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[illustratedjai]

Last semester, I took a socioling course at my Uni (low level, easy credits and GPA booster, as well as being my field of interest) and ended up doing a presentation on swearing. As a point of interest, and just for flavour, I'd done an informal online survey of as many people as I could find. One of the questions was "What's the worst swear word

Comments

[brujaoscura]

OK- This used to be an ongoing thing with my ex and our medival friends- it started as 2 words- but the final result was as follows:
F*ckest thou and thine equine companion upon which thou ridest,thine lazy slut that accompanies thee, thy canine companion which followest thee, the feline that rideth upon his back,the rodent that percheth atop the feline's back and the fleas that accompany all of thee.
(I have only uttered it a few times- NOT in a Ren faire setting.)

[illustratedjai]

That.

Is.

Amazing.

[miss_next]

I'm not really sweary. I tend to say "bloody" as a very last resort. However, my best friend is a most creative user of profanity and can come out with some tirades worthy of Mark Twain, especially when he's behind the wheel of a car.

His favourite swear appears to be "arse biscuits!", which always makes me laugh. I'm not sure that's the effect it's meant to have. :-)

[illustratedjai]

I've heard that one before, and it always makes me laugh as well - it sounds almost like those replacement swears because of the food connotations (fudge, sugar, &c), and is softened a bit by the colloquial 'arse,' rather than the harsher, more American 'ass'. It makes me happy. 8DDD

[miss_next]

I'm quite interested in the differences in profanity between British and American English. It always cracks me up when my American friends say "bloody", because that is a word I strongly associate with BrE and AusE. Also, some words are considered a lot worse in the USA than here - "damn" being the classic example; it's barely swearing in BrE, but quite bad in AmE - and vice versa, for instance "crap".

It occurs to me now that "arse/ass" is a bit different too, and not just in the form of the word. My best friend often says "Oh, arse!" to express annoyance. I'd say that was a minority usage over here, but nonetheless he's not by any means on his own. However, I've never heard of an American saying "Oh, ass!" - though I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong there.

[switchercat]

Also, some words are considered a lot worse in the USA than here - "damn" being the classic example; it's barely swearing in BrE, but quite bad in AmE

I'm not sure where you got this information, but it's not right (or, at least, too generalized to be right). The word "damn" is rare in the dialect of American English I use, but that's not because it's "quite bad" -- I'd say it's actually so mild that it's almost ceased to pack any kind of punch whatsoever, and is disused because of that.

On the subject of the post itself: to me, a lot of compound swear words (things like, I don't know, "douchenozzle" or "asshat") sound so contrived that they don't feel like actual serious insults in the same way as other swear words do. I don't use them. I also see them online much more often than I hear them in speech.

One compound swear I virtually never hear in my dialect is "cocksucker," which seems to me very bad/insulting -- not because of the language, but because of what I perceive as serious, malicious homophobia packed in its meaning.

[echoandsway]

I like compounds, myself.

To me, "pigfucker" packs the most wallop in the least space. It's so vile, and yet elegantly compact.

[illustratedjai]

Compounds are pretty awesome~

And I now have the urge to replace every instance of Motherfucker in my vocabulary with pigfucker. 8DDD

[echoandsway]

It will save you a syllable, while introducing an even more sordid element of moral turpitude. Go for it :P

[illustratedjai]

Hahaha, rock on. Saving syllables is a good thing~ (I wonder, if I save up enough syllables, do I get a free word...?)

[redshira]

I grossed myself and my sister out last night by inadvertently referring to someone as a "shitfungus". We're eliminating gendered insults from our vocabulary so we come up with some interesting stuff sometimes :)

[akibare]

I am SO going to use that now, thanks!!

In a similar absurd vein I like "assvalve." Nothing but BS is coming out, well, it must be an assvalve.

[illustratedjai]

...Assvalve. That's fantastic! :DDDDDD

[illustratedjai]

Oh, ew! That sounds like something my sister would say - she tends to make threats like "don't make me shit on you!" so...

[brujaoscura]

Also technically not swearing- but I have heard/used(offensive
Jesus H Christ, Jesus H Christ in a sidecar/on a crutch,
My uncle, a Pennsylvania Dutchman frequently used oaths like "Odin's Beard" By Thor's Hammer, Loki-spawn'ed contraption/person
He also went off in German oaths

One of my friend's favorites(in Italian) was Mincchio de mare- loosely translated as "dick of the sea" or he told ME "fish dick"