all "where I come from". The religious ones have lost their power over us, here.

I remember seeing Michelle Pfeiffer on The Graham Norton Show, and she was mid-anecdote when she paused, then asked if she could swear. Expecting the F word, everyone fell about when her swear turned out to be "Hell!"
 
I love a bit of swearing. Because I tend to adopt the parlance of an Edwardian gentleman on some gala occasions, I find the odd ‘Bollocky Fuckpig’ makes an excellent counterpoint to the otherwise civilised discussions over the cheese and biscuits.
Worse than this, I WILL misuse apostrophes to the point of buggeration.
 
I love a bit of swearing. Because I tend to adopt the parlance of an Edwardian gentleman on some gala occasions, I find the odd ‘Bollocky Fuckpig’ makes an excellent counterpoint to the otherwise civilised discussions over the cheese and biscuits.
Worse than this, I WILL misuse apostrophes to the point of buggeration.

My late, much missed friend was so posh she is listed in Burke's Peerage. Which I never knew when she was alive - found out later. She had a cut glass accent, and she'd gone to poshest girls' school in England - again I only found that out after she died.

She'd drop in some casual swears, and the contrast between her posh accent and the f bombs was beautiful.
 
wonder if anyone's ever compiled a list of such veer-away exclamations ... :thought:
I have yet to compile a definitive list, but I was tickled by an American colleague who reported "cheese and rice" as a swerve away from invoking a well-known religious figure. Also, the - apparently non-ironic - use of "shut the front door" as a euphemistic imprecation to cease verbal communication.
 
Last edited:
I have yet to compile a definitive list, but I was tickled by an American colleague who reported "cheese and rice" as a swerve away from invoking a well-known religious figure. Also, the - apparently non-ironic - use of "shut the front door" as a euphemistic imprecation to cease verbal communication.

The "shut the front door" minced oath is indeed a euphemism for "shut the fuck up", but that usage usually expresses surprise or amazement at something rather than the more literal "stop talking".
 
that usage usually expresses surprise or amazement at something rather than the more literal "stop talking".
I stand corrected - thanks for drawing my attention to the distinction. In my defence, I was probably laughing too much to pay attention to the precise meaning as my colleague recounted it. :D
 
I stand corrected - thanks for drawing my attention to the distinction. In my defence, I was probably laughing too much to pay attention to the precise meaning as my colleague recounted it. :D

There's an amusing variation in the film Office Christmas Party: "Shut the fuck door!"
 
Swearing is an indication of a limited vocabulary.

If all around you are swearing while you don't; you need to find new friends.

INT21
 
Swearing is an indication of a limited vocabulary.

If all around you are swearing while you don't; you need to find new friends.

INT21

My mum used to say this, until I pointed out to her that I had a vocabulary as extensive as her own AND used the naughty words she wouldn't, which made my vocabulary greater than hers. To her credit, she never hesitated to use those same naughty words in a game of Scrabble if it ensured her victory.
 
A bad habit picked up from adult content?
Don't ever say cunt .. that's a hard one for anyone to stick up for you for .. no one apart from my mate Craig in Cromer can get away with that one .. Craig has a cult following for overtly saying it but at a cost he's willing to embrace ..

.. ridiculous really when you stop and think about it because you'd be hard pressed to find a contemporary derogatory word aimed at men that isn't male genitalia based .. cock, dick, nob, wanker etc etc .. apparently the c "bomb" is just too much for today's strong women to be able to handle? .. apart from the Mrs, she thinks it's hilarious .. :)
 
Last edited:
.. ridiculous really when you stop and think about it because you'd be hard pressed to find a contemporary derogatory word aimed at men that isn't male genitalia based .. cock, dick, nob, wanker etc etc .. apparently the c "bomb" is just too much for today's strong women to be able to handle? .. apart from the Mrs, she thinks it's hilarious .. :)
Well... there's 'twat'...
 
Yea, pussy
Pussy could be female orientated or could also just mean 'soft as a pussy cat' .. so other than cunt, twat and pussy, I'm struggling to think of any more female genitalia specific insults in comparison to the many penis related verbal insults (not that I lose sleep over that) .. apart from perhaps 'ginger minge'? aka Prince Harry ..
 
Pussy could be female orientated or could also just mean 'soft as a pussy cat' .. so other than cunt, twat and pussy, I'm struggling to think of any more female genitalia specific insults in comparison to the many penis related verbal insults (not that I lose sleep over that) .. apart from perhaps 'ginger minge'? aka Prince Harry ..
:cat:There's also cooch, cooze, fud, poontang, quim, and vag.:cat:
(I'm still within the guidelines, yes?)

That's an insult to the memory of Simian Bolivar.
:chimp:He was an expert at gorilla warfare.:chimp:
 
Back
Top