Just as a random aside, as there are several people here who apparently dislike reading some words can I ask if any of them have enabled the profanity filters available for most (if not all) browsers?
Just FYI: I don't think any of us are reaching for our smelling salts and having an attack of the vapors!
No, I don't use profanity filters. I think I tried them in a chatroom somewhere, and they blocked a lot of words that aren't profanity, and got in the way of conversation.
I do use the DeTrumpify blocker (free, and easy to find online). You can choose different substitute words and pictures, which sites, etc. I think I started with the pics. (I usually use kittens.) Then I added blocking T's name, which can be done several ways. I chose what was labeled as "clean", which has Shakespearean insults. So I rarely have to see his face or name. You can also set it to block the names of his various minions. I do have to be careful if I quote a post that mentions him, because the insults transfer over! So I have to remember to change Shakespearean epithets back to T's name.
Anyway, the reaction we're having isn't "OMG, a bad word! Where is my swooning settee?" It's "This is a word that severely disrespects women and is directly hurtful and harmful, so please don't use it".
Anyway, the reaction we're having isn't "OMG, a bad word! Where is my swooning settee?" It's "This is a word that severely disrespects women and is directly hurtful and harmful, so please don't use it".
In North America. In the UK it is not perceived that way. It's on a level with fuck and motherfucker in the broadcasting standards.
May I respectfully ask a question of those Shipmates who either think this is no big deal, or think that those of us who think it is a big deal are being precious, Puritanical, puffed up, etc.:
Not at all, so far as personal motivations can be discerned on an internet forum. It is a big deal what language we use, undoubtedly. They just have an attitude towards a particular word that isn't necessarily shared universally by the rest of the English speaking world, and this seems to confound some people's understanding as to why this word isn't universally objected to. And this lack of understanding appears to be travelling in both directions.
Are there words that *you, personally* purposely don't use, whether on the Ship or elsewhere?
Many. There are also some words on the Ship that I find jar very strongly and unpleasantly with me. I would also not use in public hearing or in ordinary conversation some of the stronger language I'd use on the Ship, because in those contexts it would be inappropriate and additionally throwing bad language into the air around others who may overhear them, I think would be a kind of pollution of their 'air space'.
Do you use--here on the Ship--words like the n-word, k-word, the 3-letter f-word for gay men, the p-word for Pakistanis, etc.? If you don't use them, what is the difference about the c-word?
No because these examples are almost (though not necessarily) universally used across the English speaking world as deliberately racially insulting or insulting of a person's sexuality - certainly in Europe. Whereas the C-word can be used that way but often isn't, at least in many contexts this side of the Herring Pond. If someone called a black person 'a stupid n...' they are probably being insulting about the blackness of that person and their ethnic identity. If a crowd of Irish football supporters on the ferry home are calling each other 'daft c's', they're probably drinking a bit too much and enjoying each other's company.
If you used--here or elsewhere--any of the words I just mentioned, not understanding that they're hurtful, and found they were hurtful for someone who was actually present, would you continue to use them when that person or similar people were present? Why or why not?
Thx.
Not any more. And naturally as a result of this thread I would be always anxious about who is going to be hurt every time I posted an epithet of any kind strongly expressed. The C word is hardly likely to be the only word associated with terror or abuse for many posters here, after all, is it?
Yes, I was wondering, just as fuck is quite common on British TV, will cunt go the same way. Possibly not, since maybe we need an ultimate forbidden word/insult. My subjective impression, away from TV, is that they are all common. Witness cunt-gate in relation to cricket, well, the cricket commentator, Agnew. But he is posh, and all posh people say cunt, don't they?
Come to that I have heard someone use the phrase “being a lesbian is not all sex swings and dildos” in a comedy show at 6:30pm on BBC radio 4. I get the impression, from this thread, that US public service broadcasting maybe be somewhat more conservative about language outside the late night slots.
Why that feels odd, is that imported US tv shows and films that we see in the UK often contain very strong language and sexual and violent content. I know I stopped watching an HBO series about Rome some years ago because I found the casual sexual violence - portrayed I felt in a voyeristic way - too unpleasant. (I think a woman was raped in the first half hour.)
But nobody said cunt, so presumably that is somehow OK.
I still remember the gasps of disbelieving astonishment from my parents when during the 70's, we were watching an American film, intended for family viewing I'm sure, and a character, after giving his wife a playful smack on the bottom in front of their child, said cheerfully: 'Hey, there's nothing wrong with a boy seeing his dad smack his wife on the fanny!' Up to that point I'd never heard anything that was both so egregiously filthy and hilarious at the same time.
Speaking as an American, to me 'fanny' means buttocks, not genitals.
To all the conscientious objectors, is Dead Horses your favourite board? Are there any realms of argument where they are simply too pointless and futile that you can't be bothered to ensure that every single participant agrees with you?
No, that's too obvious. Let's ask the real question:
When having it pointed out that you are already getting pretty much exactly what you asked for, what compels you to rabbit out the exact same exasperation over again? Because, as a reminder, there are exactly zero participants asking to use the word cunt - just disagreements about fine gradations about how much we dislike it.
Well, except for one, I suppose. You cunts have convinced me that I need to use cunts more, because I'm really cunting done with all of you. I'm going to call all of you cunts every mothercunting day that some cunt cuntsplains on this cuntacular thread.
I had to laugh, reading a book review about Rupert Brooke, who writes to James Strachey, (translator of Freud), about a girl they both fancied, no point in arguing, "on the off-chance of a cunt". Stands the church clock at ten to three?
I had to laugh, reading a book review about Rupert Brooke, who writes to James Strachey, (translator of Freud), about a girl they both fancied, no point in arguing, "on the off-chance of a cunt". Stands the church clock at ten to three?
"Fancied" and cunt"in this context means "I want to fuck her" does it? Nice. Really nice.
(Steps onto soapbox)
Courtesy is a two-way street.
Americans and Canadians should be aware that cunt is a commonly used UK swearword that, typically, doesn't carry any negative connotations towards women.
Brits should be aware that Americans and Canadians might feel a visceral reaction to the word because it most often does have misogynistic meaning to them.
Courtesy dictates that both sides should consider the other when the issue arises.
(Steps off soapbox)
Anyway, the reaction we're having isn't "OMG, a bad word! Where is my swooning settee?" It's "This is a word that severely disrespects women and is directly hurtful and harmful, so please don't use it".
In North America. In the UK it is not perceived that way. It's on a level with fuck and motherfucker in the broadcasting standards.
In the official guidance those three words are equated. In actual practice, however, cunt is used far less than either fuck or motherfucker. I've seen several instances where a guest on a show would freely use fuck or motherfucker and yet ask if "the c-word" were OK. If a counter were used, I'd feel confident enough to wager that one word is used far less than the others.
Checking published OFCOM complaints, the last published complaint about the use of cunt was in 2016 on the now banned Jeremy Kyle show - as being broadcast before the watershed. There were two upheld complaints in 2018 of the use of motherfucker, the second in an imported programme from the US, one in August and the other in December. I haven't bothered pushing back farther than that.
That confirms up my impression that in the UK motherfucker is worse than cunt. Motherfucker tends to be used aggressively and provocatively and you don't hear it so much in the gentle reproof and joshing where you hear cunt. Calling someone on their mother tends to be enough to cause a fight in my experience.
Checking published OFCOM complaints, the last published complaint about the use of cunt was in 2016 on the now banned Jeremy Kyle show - as being broadcast before the watershed. There were two upheld complaints in 2018 of the use of motherfucker, the second in an imported programme from the US, one in August and the other in December. I haven't bothered pushing back farther than that.
That confirms up my impression that in the UK motherfucker is worse than cunt. Motherfucker tends to be used aggressively and provocatively and you don't hear it so much in the gentle reproof and joshing where you hear cunt. Calling someone on their mother tends to be enough to cause a fight in my experience.
My, probably dodgy, memory recalls more motherfuckers. But then, I do watch plenty of American action films and one Sam Jackson appearance would probably fill the BBC quota into the next century.
... the gentle reproof and joshing where you hear cunt ...
I must have led a very sheltered life, but I really don't think the word c*nt comes into the "gentle reproof and joshing" category.
I don't see it as particularly mysoginistic (I've heard it addressed by men or women to men or women), but I do see it as extremely coarse (much worse than the f-word, which I do confess to using, although rarely in print), and would only ever use it under my breath when very angry.
I'm not quite convinced it should be banned on the Ship: apart from this thread its use seems to be fairly rare, and mostly restricted to describing politicians, most of whom have probably deserved it.
I don't think I've ever heard a non-American use the word motherf*cker, and as far as I'm concerned they can keep it.
Cunt can be used affectionately in fact, I don't think one can restrict its register to angry or aggressive. See the Irish examples given by Anselmina. Then there's Lawrence, "tell lady Jane tha wants cunt, John Thomas an th'cunt o'lady Jane", etc.
Cunt can be used affectionately in fact, I don't think one can restrict its register to angry or aggressive. See the Irish examples given by Anselmina. Then there's Lawrence, "tell lady Jane tha wants cunt, John Thomas an th'cunt o'lady Jane", etc.
Have you tried this word at home as a term of affection? Would you use it for your spouse or your children too? How'd that go?
It's not a word I'd personally use affectionately, it's not in my usual vocabulary, but I have had it addressed to me affectionately, and I didn't react badly. Along the lines of Come here you stupid cunt - asking me to come over for a hug after I'd done something stupid. Ricky Gervais agrees as does Jon Ronson, and this Guardian article from 2016, which suggests that affectionate use is common:
One of my closest friends regularly greets me with “all right, you little cunt” when “hello” would probably suffice. Meanwhile another pal refers to us as “a pair of cunts”, to indicate our strength of friendship and unique bond.
You do realise, that each time you query this, you'll get more examples? Because we really aren't kidding about how common this is in normal speech. Here's a Quora comment on the differences between Canada and the UK.
I think if I were to refer to the Conservative leadership candidate as Mr Rhyming Slang in his presence I'd be unwise to plan on him offering me a lift home afterwards.
But if I used an opprobrious racial epithet of someone I'd be unwise to expect a lift home from third parties, even those who shared my general emotional appraisal of the target.
I still remember the gasps of disbelieving astonishment from my parents when during the 70's, we were watching an American film, intended for family viewing I'm sure, and a character, after giving his wife a playful smack on the bottom in front of their child, said cheerfully: 'Hey, there's nothing wrong with a boy seeing his dad smack his wife on the fanny!' Up to that point I'd never heard anything that was both so egregiously filthy and hilarious at the same time.
Speaking as an American, to me 'fanny' means buttocks, not genitals.
Yup. In the US, it means "back bottom", and "front bottom" in the UK. (Picked that up from some British film/show--possibly the excellent film "Calendar Girls".)
As to the belted packs worn around a person's middle, IME they're called "waist" or "hip" packs most often now.
This cunt gift store is in no way safe for work, however, it also contains things people actually buy for people they care about using cunt as a term of endearment.
I'm not quite convinced it should be banned on the Ship: apart from this thread its use seems to be fairly rare, and mostly restricted to describing politicians, most of whom have probably deserved it.
I don't think I've ever heard a non-American use the word motherf*cker, and as far as I'm concerned they can keep it.
Re using MF:
IME, most Americans don't use it at all. Those who do may well have picked it up from films. (Not sure if it's allowed on TV, though I think talk show guests may sometimes try to use it.) When people use it (or other words of that strength), it's usually when they are suddenly and/or extremely angry, which can make it pretty scary.
Some people may use it for shock value.
Re banning the c-word on the Ship:
No one that I know of is asking for it to be officially banned. Just not used. Just as the n-word and other such aren't used.
And if Shipmates from other countries have similar feelings about words that Americans use, please let us know.
Calling someone on their mother tends to be enough to cause a fight in my experience.
Would you help me with your wording, please? Do you mean that it's used as an insult to the person's mother? IME in the US, the insult is usually aimed at the person. *Sometimes*, it's used as a pun: "And she's one tough mother". Generally used for advertising a character from TV/film.
Back in the '70s, there was a meme of jokes starting with "your mother is so low that she..." Some were on the old "Welcome Back, Kotter" school sitcom. Though even those were intended more as an insult to the listener than to their mother, and used in one-upping each other. ("Well, your mother...")
CK, if I may ask: Why have you put so much time, effort, and research into your posts on this thread? Not poking at you, just trying to understand.
Cunt can be used affectionately in fact, I don't think one can restrict its register to angry or aggressive. See the Irish examples given by Anselmina. Then there's Lawrence, "tell lady Jane tha wants cunt, John Thomas an th'cunt o'lady Jane", etc.
Have you tried this word at home as a term of affection? Would you use it for your spouse or your children too? How'd that go?
That doesn't make sense. Do you think I said that it can be used affectionately by everyone? I didn't say that.
Insults addressed to others about their mothers or their relationship with their mother are a big cause of schoolyard fights, and probably in the drinking culture. And if you read the links above you'll see that motherfucker is not much used in English English and is only used to be insulting, other than some of the other swearwords.
When I first came to London, there were all these workmen talking about Kant, and even calling each other Kant. I thought this was very exciting, and asked one of them about the Critique of Practical Reason, but he looked at me sideways, and kept saying "Kant". I think I need to brush up on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime, and then have another go. Wish me luck.
When my daughter was very little, I wasn’t so keen on any of the words that existed for her bits, so I coined ‘Lady Gaga’. Which was great, until she reached 6 or so, and discovered there was a pop star with the same name, which she thought was the funniest thing ever.
Made funnier by the persistent, but I understand false, claims a few years ago that Lady Gaga was an hermaphrodite, possessing both sets of equipment.
Were ThunderBunk an hermaphrodite, the instruction to "Go fuck yourself" would, of course, take on a whole new meaning.
Insults addressed to others about their mothers or their relationship with their mother are a big cause of schoolyard fights, and probably in the drinking culture. And if you read the links above you'll see that motherfucker is not much used in English English and is only used to be insulting, other than some of the other swearwords.
I have put this much time and research into many other threads I've been involved in - you just haven't been on those threads.
Words like fuck and cunt are of great interest linguistically, psychologically and sociologically. One of my students did a dissertation on the linguistic uses of fuck, very good. It's grammatically very versatile e.g., fuck knows. Haven't given much thought to cunt, although "cunting" is an interesting usage.
May I respectfully ask a question of those Shipmates who either think this is no big deal, or think that those of us who think it is a big deal are being precious, Puritanical, puffed up, etc.:
Are there words that *you, personally* purposely don't use, whether on the Ship or elsewhere?
Do you use--here on the Ship--words like the n-word, k-word, the 3-letter f-word for gay men, the p-word for Pakistanis, etc.? If you don't use them, what is the difference about the c-word?
If you used--here or elsewhere--any of the words I just mentioned, not understanding that they're hurtful, and found they were hurtful for someone who was actually present, would you continue to use them when that person or similar people were present? Why or why not?
Thx.
FWIW I don't use the p-word for Pakistanis. Mostly because my daughter is married to a British Asian, but additionally because "Paki" is a derogatory, inflammatory and usually inaccurate term for anyone from North Africa to Burma (my son-in-law's parents are from Bangladesh).
I don't use the n-word either, but the k-word and the f-word just aren't in my vocabulary.
I don't have the same attitude to the c-word because it isn't as inflammatory in Britain and Ireland (and it seems, Australia).
Cunt can be used affectionately in fact, I don't think one can restrict its register to angry or aggressive. See the Irish examples given by Anselmina. Then there's Lawrence, "tell lady Jane tha wants cunt, John Thomas an th'cunt o'lady Jane", etc.
Have you tried this word at home as a term of affection? Would you use it for your spouse or your children too? How'd that go?
That doesn't make sense. Do you think I said that it can be used affectionately by everyone? I didn't say that.
Your post moves in the direction of minimization and normalization.
How about a normalization parallel? We just had Father's Day. "Affectionately" and humorously it could be Motherfucker's Day. Literally. (Involving mother's affectionately named body part.)
When I first came to London, there were all these workmen talking about Kant, and even calling each other Kant. I thought this was very exciting, and asked one of them about the Critique of Practical Reason, but he looked at me sideways, and kept saying "Kant". I think I need to brush up on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime, and then have another go. Wish me luck.
I remember a friend of mine was studying Kant in his third year of university, and found it a frustrating experience. He called complained at length about his frustrations with Kant to his mother when he was home for Thanksgiving weekend. Apparently she misunderstood.
No one that I know of is asking for it to be officially banned. Just not used.
That's nice, dear. We did in fact hear you all the other times you posted this exact same idiocy.
If someone were to suggest repeatedly that they don't want a particular person to be killed by a firing squad, just that they wanted them to die, wouldn't you wonder what their fucking point is?
Cunt can be used affectionately in fact, I don't think one can restrict its register to angry or aggressive. See the Irish examples given by Anselmina. Then there's Lawrence, "tell lady Jane tha wants cunt, John Thomas an th'cunt o'lady Jane", etc.
Have you tried this word at home as a term of affection? Would you use it for your spouse or your children too? How'd that go?
You have obviously never visited Scotland or spent much time with anyone from there. (Link is almost certainly NSFW).
This thread has been interesting for a few reasons.
There’s the refusal to even acknowledge the pond difference or consider that the word may have different connotations elsewhere. (All those examples posted by CK were attempts to demonstrate this point. We are truly nations divided by a common language).
Then there’s the disconnect between what people say and what they do.
If you say you’re concerned about the hurt caused by using offense words, but your response to someone arguing that point by shouting, swearing, using racial abuse, comparing those who disagree with them with racists and implying they are somehow lesser is either silence or to thank them, then I may consider you to be slightly full of it.
Even more so when you consider the word and the fact the person who's adopted that style of arguing is a man and those who he is arguing with are mainly women.
Cunt can be used affectionately in fact, I don't think one can restrict its register to angry or aggressive. See the Irish examples given by Anselmina. Then there's Lawrence, "tell lady Jane tha wants cunt, John Thomas an th'cunt o'lady Jane", etc.
Have you tried this word at home as a term of affection? Would you use it for your spouse or your children too? How'd that go?
You have obviously never visited Scotland or spent much time with anyone from there. (Link is almost certainly NSFW).
This thread has been interesting for a few reasons.
There’s the refusal to even acknowledge the pond difference or consider that the word may have different connotations elsewhere. (All those examples posted by CK were attempts to demonstrate this point. We are truly nations divided by a common language).
Though I'd point out that usage is not consistent in the UK. Whilst some would use it casually, there is a reason it is limited in broadcasting guidance.
Though finding the same level of offence in the UK that exists in the US would be very difficult to find, if not impossible.
Comments
Just FYI: I don't think any of us are reaching for our smelling salts and having an attack of the vapors!
No, I don't use profanity filters. I think I tried them in a chatroom somewhere, and they blocked a lot of words that aren't profanity, and got in the way of conversation.
I do use the DeTrumpify blocker (free, and easy to find online). You can choose different substitute words and pictures, which sites, etc. I think I started with the pics. (I usually use kittens.) Then I added blocking T's name, which can be done several ways. I chose what was labeled as "clean", which has Shakespearean insults. So I rarely have to see his face or name. You can also set it to block the names of his various minions. I do have to be careful if I quote a post that mentions him, because the insults transfer over! So I have to remember to change Shakespearean epithets back to T's name.
Anyway, the reaction we're having isn't "OMG, a bad word! Where is my swooning settee?" It's "This is a word that severely disrespects women and is directly hurtful and harmful, so please don't use it".
In North America. In the UK it is not perceived that way. It's on a level with fuck and motherfucker in the broadcasting standards.
Not at all, so far as personal motivations can be discerned on an internet forum. It is a big deal what language we use, undoubtedly. They just have an attitude towards a particular word that isn't necessarily shared universally by the rest of the English speaking world, and this seems to confound some people's understanding as to why this word isn't universally objected to. And this lack of understanding appears to be travelling in both directions.
Many. There are also some words on the Ship that I find jar very strongly and unpleasantly with me. I would also not use in public hearing or in ordinary conversation some of the stronger language I'd use on the Ship, because in those contexts it would be inappropriate and additionally throwing bad language into the air around others who may overhear them, I think would be a kind of pollution of their 'air space'.
No because these examples are almost (though not necessarily) universally used across the English speaking world as deliberately racially insulting or insulting of a person's sexuality - certainly in Europe. Whereas the C-word can be used that way but often isn't, at least in many contexts this side of the Herring Pond. If someone called a black person 'a stupid n...' they are probably being insulting about the blackness of that person and their ethnic identity. If a crowd of Irish football supporters on the ferry home are calling each other 'daft c's', they're probably drinking a bit too much and enjoying each other's company.
Not any more. And naturally as a result of this thread I would be always anxious about who is going to be hurt every time I posted an epithet of any kind strongly expressed. The C word is hardly likely to be the only word associated with terror or abuse for many posters here, after all, is it?
Come to that I have heard someone use the phrase “being a lesbian is not all sex swings and dildos” in a comedy show at 6:30pm on BBC radio 4. I get the impression, from this thread, that US public service broadcasting maybe be somewhat more conservative about language outside the late night slots.
Why that feels odd, is that imported US tv shows and films that we see in the UK often contain very strong language and sexual and violent content. I know I stopped watching an HBO series about Rome some years ago because I found the casual sexual violence - portrayed I felt in a voyeristic way - too unpleasant. (I think a woman was raped in the first half hour.)
But nobody said cunt, so presumably that is somehow OK.
Speaking as an American, to me 'fanny' means buttocks, not genitals.
Sweet FA is generally accepted to be a contraction of Sweet fuck all. Nothing.
Sweet Fanny Adams is used as a euphemism for sweet fuck all.
No, that's too obvious. Let's ask the real question:
When having it pointed out that you are already getting pretty much exactly what you asked for, what compels you to rabbit out the exact same exasperation over again? Because, as a reminder, there are exactly zero participants asking to use the word cunt - just disagreements about fine gradations about how much we dislike it.
Well, except for one, I suppose. You cunts have convinced me that I need to use cunts more, because I'm really cunting done with all of you. I'm going to call all of you cunts every mothercunting day that some cunt cuntsplains on this cuntacular thread.
Cunts.
Blokes sniggering about the offence I feel doesn’t help either.
This thread has been counterproductive.
I’m out.
Courtesy is a two-way street.
Americans and Canadians should be aware that cunt is a commonly used UK swearword that, typically, doesn't carry any negative connotations towards women.
Brits should be aware that Americans and Canadians might feel a visceral reaction to the word because it most often does have misogynistic meaning to them.
Courtesy dictates that both sides should consider the other when the issue arises.
(Steps off soapbox)
In the official guidance those three words are equated. In actual practice, however, cunt is used far less than either fuck or motherfucker. I've seen several instances where a guest on a show would freely use fuck or motherfucker and yet ask if "the c-word" were OK. If a counter were used, I'd feel confident enough to wager that one word is used far less than the others.
That confirms up my impression that in the UK motherfucker is worse than cunt. Motherfucker tends to be used aggressively and provocatively and you don't hear it so much in the gentle reproof and joshing where you hear cunt. Calling someone on their mother tends to be enough to cause a fight in my experience.
I don't see it as particularly mysoginistic (I've heard it addressed by men or women to men or women), but I do see it as extremely coarse (much worse than the f-word, which I do confess to using, although rarely in print), and would only ever use it under my breath when very angry.
I'm not quite convinced it should be banned on the Ship: apart from this thread its use seems to be fairly rare, and mostly restricted to describing politicians, most of whom have probably deserved it.
I don't think I've ever heard a non-American use the word motherf*cker, and as far as I'm concerned they can keep it.
That's not intended as a challenge btw. It won't end well.
'Cunt' in its original meaning doesn't bother me. Its use in other contexts does.
You do realise, that each time you query this, you'll get more examples? Because we really aren't kidding about how common this is in normal speech. Here's a Quora comment on the differences between Canada and the UK.
But if I used an opprobrious racial epithet of someone I'd be unwise to expect a lift home from third parties, even those who shared my general emotional appraisal of the target.
Yup. In the US, it means "back bottom", and "front bottom" in the UK. (Picked that up from some British film/show--possibly the excellent film "Calendar Girls".)
As to the belted packs worn around a person's middle, IME they're called "waist" or "hip" packs most often now.
Re using MF:
IME, most Americans don't use it at all. Those who do may well have picked it up from films. (Not sure if it's allowed on TV, though I think talk show guests may sometimes try to use it.) When people use it (or other words of that strength), it's usually when they are suddenly and/or extremely angry, which can make it pretty scary.
Some people may use it for shock value.
Re banning the c-word on the Ship:
No one that I know of is asking for it to be officially banned. Just not used. Just as the n-word and other such aren't used.
And if Shipmates from other countries have similar feelings about words that Americans use, please let us know.
Would you help me with your wording, please? Do you mean that it's used as an insult to the person's mother? IME in the US, the insult is usually aimed at the person. *Sometimes*, it's used as a pun: "And she's one tough mother". Generally used for advertising a character from TV/film.
Back in the '70s, there was a meme of jokes starting with "your mother is so low that she..." Some were on the old "Welcome Back, Kotter" school sitcom. Though even those were intended more as an insult to the listener than to their mother, and used in one-upping each other. ("Well, your mother...")
CK, if I may ask: Why have you put so much time, effort, and research into your posts on this thread? Not poking at you, just trying to understand.
Thx.
That doesn't make sense. Do you think I said that it can be used affectionately by everyone? I didn't say that.
Just because I found it, Teacher Luke's Guide to swearing, which has a list of swearwords and a pod cast.
I have put this much time and research into many other threads I've been involved in - you just haven't been on those threads.
Made funnier by the persistent, but I understand false, claims a few years ago that Lady Gaga was an hermaphrodite, possessing both sets of equipment.
Were ThunderBunk an hermaphrodite, the instruction to "Go fuck yourself" would, of course, take on a whole new meaning.
Words like fuck and cunt are of great interest linguistically, psychologically and sociologically. One of my students did a dissertation on the linguistic uses of fuck, very good. It's grammatically very versatile e.g., fuck knows. Haven't given much thought to cunt, although "cunting" is an interesting usage.
FWIW I don't use the p-word for Pakistanis. Mostly because my daughter is married to a British Asian, but additionally because "Paki" is a derogatory, inflammatory and usually inaccurate term for anyone from North Africa to Burma (my son-in-law's parents are from Bangladesh).
I don't use the n-word either, but the k-word and the f-word just aren't in my vocabulary.
I don't have the same attitude to the c-word because it isn't as inflammatory in Britain and Ireland (and it seems, Australia).
Your post moves in the direction of minimization and normalization.
How about a normalization parallel? We just had Father's Day. "Affectionately" and humorously it could be Motherfucker's Day. Literally. (Involving mother's affectionately named body part.)
I remember a friend of mine was studying Kant in his third year of university, and found it a frustrating experience. He called complained at length about his frustrations with Kant to his mother when he was home for Thanksgiving weekend. Apparently she misunderstood.
No I haven't, quetzalcuntl.
(by which I mean with every fluidrachm of affection I can muster of course)
That's nice, dear. We did in fact hear you all the other times you posted this exact same idiocy.
If someone were to suggest repeatedly that they don't want a particular person to be killed by a firing squad, just that they wanted them to die, wouldn't you wonder what their fucking point is?
You have obviously never visited Scotland or spent much time with anyone from there. (Link is almost certainly NSFW).
This thread has been interesting for a few reasons.
There’s the refusal to even acknowledge the pond difference or consider that the word may have different connotations elsewhere. (All those examples posted by CK were attempts to demonstrate this point. We are truly nations divided by a common language).
Then there’s the disconnect between what people say and what they do.
If you say you’re concerned about the hurt caused by using offense words, but your response to someone arguing that point by shouting, swearing, using racial abuse, comparing those who disagree with them with racists and implying they are somehow lesser is either silence or to thank them, then I may consider you to be slightly full of it.
Even more so when you consider the word and the fact the person who's adopted that style of arguing is a man and those who he is arguing with are mainly women.
Though finding the same level of offence in the UK that exists in the US would be very difficult to find, if not impossible.
The word con in France, which Google translates into English as cunt, is pretty much suffixed to every sentence uttered in South-West France.