How do you feel about swearing? What offends you about language?

-- Kymm Zuckert (hedgehog@hedgehog.net), July 29, 2000

Answers

Well, I have a terrible potty mouth, although I do try to keep it in check around people I don't know very well, or who I know will be offended.

But what really offends me are people who say things like "I don't allow that sort of language to be used in my presence." Who is he, the Queen? I mean, I can understand being offended, but there are more polite ways of expressing that. Like any way that doesn't use the words "I don't allow."

-- Beth (beth@xeney.com), July 29, 2000.

Personally, the most offensive word that usually comes out of my mouth is "poopy" but I have said worse under extreme duress. No one in my family ever swore much, so I just didn't incorporate it into my vocabulary that much.

But, I could care less about what other people say. I think swearing can be used to great effect at the right time. It also amuses me that certain words are "bad" anyway. The only thing that tends to bother me are people who OVERUSE swearing to the point of ridiculousness. "Fuckin', I went to the fuckin' store to get some fuckin' butter." Why? What? Unnecessary!

-- Stef (stef@stef.net), July 29, 2000.

Heh. George Carlin has an interesting point about how the most offensive words in Western culture are usually the ones for bodily functions. Why? It shows how hung up we all are on things like that.

Me... I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a complete potty mouth, i'm usually PG-13 at worst. My most often used 'bad word' is "Damn!" often used either as an expression of admiration (long and drawn out, i.e., re: Hugh Jackman, "Daaaaaaamn!") or an expression of upset or annoyance (short and explosive, i.e., I forgot something at home, "Damn!" -- although, if it's something particularly annoying, "Damn!" might be replaced with "Fuck!").

Another common phrase, often heard at work: "What the hell?" said in a moderately puzzled tone. Away from work, again, that often becomes "What the fuck?"

Hm. Maybe I'm more of a potty mouth than I realized. :) But still, nothing quite beats the gut-level catharsis of a good four-letter word.

-- Lisa (lisa@selkie.net), July 29, 2000.

When it's every other word, constantly it gets a bit wearing.

But when it pops up, it doesn't really bother me.

I think the only word that gets a visceral reaction from me is .. um ... well ... ahem .. cunt.

I don't know why but there's something about the word that makes me feel vaguely ill when I hear it, probably because it's usually used with such heavy condescension and in such a derogatory and degrading manner.

-- Beth K. (owl@littleowl.com), July 29, 2000.

It's the stereotype that the language of Australians is somewhat more colourful than that of your average docker (=longshoreman). I tend to fall smack in the middle of that stereotype. Kymm, based on her language, is an honorary Australian.

I do try to tone down the language when I'm around people who might be offended (my mother, my Nanna, Jeff's Mum, et al), but over here (smalltown NJ USA) people are likely to be offended by things that even my mother would say. Calling a child a little shit is not going to bring a bluch to many a cheek in Australia, for example, but it sure stops the conversation dead at a 4th of July BBQ. As does referring to your testing husband as a wanker.

Of the George Carlin 7 words you can't say on TV, I'd have to say Fuck is my favourite, followed up closely by Fuckwit and Fuckwittage. A Fuckwit is a person who either tailgates or cuts me off, and fuckwittage is the level of fuckwittery involved in said offenses.

I've been very amused (and annoyed in equal proportions) by the general milksoppedness of the TV over here though. Just astounds me how much they bleep or blur. Like, the electronic blurring when someone gives the finger.

I'm going to be intrigued as to how the title of this page shows up in the search engines, Kymm!

-- Amanda Page (amanda@amandasprecipice.com), July 29, 2000.

Cunt is the word that I save, it's the biggie. It used to be fuck, right? Like Carlin says, it's the one that you save for the end of the argument, but I use it all the time, just for general emphasis, so cunt is my anger word.

I remember at Nancy's party this Christmas, someone, I think it was Rachel's boyfriend, said that he had never heard a girl use the word "pussy" in a derogatory manner before--I use it like the boys do, to mean coward, but I think that it has a little extra kick coming out of a girl's mouth.

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), July 29, 2000.

Good, so when I marry Russell Crowe and move to Australia, I'll fit in!

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), July 29, 2000.

Well, I wish I didn't use as much potty-talk as I do, but it's like this: my first jobs were in restaurant kitchens populated entirely by earthy old women, and then I went into theatre and film.

I only notice saying "fuck" too much around people who don't. So far, I've never gotten an offended response like you did, Kymm. A few raised eyebrows, maybe.

In English, it's true, our dirty words are all to do with body parts and functions. In Québeĉois French, though, it's all about true sacrilege; religious words are the baddies. "Ci-boire!" is a common one (it translates as the plate the Host is served on, I think) and "tabernacle!" is the BIG BAD one. There's a whole slew of euphemisims- "tabaouette" is like saying "geez" instead of Jesus.

However, you can politely say "c'est toute fucké" around your maiden aunt. Heh.

-- Cameron (cameron@cimtegration.com), July 29, 2000.

Hmm. Guess I didn't remember that html tag for the circumflex after all...

It should be "Quebecois", if stripped of the accents. Oh well.

-- Cameron (cameron@cimtegration.com), July 29, 2000.

I cuss like a longshoreman. Maybe it's from all those years hanging out with guys and thinking I needed to be nasty to keep up, maybe I just like the sound of them, but I do. I've actually written a linguistic essay on how to cuss more creatively because just tossing in a fuck here or there is no fun. ("He's a raging, ass-hollowing wad of cock spit!" is a lot more fun than, "He's a fucking asshole" in my opinion. *grin*)

I can't think of a single thing about language itself that offends me, but I can think of lots of ways people use language that tick me off. That's really not the same at all, I know. I'll just have to keep my rage at seeing impact used as a verb to myself.

-- Saundra (headspace@anywherebeyond.com), July 29, 2000.

It really depends on the word.

I'm Australian, so I don't really think of most things as swearing. eg: bloody, bastard, swine, shit, bugger etc aren't swearing, they are purely descriptive words that should be used whenever you feel like it.

However, there ARE some things that I have a huge problem with. For example, a lot of the Indian chappies on IRC have this habit of using "raped" to mean beaten soundly as in "Tendulkar raped Warne" or something like that. That is, in my opinion, about the most offensive thing that they can say.

So, I guess we all have some limits.

-- Di van Dulken (thedog@dogmac.com), July 29, 2000.

Like Kymm, I have more of a problem with fake swearing (such as f*ck, although I am amused by $#1T! for some reason) than with people just saying flatly what they mean. There's a great single-panel comic by Callahan that shows a family (dad, two kids, grandma) gathered around the TV set, and on the program one character says, "Get out here, you * bleep*!" Each family member has a different thought bubble over her head indicating what she thinks the bowlderized word is: "Shit?" "Cunt?" "Ass?" "Fucker?" We all hear the word in our heads anyway; you don't get points with Jesus for jamming an asterisk into it.

I know that I swear far too much in person and that makes me come off as meaner and perhaps stupider than I really am. When I overhear conversations outside -- I live on the ground floor of my building and with the heat as it is I've not closed my windows in weeks -- and they're flavored with as much profanity as I ordinarily use, I cringe to hear what I must sound like. Not very fuckin' charming, that's for sure.

Oddly, just about all slang words for breasts bother me, but almost none for genitalia. Not so everyone. I was once talking with a friend and I used the word "pussy" (I've told this story several times, but I can't remember if I ever set it down in writing or not, so skip this if it starts to sound familiar) and she made a pained face, so I said, "Well, what do you call it? Vulva? Cunt?" And she got even more irritated with each successive synonym and finally burst out, "I don't need to call it ANYTHING! I always know EXACTLY WHERE IT IS!"

-- Kim Rollins (kimrollins@yahoo.com), July 30, 2000.

I swear much more than I'd like to, and I find that I pick up "bad language" used by those around me. But I don't consider ass, shit, bloody, or bugger to be "bad." Fuck is kind of borderline, but "cunt" is the only one that makes me cringe.

My parents didn't punish us for swearing, and they never prohibited certain words. The only thing they did say is that swearing makes you sound stupid, and that's something I've retained. I don't think badly of someone if they swear when they're surprised or upset, but when I hear people using "fucking" as an ordinary adjective, in casual conversation, I tend to see them as less intelligent. I definitely think that about people who can't seem to turn off their potty mouths when it's really inappropriate, such as at church (really!) or in very formal business meetings.

That said, I think the guy who said "I don't ALLOW such language around me" is exhibiting other problems besides a sensitivity to language. I'll bet a lot of people just don't bother to talk to him any more than is absolutely necessary. I know I wouldn't.

-- Freyjah Hallur (freyjah@hotmail.com), July 30, 2000.

In regards to putting asterisks into words: as a former English major, I read lots of classic British novels, and lots of words are "bleeped" by the authors. It's been a while, so the only one I can remember with clarity is "damn", often written as "d---", with "damned" as "d----d". Obviously, this word, horribly offensive (at least among certain classes) 150 years ago, is equally mild today.

Sometimes, though, the entire word is bleeped, so you cannot easily figure out what was meant (unless you've studied 18th century swearing and can extrapolate).

My favorite example comes from, I think, _Vanity Fair_:

"-------!" burst out his father with a screaming oath.

(Not sure of the exact number of letters; in the printed version it was an unbroken line.)

-- Dorothy Rothschild (dorothyr@spies.com), July 30, 2000.

I was raised in an environment where cussing wasn't done much, so for a long time, I felt really uncomfortable saying cuss words or being around others who swore. I have since discovered that cussing can really ease tension and anger and stuff so I have recently started doing it more often, though I find it easier to write them than to say them. It dosen't bother me much these days to hear other people saying them unless they're the kind where every third word is a cuss word. In that case, the cuss words lose their effectiveness.

-- Vena (ladyv_39@yahoo.com), July 30, 2000.

I dislike curses that are get their value from some negative stereotype of a group--I knew someone who used "dyke" to mean approximately "jerk" or "asshole", which made me furious. I don't like most obscenities having to do with genitalia, for instance, although as always it varies with the speaker.

-- Jessie (sorokin@alum.mit.edu), July 30, 2000.

Hey, Dorothy, could any of your professors ever explain to you why some proper nouns are elided in 18th- and 19th-century texts? In Jane Austen novels the characters always live "in the district of Y----" or "near the town of N-------" and meeting persons such as the "Duke of S- --." I could never figure that out myself.

RE: Slurs: I think of [racial, ethnic, sexual] slurs as different from garden-variety profanity in that they indicate an irrational hatred for a subset of the population instead of just general disgust. For some reason I think of white western Europeans as an exception, though. I do sometimes toss around words such as "limey" and "frog" and "kraut" - - I suppose because genuine discrimination against these peoples has been something I've never witnessed myself and the insults themselves therefore come off as quaint. Plus, being by descent a little limey, frog, and kraut myself (but largely mick -- you don't get much call for "mick", though) I feel like it's impossible for me to actively offend anyone through use of such terms.

-- Kim Rollins (kimrollins@yahoo.com), July 31, 2000.

re: the guy who was so easily offended by 'ass', as the old saying goes, fuck 'em if they can't take a joke.

At least the Amish have the good sense to separate themselves from modern society. Can you imagine if someone was offended by the color blue to the point of commenting about it? That's how common that level of swearing is today.

If someone were to tell me he's easily offended by the word 'ass', I can't help but think that my knee-jerk response would be to say, "Oh, fuck, I'm sorry."

-- Colin (ethilrist@prodigy.net), July 31, 2000.

I swear entirely too much, but only around people who also swear entirely too much. We feed on one another.

My sister, while she was going through her "God phase," would hang up on us if we swore. Now that she's broken off with the fundamentalists she was involved with, she swears a blue streak on the phone. We both have to watch it around Mom and Dad.

The only word I don't use is cunt. Some friends do, and I always cringe when they do it. That's really the only obscene word that I have problems with.

-- Laura (windmills@diaryland.com), July 31, 2000.

i don't swear at work. but aside from that, i can get kinda' bad. i tried to tone it down after my daughter was born, and since she's 10 now, that means i've had some time to work on it. i don't use the "c" word. don't even like typing it, to be honest.

-- nicole (nicolemrw@go.com), July 31, 2000.

Around fifth or sixth grade we started competing about who could put more badwords into a sentence. This was our big rebellion, and we milked it. Throughout high school, I had a scrupulous line between my school-n-library vocabulary and my no-grown-ups vocabulary. Then in college, there were no grown-ups. The line was erased, and I've never been able to redraw it, out of laziness and lack of discipline. I have to stop midsentence sometimes and produce some tedious cliche instead of the surely- older- but- somehow- still- punchy cuss.

I am against swearing in that there are so many other more interesting ways to express yourself than using the same old badwords. And that overused words lose their kick. And that there is a distinction of class or taste that I would rather keep myself on the more Puritan side of. Usually.

-- Lisa Houlihan (lisa@penguindust.com), July 31, 2000.

Polite society in the 18th century frowned on use of the word "damn" and substituted the dashes, thus d---. This led to the rise of the word "dash" standing in for damn and was allowable, if not precisely polite, in front of the ladies, e.g. "Dash it all, Julia, you know I hate kippers for breakfast!" The dashes after the surname of any aristocratic person allowed newspapers to dispense gossip and scandal without being liable for slander while still making it perfectly clear who was being gossiped about. Thus, referring to the Duke of S--- was another useful social fiction, and made its way into literary efforts of all kinds.

-- Lucy Huntzinger (huntzinger@mindspring.com), July 31, 2000.

I've got the mouth of a sailor (so God knows how he's managing without it), but I never seem to write any swearword worse than 'bugger'. But in day to day language, fuck is my favourite word. I rarely swear at work, but I do it all the time at home. Tristan looks at me like a disapproving vicar, apparently forgetting the time he called lots of motorists 'filthy cunts' when my dad was in the car one day.

-- Jackie (jackiec@diaryland.com), August 01, 2000.

I tend not to swear much, which gives it greater impact when I do. One of my colleagues was horribly amused last week to hear me say, "I'm so fucking frustrated over this move." But the thing that really annoys me is when a man at work will use some mild profanity (e.g. referring to a product as a piece of shit) and then apologize to me for his language. It's pretty sexist to assume I'm more likely to get offended than a man would.

-- Miriam Nadel (mhnadel@cinenet.net), August 01, 2000.

i'm fascinated by amanda's assessment of american tv. i've heard it's a bit tame compared with australian tv. is that true?

it's the usa movies that seem to use "fuck" to excess, to the degree that you think the scriptwriter totally ran out of vocabulary.

i'm also surprised to see references in this thread to words like "hell" and "damn". these are swear words? not where i come from!

i hardly swear. i say "shit" a lot, but that would be the worst word i use.

once, at work, one of the guys heard me say shit. he said, you can't talk like that, you always chastise us for saying that!! and i said, no, i chastise you for saying fuck. you can say shit all you like. his face was a picture ...

i agree that swearing to excess makes the speaker appear less intelligent. and the more that certain words are used, the less impact they have, thus "badder" words have to be found ...

i just can't wait to say "tabernacle" next time someone pisses me off. or if they're REALLY annoying, i'm going to say "communion plate".

-- jilly (jilly@bigpond.net.au), August 06, 2000.

I've never seen Aussie TV, but American TV is puritanical about odd things. As late as twelve years ago the word "bitch" was verboten on TV; now it's permitted, and then only on shows airing after 8 pm. (I seem to remember that the show that broke the barrier was Melrose Place, although I might be thinking of the first gay kiss, which Melrose filmed but then weaselled out on actually airing.) The second Bill & Ted movie's working title was "Bill and Ted Go To Hell" but was changed because the word "hell" couldn't be spoken on television before 8, either. Interestingly, the word "damn" is permitted, but "goddamn" will be edited out. Also, as late as 1987 it was also forbidden to show a woman's undergarments on TV. Brassiere ads showed the bras on plastic mannequins, or models would wear them *over* their clothes. Americans still can't see bare breasts or buttocks on TV, which I think is accepted in the UK, at least, because I remember seeing boobs on _Benny Hill_ when I was still an innocent teenager.

-- Kim Rollins (kimrollins@yahoo.com), August 06, 2000.

Fuck is my favorite adjective. I usually make it a particle, as in "That fucking line of code is driving me nuts." I say it too much around my coworkers to the point where they ask me not to say it. It's my favorite expletive because it has immense power when said with intense energy.

I'm of two minds on being offended by such words. On the one hand, they are just words. Any intelligent person would not be bothered by them. On the other hand, I don't necessarily think the person using such language sounds stupid, just low class. I think that an intelligent person could be offended by the fact that normally intelligent persons took the lazy way out and used fuck, shit, and damn without taking the time to find better words to use.

Of course, "Fuck!" is the only word to use when you hit your thumb with the hammer.

-- Roger Bixby (rbix@earthlink.net), August 07, 2000.

Um... that's participle... not particle. Unless they found some new element, Fu.

-- Roger Bixby (rbix@earthlink.net), August 07, 2000.

I have a mouth like a sailor, and I'm not often ashamed of it. Of course, I don't cuss in front of my grandma, and I try to tone it down around my mom and stuff... and in my journal I'll usually just write $#@%&#@! because some of my more sensitive family members read it. Very few swear words bother me, but I do cringe at the word "cunt." I'm gradually losing my sensitivity to it, though.

-- Mary Ellen (sarcasticah@yahoo.com), August 08, 2000.

Polite euphemisms sometimes lose their effectiveness and become just as taboo as what they originally replaced. The most famous example is "bloody," which initially stood in for "by Our Lady"--a terrible blasphemy in Elizabethan England. In the 19th century, polite people began to say "ruddy" instead, but this eventually became objectionable as well. "Bally" (rhymes with Sally) turns up in the novels of P.G. Wodehouse as a substitute.

According to H.L. Mencken's "The American Language," the word "bull" (meaning the animal, not short for "bullshit") was considered indecent by white inhabitants of Appalachia; the polite term was "cow-brute."

-- john burke (john.burke@mindspring.com), August 10, 2000.

and it's a little-known fact that "son of a gun" used to be even more offensive than "son of a bitch". see, in the british navy, in the last century, the sailors used to bring whores on the ship when they were in port. and they used the gun decks for their trysting place. so "son of a gun" implied that you were the son of a whore and an anonymous sailor. pretty heavy stuff...

-- nicole (nicolemrw@go.com), August 10, 2000.

I think swearing is unbecoming, but it's no big deal for me.

My current peeve is shite. That's just plain stupid.

-- Dave Van (davevan01@hotmail.com), August 10, 2000.

I rather like the word shite myself, it's a cool sounding word to use. It's common usage in Australia, because of the large amounts of Brits and Irish background.

My favourite mis-usage of "shite" was when I bought a "box of shit" at a garage sale, meaning a bunch of stuff they couldn't sell all lumped together for $5.00, except the box was labelled "Box of Shiite", which is an entirely different kettle of Muslim clerics.

-- Amanda Page (amanda@amandasprecipice.com), August 11, 2000.

When I was growing up, I swore around friends, but never my parents. I remember vividly the first time I was so upset about something I did cuss in front of my mother. I stopped briefly, shocked, sure I was in trouble, and she never said a word. To this day, I'm sure it's because I didn't say it 'in public' and I used it correctly.

My mom had two words that she would flat-out not have in her home: "fuck" and "nigger" were absolutely abominations. I never said them in her presense, nor did my father, who taught me every cuss- word I know.

Now, amongst friends, I cuss a blue-streak. I've even afflicted my wife with the syndrome. Now, when she stubs a toe, her exclaimation is the same one that I use, one that would have gotten my mouth washed out with soap as a boy, "Motherfucker!" I'll use that one in a plethora of ways...with incredulity, as an exclaimation, as an epithet. Like Laurence Fishburn, it is my favorite curse-word.

My wife is like many of the ladies on this board...you may not ever use the word cunt around her. Amongst my friends back in Milwaukee, it was referred to colloquially as "the C-bomb" and you only dropped it if you meant business. The first time I ever used it, my wife (then my fiancee) and a friend of mine were in the car with me and someone cut me off, and I referred to her as "a silly cunt" for doing so, which made them both laugh-- mostly because of the incongruous use of "silly" and "cunt" in the same sentence.

I think that my favorite use of "improper language" of all time is the song from the South Park movie: Unkle Fucker. They use the word so darned many times it loses all meaning and just devolves into a series of sounds.

-- Jason Packer (jpacker@us.ibm.com), August 13, 2000.

During the 50 years of Soviet occupation most Estonians used to swear in Russian, so that, like the innocent I was, I learned the names of genitals in Russian first (the courtesy of walls and fences...)

With the independence came also the change in the preferred language for foul words. English rules! And the first English word an Estonian toddler learns today may often be "fuck" (thanks to American movies...)

Inside the Estonian language itself the most widely used swear words are devil, damn and "pagan" -meaning not only the non-christian souls, but the Old Horny himself as well. The above mentioned words are sometimes used at places of punctuation marks during "male talk". The first sentence of my post may be sound like that from an Estonian male:

"During the 50 years of Soviet occupation most Estonians used to swear in Russian-devil- so that-damn- like the innocent I was-devil- I learned the names of genitals in Russian first -devil-the courtesy of walls and fences... - damn-"

I have been listening fascinated as my father talks like that at times. The "devils" are inserted into those pauses that are marked by punctuation marks in written text, so making the flow of speech more monotonous and, as strange as it may sound, after a while one really has to listen carefully to notice, or else the "devils" just fade out and one does not even notice them being there...

-- Aet Tunissoo (aet.tonissoo@ra.ee), August 14, 2000.

Oh my god, I love to cuss. And just the other day, at my brother's wedding and in front of the preacher, I said "Oh my god!" (Not that that is cussing, but he looked rather offended.)

The only words that offend me are racial slurs. I flinch. And because I'm white, people seem to think I don't mind hearing them. Sheesh.

Miriam, I know what you mean about the men who apologize for cussing in front of women. I always get this from a few allegedly intelligent men I know: "It's just unattractive for a lady to use those words." And yet it's fine for THEM. Who the fuck do they think they are?

(Fuck is my favorite cuss word. Possibly my favorite word altogether.)

I really, really hate it when people will use every word imaginable but then will not be able to force themselves to say "goddamn." I know so many people who are evil, evil, evil people, who will say "god" and "damn," but not "goddamn." Sometimes, they will say "GD." If you use initials, you know, you didn't really mean it, and you won't go to hell for it.

-- Amy Dolejs (adolejs@austin.rr.com), August 17, 2000.

I hate the word boobs instead of tits. I feel as grossed out by "boobs" or "boobies" as some people feel about the fuck word. It even gave me the willies just writing it. Swearing had been a part of my life-my Dad being the king of vulgarities

Once upon a time I told him that one of our truck drivers had delivered at the wrong place. His reply was, "Cocksucking retarded mother-fucking son of a bitch!" I truly admired that one.

-- Hannah Voss (hvoss@tds.net), August 22, 2000.

My dad used to be in the Navy, but my mom was the cusser in the family. Probably comes from raising 5 kids almost on her own. Still, I don't remember Mom saying "shit" all that often ("son of a bitch" was her favorite epithet), and if we didn't feel like tasting soap we didn't dare say "fuck". Mom still hates that word, but isn't as offended when we say it these days. I don't know if she even knows about "cunt" (a word I hate).

I wasn't much into swearing when I was a preteen and was frequently shocked when my brothers said "hell" and "damn". That changed at some point, but I still had trouble with "fuck". It wasn't until I was about fourteen and was furious for some reason that I stood in the kitchen and screamed, as loud as I could, "FUCK!" - right in front of my mother. She was stunned. However, unlike my brothers, she didn't take the soap to my mouth because she knew I must have had a damned good reason.

(By the way, one of my mom's favorite anecdotes is the time I swore at my younger brother - in French. I was studying French and had recently heard that "garce" meant bitch in French. [I've since found out that it means bitchy girl.] Bro and I were agruing over the stereo and I screamed at him "Fils de garce!" "Carol!" my mom chastised, not knowing what I said but knowing it couldn't be nice. She then asked, "What did you say? It was so beautiful!" The tension was immediately broken and I bust out laughing. I was still sent to my room, but it was hard to remain angry after that.)

Since then I've turned into, if not exactly a potty mouth, then someone who embraces the satisfaction of some good old fashioned swearing. I use most of the more popular words with no problem, though I rarely like to type them out, for some reason. I do watch what I say around people, though, even some people I really don't have to be careful about offending. Don't know why that is. I also tend to use words like "crap", "cripes" and "crimeney". They just feel good to my mouth.

-- Carol (webgal@ordinarygoddess.com), August 22, 2000.

I suppose it's rather late to be adding a comment, so I'll add *two*... :)

When I was in 5th grade I got sent home from school for swearing at another student. My father asked what I had said. Then he asked me if I knew what it *meant*. I was astonished - I didn't even know that "fucking bastard" really meant anything!

My wife and I (well, the kidlets too... :) moved into a new house a few years ago. We have a storage area off the main bedroom. It's only about 4 feet high... My daughter was about 18 months old, and she was sitting on the bed with my wife while I was putting things away in storage. I bumped my head rather hard. Knowing my daughter could hear me I managed not to swear. Despite keeping my tongue, from the bedroom, I heard "say 'shit' daddy!"

- ajw -

-- Alan Weiner (alan@ajw.com), November 12, 2000.

CUNT CUNT WANK WANK FUCK FUCK FUCK YOU FUCKING CUNT. OH BITCH SUCKER I CUNT FUCKING BELIEVE IT YOU FUCKING WANKER HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU DO THIS, THERE GOT IT OUT OF MY SYSTEM

-- lee pepper (lee.pepper@talk21.com), November 26, 2000.

fuck!!!!!!!!!!!

-- george nancy (poopface@george.com), December 07, 2000.

As an american living in Japan, I've found myself swearing very freely and cavalier. Where I live 99% of the people (other than many young people who flip me off as a matter of waving) don't understand what the hell I'm saying. The only drawback is that when I'm with an English speaking person I have to be carefull for those slips of the tongue. One time while calling my dear mother I slipped (telling a story) and blurted out "the fucking dog bit me!" and she just nervously laughed. It will take time to break down the cultural barriers here in Japan... Meanwhile, I'll be "eatin' sushi" if ya know what I mean! ; )~

-- K. Hubbard (xpatriot@po.kumagaya.or.jp), December 10, 2000.

I used to never cuss. But now, I don't see what the big fucking problem is. I mean, there has to be some kind of moderation, but I think that saying bitch, fuck,suck my dick,motherfucker and all of the other cuss words cleans out your system when your feelen low. And when I get mad at the teachers , my friends taught me to cuss in Arabic and Spanish so that I can say what ever the fuck I want to the teachers.

-- eminem (eminex37@hotmail.com), December 20, 2000.

This question was very helpful. I'm setting up a forum, and needed a set of restrictive words, words that when used would let me know that highschoolers had found our forums and were pranking us. I don't curse (at least not compared to you folks), and I didn't even know some of the words you folks used.

Thanks for your help!

-- Robert (rbarnes@ligonier.org), December 27, 2000.

fuck you, i don't give a fuck what you say, nothing offends me. i will come to your house and rape your mother. you like that? does that sound fun to you? FUCK YOU, i don't give a flying shit.

-- you can call me master (smokemynutts@yourmomma.com), January 06, 2001.

yo what it be. you some crazy white mufukkas. talkin this bullshit bout shit cunt piss fuck hell damn bitch asshole. i be wonderin what you foos is be talkin bout. what i be meanin is, this shit is like WHOA. white people is so fuckin crazy, talkin bout the cunt and shit. but like i was sayin, i'm black as fuck.....so you crazy white folks be takin it easy now. PEACE, Tromain

-- hoodrat (blackmotherfucker@theghetto.com), January 06, 2001.

i think that swearing is a part of everyday life and cannot be avoided wherever you go. recently i had complaints made against me and some friends for swearing loudly in a caravan park. so what? the words will always be there - there is no escape. how can a normal word be removed from the english language? why do some people accept swearing more than others? if i walked up to an old man and said, "How the fuck are you?" he would probably ignore me or yell at me. If i said it to a drug dealer, he would probably reply, "Oh, i'm fuckin alright, yourself?" a bit of tolerance and acceptance is needed among some members of the community so we can get along better. also, why is it that some people who swear are looked down upon by others? i think that some people are seriously fucked in the head in this world, no offence if you're one of them.

-- faber (jonny_111@hotmail.com), January 08, 2001.

Who needs an answer when you can email me for cybersex

-- William.Jones (ziggy429@yahoo.com), January 08, 2001.

I have become very surprised with American culture. I am from Germany and have lived in America for 3 years now. Americans are so much more fowl in their language than anyone I know from my hometown. I think it peaks very poorly of their intelligence; every minute another disgusting word slips out of their mouths and they don't even think about it. It is a cruel society that has bred people who just don't think about what they say. Although I may be prone to use a few words of choice under extreme duress, I am particularly disgusted with America's volatile youth.

-- Gisela Scheinberg (Giselascheinberg@hotmail.com), January 20, 2001.

Swear words are used by unintelligent people with small vocabularies and no respect for human dignity. THere are times that warrent such fowl language but the should not b used in everyday speech.

-- phil stewarrt (phil@hotmail.com), January 28, 2001.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

I er sgu da så pisse hellige, at det ikke er til at holde ud. Hvad så om man siger fuck, shit, pik, fisse, kusse, lort, skid, bøsse, røv eller perker. Sådan taler all sgu da. Kan i ikke fatte det motherfuckers????

-- ULf (tulip@hotmail.com), January 31, 2001.

Um, that should be "foul," not "fowl," unless we're talking about potty-mouthed chickens...

-- Jennifer Z. (jenniferz@peoplepc.com), February 15, 2001.

i notice that a lot of australians have contributed here. i am another one. as an australian, the one swear word that offends me most of all is the word ass, pronounced as it is spelled, and meaning literally our friendly long eared grey coloured sure footed beast of burden, ie the donkey. being of european decent, like most of my american friends, i fail to see the connection between the word 'ass', and 'arse', meaning buttocks. any clues, anyone??

-- Sean Stinson (soundguy009@hotmail.com), February 19, 2001.

I find the use of offensive words fuckin' brillient it makes what the person is sayin' more interesting and sometimes it can be used to enfersize the word more so they actually mean something

-- ben dover (pcsvcsvrc@netscapeonline.co.uk), March 06, 2001.

Personally, I love curse words! I mean, they are COOL! FUCK,SHIT,CUNT,DYKE,CRAP,BASTARD,BITCH,BUTTFUCK,BONER- BITING,WHORE,COCK-SUCKING,MOTHER-FUCKING,SCROTUM-LICKING,MAN SACK, BONER-BITING,UNCLEFUCKING,PENIS. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.......

THAT FELT GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!

-- Eric (minotaur48@hotmail.com), March 14, 2001.

Personally, I love curse words! I mean, they are COOL! FUCK,SHIT,CUNT,DYKE,CRAP,BASTARD,BITCH,BUTTFUCK,BONER- BITING,WHORE,COCK-SUCKING,MOTHER-FUCKING,SCROTUM-LICKING,MAN SACK, BONER-BITING,UNCLEFUCKING,PENIS,TREE-HUGGING,HOMO,FAGGOT,QUEER,GAY- ASS,ASSHOLE,T-SACK,SREW YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.......

THAT FELT GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!

-- Eric (minotaur@hotmail.com), March 14, 2001.

When I get really angry with a punter I call them 'Henry Winkler'

-- Nobby No Cheese (nobby@virgin.net), April 15, 2001.

Language.........it creates such problems. And English most of all

Well........Fuckit!! I don't see why everyone makes such a big deal over shit, piss,cunt,cocksucker et. al.

Using "swear" words in a conversation being offensive? I find the words Kill, Maim, Rape, Hurt equally as offensive.

Using any word as a sign of a lack of intelligence, breeding, or education? Balderdash!! Poppycock!! By Jove/Jupiter!!!

Fuck.

-- Tom Cummings (Wrathogod69@hotmail.com), June 02, 2001.

As im from Ireland the most popular ones are the likes of "Wanker" or "Prick" there only used when you cant think of a good cuss word to call someone ... People then elaborate more and turn "Wanker" into "Fucking Wanker" things like that. The word "Fuck" is used to much I wouldnt swear around my girlfriend but i would around my dad me and him tell each other to "Fuck Off" all the time lol ... but we say it playfully ... but you can tell by the tone of your voice and the expression and when it is used. E.G. (Wee Bit Annoyed)-Could you pass the fuckin butter? (Totally Pissed) - Fucking pass the butter! I use the word cunt quite a bit, i got into a habit of calling people a cunt when i never got something i would be cheerful about it and laugh after words...e.g. "can i have a crisp?" ... "NO, get your own haha" ... "oh ya cheeky cunt haha" ... I say that quite a bit. Swearing doesnt meen an awful lot around here ... people use it to much and dont value the strength of "Fuck" anymore. Its a pitty because when you call someone a "Fuckhead" and actually meen it, it doesnt hurt them or offened them at all. :( Bummer cuz when i say it i want them assholes to feel like fucking shite! lol cya ;)

-- Gareth Hamilton (nemesis_2001_@hotmail.com), June 23, 2001.

Oh by the way ... every one who reads this is a Fuck head lol .... :)

-- Gareth Hamilton (nemesis_2001_@hotmail.com), June 23, 2001.

i loove swearing. i think mike briers is gay and i also think tom battle is gay

-- lee jervis (greatdane@bushinternet.com), July 01, 2001.

I swear all the time, It sometimes is a way of getting noticed, i'm 16 and when i'm with my mates we all swear constantly. Cunt is the most used along with fuck we call each other cunts but dont mean it as a cuss we say fuckin in repitition, like ' fuckin where did you fuckin get to last night you cunt' if we are realy fucked off were say cuntin instead of fuckin.Like whos drunk my cunting beer you cunts. Fuckhead and cunthead are common but dont say much of wanker ir arseole cos we think there kiddies swear words

-- Luke Vodden (pjhailes@hotmail.com), July 08, 2001.

I often enjoy a jolly good curse every once in a while too. Lately I've been overusing my "damn"'s and "blast"'s but I've been careful not to let out too many "sugar"'s you bunch of cuntholes.

-- Drucila (drucila@jtri.screaming.net), July 09, 2001.

fuck off cunts

-- Trinity Chadwick (tonguemyplums@yahoo.com.au), July 17, 2001.

Swearing doesn't bother me, esp. since I swear quite a bit myself. However, I do control it a some when I'm around people I don't know or would be highly offended by it myself. Also, it doesn't help that I have a potty mouth while I work in radio and television.

I think we need curse words, just to let us know certain things, such as when something is good, bad, wrong or just plain stupid. Curse words convey a certain meaning when used in the proper context. Use all too frequently, they lose their emphasis. Used at the wrong time could convey a wrong message or a message that you never intended when you used them.

Also, I've written a short story that is for adults, but written in a children's book style (think Dr. Suess meets George Carlin). It's called "My Favorite Word". Here's a little taste of it:

“The word I like is one I use in times both thin and thick. The word that seems to suit me best is simply called ‘fuckstick’.”

“In this world, there’s different kinds of fucksticks you will meet. You’ll hate each one and wish they’d all get run down in the street.”

“Fucksticks go and tell on you in your neighborhoods. When you’ve said a dirty word or were peeing in the woods.”

“A bully fuckstick will beat you up and he will steal your things. Stupid fucksticks stand in the crowds and they will start to sing.”

“There’s teacher fucksticks who are so bad you wish that they were dead. But it’s the mean ones I hate most that thump you on your head.”

“’Fuckstick’ is my favorite word; I shout it out with glee. I call anyone a big ol’ fuckstick when they fuck with me.”

If you'd like to see the whole thing, email me and I'll send you a copy. And if you're a publisher that likes it so far, I welcome your input and interest, as well.

-- James Andrew Foard (newdae@aol.com), July 28, 2001.

When I meet someone, I like to make a good first impression, so I usually start the conversation off with either:

1) Go suck your own shit off your dad's hole thrasher after he dumps his nuts in your torn, bloody shitter.

or

2) Next time you're chomping on your mother's stink-taco, let me know how my load tastes. If you can't stomach the death-stench of her dirty cunt, try her worn out shit-chute -- I pumped a gallon of rod- vomit in there too.

If neither of those lines appear to impress my conversation partner, I just punch them in the throat, to alleviate the awkwardness of the moment.

-- Jer K. Weed (hate2think@hotmail.com), July 31, 2001.

*{display:none ! important}

-- phill (phillip6@yahoo.com), September 03, 2001.

I'll tell you what offends me: when people refer to niggers as "african americans." They're dirty niggers. End of story.

-- wiligut@free.fr (wiligut@free.fr), October 14, 2001.

One of the oddest things I remember my dad saying was "Jesus jumped up amalgamated good God Damn!" I think he had just smacked his thumb with a hammer or something. I never again heard him say it. Pity....it was a rather good one.

-- Don (laughery@erols.com), October 31, 2001.

I think swearing is okay. Alright, i take it that some ppl get offended by it but why? They are just slang words used to represent things. It is also quite a good way of releaving stress! I fucking swear alot of the time and i dont see how it could be a bad thing or offend ppl but obviously it does, and i dont know why parents say 'dont u use that language around me' and things, because the kid is gonna hear it some day! Anyway thats what i think and i dont give a SHIT what n e 1 else thinks :) good day :)

-- lyn (tigerlyn@lycos.co.uk), November 11, 2001.

THIS SITE IS A FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT

-- JACK MEOFF (hobojason88@msn.com), November 15, 2001.

MY favorite is FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING FUCK! Oh, and wiligut@free.fr? go die.

-- sid atts (scootert@chorus.nt), December 29, 2001.

I believe the title of the post should be: shit piss fuck cunt cocksucker motherfucker tits fart turd 'n twat.. repete 3 times then "I fucked your mom"

Blink-182: Family Reunion :^{|>

-- Dan (danxoo7@yahoo.com), January 02, 2002.

Hey Motherfuckers Swearing is neither good nor bad, it is only the thinking of it that makes it so! Cultural and social influences determine whether or not certain words are offensive to certain people. At my Uni, we wrote the word ‘cunt’ on a piece of paper in large black letters with a list of other swear words. More than half the girls who participated in the test were unable to bring themselves to actually touch the written word on the page. About 50% refused to actually voice the word. Our tutor refuses to say the word ‘shit’ in public; this was however the exception rather than the rule. If you want to impress people, you use a certain selection of words. If you want to offend someone, you may choose to use swear words. This clearly demonstrates the important role in language of swearing. Personally I like the word ‘fuck’, it is so usable. It is the only word that can be used in every word of a sentence: fuck the fucking fuckers! Yors fuckingly Mark

-- Mark Enston (menston@student.ecu.edu.au), January 08, 2002.

Ya is fuckn stupid! I mean what the fuck is ya problem, what is the meanin of this web. Ya just fuckn slow in the mind, but I holla!

Holla! One!

-- Jessica Lieva (jessiatNJ@aol.com), January 09, 2002.

burit mak hang!!! Israel mmg GAMPANG! KEPALA PANTAT MAK KAU LA SHARON!....PUKI! PANTAT MAK KAU LA BUSH!!!

-- aura (jinggajink@hotmail.com), January 11, 2002.

My most commonly used four letter work is hell, i.e. What the hell?, Why the hell?, How the hell?, Where the hell? and so on. Often when I am pissed off I let fuck slip in place of hell. But in almost every sentence I say, I use hell. It's like I can't even control it or don't even know I'm doing it 'till one of my friends say, "Dude, why do you cuss so much?" God Dammit Cleo go fuck your shit pissed head up a donkey's ass! (Sorry but i can't stand her! Hehe once I prank called her while she was live on the air

-- Nathan Young (NTY11@ev1.net), January 21, 2002.

Did I miss something here? I read a few of the replys and its all winey women moaning about men that are poo mouths. Ever been into a female toilet guys? Women are the foulest skanks around if the wall could talk. HAHAHA!!! Another Victory for the Superior Male.

-- rob shlemal (robotrob@hotmail.com), January 24, 2002.

Dont bother posting anything here... Its totally censored. I read some VERY witty and funny stuff here that might have offended SOME ppl, but obviously double standards are rife. You can say CUNT but you cant say asshole and american in the same sentance. REALLY PATHETIC.

-- bah (wally@hotmail.com), February 01, 2002.

P.S. Obviously the site OPerator is a sexist male because sexist bullshit is OK..

-- bah (wally@hotmail.com), February 01, 2002.

Uh-huh, yeah, that's it. I think my real problem is morons who punch in swear words into search engines and end up here. Or, if you prefer, asshole Americans who punch in swear words into search engines and end up here, although some of them may not be Americans, there are certainly some assholes. I have only ever removed spammy bullshit, never any real postings. And as you can see, my criteria for real posting is really really low.

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), February 01, 2002.

Hi folks,

what the hell can i say? i'm from germany and got into the whole swearing thing by limp bizkit. this is maybe the reason why i'm not offended by swear words. if you think there're many swear words in 'uncle fucker', then listen to 'family reunion' or 'fuck a dog' by blink 182, 'hot dog' by limp bizkit or 'ante up' by m.o.p. the only one that could drive me crazy is the n-word (you see, the only word that really really bothers me so that i'm even to shy to write it down here) and the often use by the black community itself. they've fighted so hard for their rights and now they piss it off again. i also like george carlin very much cause i can't refuse t laugh about his stuff, a great man! the two most impressive postings in here for me were from Freyjah Hallur about that people who use swear words to often appear stupid or sth. i'm from germany and so in the last days suddenly i was offended by the german corresponding of 'shit' which has, after my english book from school (don't worry, there it's only called the 's- word'), an even lower 'shock effect'. i've learned from my grand father that it is more a sign of stupidity if you say 'erm' to often in i for myself think so about 'or so' or a german word that could be 'actually' in english and doesn't mean anything, but expands the sentence. the other one was from Alan Weiner. same thing as with george carlin, great comments! hey, can you believe this: not long ago i've hold a lecture _in school_ (in english) about swear words. and my english teacher was inspired when i told him i could do one. wow! unfortunately the class didn't, like almost always, give a shit what i was talking about. my english teacher told me i should be more 'self-sonfident'. where should that come from? and what the fuck does that class want more? *sigh i like the english language very much and so, for fun, i swear in english. my problem with that is, that my little silly brother took those phrases from me sure not even knowing what they mean. best example: 'holy jumpin' fuckin' jesus' (from george carlin). my brother sux! *lol by the way, yes, i came here by searching the i-net. and that is about exactly what i was looking for. people who can talk 'normally' about this topic and their experiences. the only thing which is getting on my nerves are the spammers who tell us how stupid we are or what cocksuckers. get ya mind in gear before opening mouth! thanx to the operator who deletes most of this crap. i think in the american media it's dealed with swear words like with sex. on one hand the swear words are censored everywhere but on the other hand used everywhere. on one hand sex isn't shown till to a special time at the day late at night. on the other hand nearly unimaginable masses of porn movies are sold over the whole usa. in my opinion, sex is the most human issue i can imagine and you could show a porn at, what the hell, 9 am - if it was romantic and erotic and not showing a woman / women as (an) object(s).

ok, enuv for today. keep this fucking amazing board up!

în_utero

peace, take care and keep the faith

PS: epithet = expression? cuss / curse = swear? PPS: there's a sound file around the internet about the (meaning of) the word fuck. if you are interested: it should be sth like 'fuck you.mp3'. PPPS: the beginning of my email address is the french corresponding to 'fuck'. the address is from a time when i haven't been so serious (that i think again about what i say) about swear words.

-- în_utero (foutre@gmx.de), February 20, 2002.

i knew i forgot something! to jerk off? turd? twat? what do this words mean? don't worry, i'm hard enuv to take the meanings. ;o) listen to 'fuck the children' by george carlin! *lol

în_utero

peace, take care and keep the faith

-- în_utero (foutre@gmx.de), February 20, 2002.

The hell man.... thisz too screwed up................... every time i try to search for something, this site comes up...... PS: TITS IS NOT A SWEAR WORD FUCK SHIT DAMN HELL ASS BITCH !!!!!

-- Nathan Young (NTY11@ev1.net), February 22, 2002.

hey faggots

-- dickhead (angie13sabato@hotmail.com), March 12, 2002.

Usual words can sometimes be more offensive than swear words. What offends you is w h a t is spoken to you rather than the w a y you are spoken to.

The Russian swear words and expressions is probably one of the most interesting and remarkable linguistic phenomenon. It is believed that these words were used long before Christianity came to Russia and have passed through the ages without changes.

As in other world languages, they are related to sex and sexual relations. Generally, there are four basic taboo words in Russian language that denote the following (in brackets, English equivalents are given):

1) male sexual organ (cock, dick, prick); 2) female sexual organ (pussy, cunt); 3) copulation (fuck, screw); 4) female prostitute (whore, streetwalker, hooker).

Not many? However, the means of Russian language allow one to "construct" new words (derivatives) by using suffixes, prefixes, and endings. As a result, the number of "terrible" words increase by tenfold or even more. And in principle, all these swear words have meanings. For example, derivatives of the word that means "cock" can be used as substitutes for words "very bad", "tremendous", "significant", etc. (adjectives), "badly" (adverb), and the corresponding verbs have various meanings, which are usually understood from the context. Derivatives of the word that means "cunt" are even more interesting; they can serve as substitutes for "excellent" (adjective), "very well" (adverb), and "steal", "hit", "walk", "lie", etc. (verbs). The Russian equivalent of "whore" is often used as an exclamation expressing annoyance, anger, etc. For instance, it is the best word to say when you cut your finger with a knife or when you drop something heavy on your foot. I think, it is men's language, and this is not because men use swear words and expressions more intensely than women. Men are more creative and "natural" in swearing. I hate it when a woman swear a lot, it sounds disgusting.

Personally, I do swear, but I use this language only when I'm talking to people I know well. I remember my first hearing swear words. I was about 7 years old then. It impressed me a lot, I felt ..erm... cool of being aware of such things, and I looked for an opportuinity to use them to show how cool I was (haha). And soon the opportuinity came. One day, I had a row with my classmate at school and I called him a couple of names. The boy was surprised and ran away to say our teacher I swore. After the teacher had talked to me, I was ashamed of my behaviour so much that I decided not to swear ever again. The most funny moment in this story is that the boy was much "cooler" than me because he knew more words and he could even smoke. By the way, as far as I remember, he was later kicked out of the school for discipline reasons.

After this event, I controlled my mouth very carefully and did my best to avoid swearing. However, I sometimes used innocent words like "shit" and "ass". Of course, my classmates would laugh at me because my expressions would be colourless. It lasted for approximately 5 years and ended up when one day I bumped my head against something. I said what everyone would say and I did it with pleasure! I was no longer a black sheep of the family.

Why do Russians swear? Fuck knows. The possible reason is that the life in Russia is difficult, and it has always been. It is true that some people swear because of poor vocabulary. Some people do that because they don't want to think to choose the right word, they simply use its substitute, which is much easier. Some people swear to make their speech more colourful and expressive. And there are those who don't give a damn how they speak. One thing is known for sure that whether a person swears a lot or little does not depend on the social position or occupation. It is rather a matter of breeding.

-- Stan (stle@online.sinor.ru), April 07, 2002.

I find all words have an approproiate use, or else the word would not have come into use in the first place. I am not offended by any word. Perhaps I was raised with an open mind and do not find any individual word upsetting.

Perhaps my lack of strong religious convictions frees me to look at all words as equals and appropriate to however they may be used. Yesterday, someone used the phrase, "Jesus fuckin' Christ!", in my presence. Others looked aghast at the individual who made the remark. When it was noticed that I did not react some were more shocked. I told them to get a life and move on. Life is too short for such conerns. There are more important things which need to be addressed.

-- Skip (copbike@hotmail.com), April 07, 2002.

I know i'm not the moderator, but that was very interesting and 'entertaining'. *g i was surprised to read something that long after that time of 'silence' in here. thank you very much!

in_utero

peace, take care and keep the faith

-- în_uter© (foutre@gmx.de), April 08, 2002.

Well honestly I'm an angry person so I swear quite frequently. Most of the time I don't even realize I'm doing it. I've called entire groups of people worthless, stupid ass, pieces of unaldulterated shit in a fuckin flaming paper bag. It gets a laugh most of the time. I've been known to use fuck at least ten times in a sentence. "Fuckin, Fuck man I fuckin told that muthafucker if he ever fuckin touched my fuckin Rice fuckin Krispie Treat again I'd fuckin break his fuckin arm off and beat the fucker to death with the fuckin thing...fuckin asshole." Well I think I got my fuckin point across.

-- Eric (SyxxPack66666666@aol.com), May 15, 2002.

THE WORD WOMAN IS THE MOST DIRTIEST WORD YOU CAN SAY . BECAUSE ALL WOMEN MAKE ME MAD!WHEN I CALL THEM THAT.ONLY THE WORD SLUT MAKES ME HAPPY!! THEY SHOULD ALL BE CALLED SWALLOW. BECAUSE THE BEST THING THEY CAN DO FOR MEN.ALSO, THE WORD CUNT IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN CALL A SWALLOW. THEY HATE THAT WORD WORST THAN THE WORD WORK.BECAUSE IT MAKES THEM THEY FEEL VERY OFFENSIVE. YES IT DOES !!GO TO WORK SWALLOW!!!PISS?? MMMM?? WHERE DID THE WORD PISS COME FROM ANYWAY?? LOL!!!OR THE WORD SHIT?? I WISH I KNEW ITS ORIGIN?? ANY ONE KNOW???

-- MR. I DON'T GIVE A FUCK (KILLINGJOKE64@AOL.COM), June 10, 2002.

OMFG IM SO FUCKING PISSED RIGHT NOW I JUST FUCKING LOST ON ISLE OF WAR TO SOME STUPID DICKFUCKED ALLIED, A FUCKING DICK IN THE FUCKING MUD!

GODAMIT PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT! FUCK THAT SHIT FROM NOW ON I RUSH THEM FUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- FFS (ffs@aol.com), June 14, 2002.

swearing is meant for when you're really really pissed, like right now, I found this site looking for a site just for swear words to say, cause I feel like saying 1,000 swears in a row, really really loud right now. however, the word fuck does slip from me too many fuckign time sduring the fucking day.

-- Keith Whittle (Bigwiggs3214@msn.com), June 17, 2002.

fuck you you fuckin fucks...i cuss as i like

-- fuck you (landspeedcky2k1@aol.com), July 06, 2002.

I'm a sensitve sissymary. I have nothing better to do with my time than contemplate hurtful words that are full of anger and frustration. Perhaps anger management classes would help some of you sort through your feelings of rage. Maybe we could all use a group hug. We should be using more positive uplifting words of encouragement and learn to love and care for one another. That's all for now I'm going back to prancing around my living room to Amy Grant's cuss free lyrics and Aaron Carter's nonthreatening, peaceful, and happy singing.

-- Nancy Kalostomie (trillajote@aol.com), July 08, 2002.

I agree with saundra,the most annoying thing about swearing is the misuse of words and the lack of imagination.having served in the army,then training and working as a chef,i hear anglo saxon and teutonic profanities on a regular basis(about every 30seconds!),and the major gripe i have is the lack of inventiveness. English is a beautiful and expressive language,and if you cant use it to swear creativley,then i dont know what the world is coming to. Anyway,off the soapbox and on withh work,ho hum.

-- stephen (geordiechef30@hotmail.com), July 10, 2002.

I cringe at the American expression, "potty mouth" - so twee.

But more, I am disturbed not so much by the words eg cunt faggot etc but at the way they are used in such a perjorative way.

eg i've had a cunt of a day is very different to a comment directly addressed to somebody, particularly a woman, as a dumb cunt.

The initial postings on this thread were well thought out discussions about the use of language and demonstrated that swear words are just that - words.

However, latter posters demonstrate anger, vitriol, and hatred in their use of the very same words posters used earlier - therefore showing it's not the words, it's the way that you use 'em!

Cheers, Lily

-- Lily Keith (lilypuss@ausi.com), July 10, 2002.

Hi again,

please tell me, if i didn't ask before: it's not common for american families to swear about as much as The Osbournes, is it?

in_utero

peace, take care and keep the faith

-- în_ute®o (foutre@gmx.de), July 14, 2002.

First off, I am a 16 year old teenager, my screenname is " i LUV LEZBlANS " and I watch porn in my spare time [that or wank]. The Ideal American Family is most definitely the Osbournes, while prior it was the Bundey family, and even before that it was the Bunker family.

Now I'm not all of a fucking cusser, though I do when I am in public or nervous, and don't usually spell out cuss words, but I can see how Westernized society can be thought to be "going down the shitter" with all of the leeway on cussing on TV or the internet, radio, school etc. Of course, would we have it any other way? We know it's wrong in the highest sense, but would 90% of us refrain from using them or disallowing others to use them? Probably not, unless you're some religious zealot, as after all what are some naughty words going to do to someone? Do you think Jesus cries every time I say a naughty word, or that he kills a kitten every time I masturbate? This world isn't to be taken so seriously, so goddammit use all of the cuss words you want, and say them with pride!

Now on the opposing side, the one with all the baggage of mannerisms and moral values, does saying or hearing a bad word make you a lesser person? Do you actually visualize yourself as superior because you spend that extra time to watch your mouth so that you can look down on those who would say what they meant, how they mean it?

I like bad words, the more intricate and thought-provoking the better. It really disgusts me that people can preach their religion on TV on channel 23 but I can't watch the Osbournes uncensored yet; what about free speech you fuckers?

-Peter, the big fucking idiot

-- Peter Taylor (surfing_guy_21@sexmagnet.com), October 21, 2002.

I just think that it's the little thing that is nailed inside your head as Americans-that cussing is special language, unusable except in the meaningful circumstances-that makes it all a big deal: what if we cussed some more? I think it would be better to have more cussing, especially the racial slurs, as it would really help unite the people- niggers, crackers, wetbacks, chinks, etc. And give us maybe some identity: I'm a cracker, you're a nigger, she's a chink, and that little brown boy selling chiclets by the border is a wetback; so now can't we all just get along?

-- Peter Taylor (surfing_guy_21@sexmagnet.com), October 21, 2002.

i'd agree with that if the words loose meaning by more using them. but aren't they the first step to an argument?!

in_utero

peace, take care and keep the faith

-- în_ute®o (foutre@gmx.de), October 22, 2002.

i'm also laughing out loud if i hear a song in the censored version, such as 'puddle of mudd - she hates me'. but usually one doesn't give a FUCK if somebody is using those words on tv or something like that. 'shit' is even very commonly used in good old germany. only some morons seem to get pissed off if there is the german compliment of 'fuck' in a mid-afternoon talk show or words like that, which is to be heard by this wonderful 'beep'-sound. it's crazy. as if nobody would be able to speak english in this country. and just yesterday in a rap video there was that compliment, but no censorship.

,./.. (*_*) ..\.¸ (*lol*)

in_utero

peace, take care and keep the faith

-- în_ute®o (foutre@gmx.de), October 22, 2002.

Nothing offends me about swearing, and i agree w/ peter about the whole racial slur thing. Let's celebrate a little diversity here, goddammit. why are they even thought of as slurs, i mean the simple truth is that its far easier for us lazy americans to utter the word wetback than it is to say illegal immigrant of mexican nationality with a mixed spanish and indian heritage. Thats what wetback means to me - migrant worker. i have absoloutely nothing against wetbacks, most of them are great people; but greasers (mexicans who happen to be assholes) on the other hand. . .

-- Dan (kingoftheapes@moonshinehollow.com), January 16, 2003.

The ONLY swearing I do is in Klingon. (Ok, it's a language made for the Star Trek franchize, but it works!!^^)

-- Ansel G. Ford (Parallax281457689@Yahoo.com), June 10, 2004.

can you give some examples? *g

-- în_ute®o (in_utero@gmx.de), June 11, 2004.