Swearing: Norms in US v UK

[Satchmo Distel]

I would welcome views from American readers on this topic. My impression, having moved to the US in 2006, is:

1) Cunt is far worse in US usage, as it seems to be invariably targeted at women and misogynistic. The UK tendency (in some contexts) of playfully calling your male friend a cunt seems impossible in the US.

2) Twat - perhaps a similar issue to 'cunt'. Misogynistic in US, no possibility of its use in playful banter. Pronunciation also seems different, the US version rhyming with Jonathan Trott.

3) Fuck - roughly the same in both countries.

4) Motherfucker - seems to have been taken over by rap, although it must surely be older.

5) Cocksucker - very funny when used in Deadwood but I don't know if it has the same misogynistic stigma as cunt and twat.

6) Wanker - some Americans are starting to copy this British word.

7) Bitch & whore - again seem nastier in the US.

Discuss.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Most of those are right — though I'm not sure I've ever heard "twat" over here.

Generally swearing is less acceptable in everyday social situations in North America than it is in the UK. You have to pick your spots. La Signora fell foul of this a couple of times when she moved here. Members of her book club were decidedly uncomfortable with "fuck" being used casually.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

FDR was allegedly appalled by Churchill's, erm, "Effing and Jeffing" when they met in private. Churchill certainly knew how to call a cunt a cunt.

[Fussbudget]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Is "whore" really nastier in the US? It seems nasty enough in the UK, certainly of that list it's the only one that seems unequivocally misogynistic to me.

[Guy Profumo]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Fussbudget wrote: Is "whore" really nastier in the US? It seems nasty enough in the UK, certainly of that list it's the
only one that seems unequivocmisogynistic to me.

"Whore" isn't nasty in the Potger household. It's a deliberate unambiguous insult directed at a woman who behaves in a specific manner. cf "cunt". An epithet that also has to be earnt.

[Fussbudget]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

What specific manner, if I may ask?

[RobM]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

It still amuses me that Peg Bundy's family in Married With Children came from Wanker County, Wisconsin.

[sw2borshch]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

I thought cocksucker had a homophobic stigma everywhere?

I've heard women call each other daft cunts here in the friendliest of terms. It's not really a workaday thing, though.

Whore I'd bracket with all the 's' words about women I don't use. Whore I reckon I hear about men more nowadays. Not counting gender neutral terms like media whore.

[RobM]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Ya whore ye (pronounced hoor) is a Fife thing if I remember right.

[Jimmy Bignutz]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

[evilC]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Ooooh! This is bad news for me, should I ever want to emigrate! At some point in my twenties (I think) I became the sweariest person I know. Just about every sentence I say contains fuck, shit, bollocks or cunt (and hopefully all of them)! Fortunately, I can usually control my urges in 'polite' company. Unfortunately, swearing has become such second nature to me that I can't always be sure I haven't sworn in a sentence in polite company!

Do Canadians swear less or more than Americans?

Me, yesterday:

[Amor de Cosmos]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Do Canadians swear less or more than Americans?

About 90% less.

Some common British expletives I've rarely heard here. Bastard, I've only come across in it's literal form. Bugger, is also often not often used as a swear word, except perhaps in the maritimes.

[Bored Of Education]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

I think we have ascertained on here that 'cunt' in the US is used almost exclusively against women while, in the UK, it is non-gender-specific. Indeed, it is far more rarely used against women here unless it, you know, Thatcher.

I have say that it reflects well on our North American correspondents that they let us use the UK version

[evilC]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Oh, yeah - I'd rarely call a woman a cunt, unless she was really being one.

My female friends call me a cunt if I'm being one, though. Swings and roundabouts.

Errrr...

[evilC]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Amor de Cosmos wrote: ...except perhaps in the maritimes.

I'm guessing Newfoundland is "The Maritimes", right?

[Femme Folle]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

I don't think the UK meaning of 'twat' is widely known over here. It's so similar to 'twit' that it could easily be mistaken for a variation of it.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

@evilC:

Broadly, yes. Though it's got a distinct history and culture.

[Benjm]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Points 1 and 2 can't reasonably be addressed without reference to the masterly description of Boris Johnson that appeared on OTF some years ago. I mentioned it to David Sedaris at a signing yesterday. He seemed to like it.

[Jah Womble]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

I've never heard any American use the word 'twat', in any context. Surely it was a British colloquialism that went national?

The 'c'-word has broader usage in the UK - thus I think can be deemed these days more offensive in the US. In Britain, it's only a matter of time before it becomes completely accepted on post-watershed TV, in the way that the 'f'-word did during the nineties. More's the pity.

The power of these words is surely contained by the fact that they aren't used willy-nilly - at least not in the way that crap panel shows like Eight Out of Ten Cats seem to believe so hilarious and edgy.

[G-Man]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

I remember the term "twat" being used in The Sopranos a few times.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

whore is a tricky one. Pronounced hoor it's used all the time. A cute hoor is a tricky conniving chancer. (this can be an admiring or insulting term)

that old hoor, implies someone cantankerous. you dirty hoor implies someone filthy and ignorant, but in no sense is it a serious insult. Again it has little to do with prostitution and our tendency to use words for their 'seriousness' rather than any real underlying understanding of their meaning.

calling someone a whore to rhyme with door is a different matter entirely. That's going to get you in a lot of trouble.

[Vulgarian Visigoth]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Jah Womble wrote: The power of these words is surely contained by the fact that they aren't used willy-nilly - at least not in the way that crap panel shows like Eight Out of Ten Cats seem to believe so hilarious and edgy.

That's the thing, isn't it? When they're overused for "edginess" swear words lose their beauty. At its best, swearing can be a form of folk poetry.

[Femme Folle]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

I think even if you did hear anyone here using the word "twat", they would likely be intending to say that the person was an idiot, rather than a cunt.

In other words, the use of twat here is like the use of cunt over there. But it's still not widely used (unless it's a new thing that started since I became a recluse).

[Bored Of Education]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

Pat McGatt! wrote:

The power of these words is surely contained by the fact that they aren't used willy-nilly - at least not in the way that crap panel shows like Eight Out of Ten Cats seem to believe so hilarious and edgy.

That's the thing, isn't it? When they're overused for "edginess" swear words lose their beauty. At its best, swearing can be a form of folk poetry.

I refer you back to the 'Bored Of Education Cunt-calling Club'

[alyxandr]

Swearing: Norms in US v UK

I'll second FF re: "twat" in the US -- similar to "dick", it may have once been gender-specific but is now just a fairly mild and/or affectionate way to call someone an idiot.

I find i've adopted "motherhumper" from Velvet Soup; it's almost as satisfying to say, without getting yourself in trouble with co-workers, easily offended passers-by, &c.