Re: OT: Slang, curses and vulgarities

This thread's moving into chat territory, so I altered the title.

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:04:55 +1030, Adrian Morgan (aka Flesh-eating
Dragon) <dragon@...> wrote:

>
> There is, IME, a small minority of young Australians for whom "shit"
> seems to mean "stuff" without even being intrinsically derogatory -
> and many more Australians, young and old, for whom this usage is most
> galling.
>
> "Shit" is what you say when your computer crashes and you lose the
> entire essay you've just been writing. You can also say, "I've had to
> put up with all sorts of shit today", which is not at all the same as
> mere "stuff".
>
> Adrian.
>
Here, in California, in my corner, shit can mean:

- A mild swear word when you've slammed a hammer into your thumb:
"Shit! That hurts!"
- when you're tired of something: "I'm sick and tired of your shit!"
- a fairly strong swear word: "You fucking piece of shit!"
- actual term for feces: "That boy is nasty.. he used the toilet and
left his shit all over the seat!"
- or stuff: "Dude, I can't go with you today, i've got shit to do.

Back to cunt... I did a cursory poll of the female friends on my
friends list on Livejournal, and asked the ladies to give me their
impressions on the word "cunt", since it was mentioned the word was
really taboo:

1 - 2 women
2 - 1 woman
3 - 1 woman
5 - 1 woman
7 - 3 women
8 - 2 women
10 -1  woman

So, the slightly more than half of the women on my friends list who
answered rank "cunt" as either  partway offensive to fully, and
slightly under half who responded said it was part way offensive to
not at all.

They also had conditions:

V -- It's really only offensive if a straight man says it. I don't
think it would bother me if a woman said it. I might blink with
surprise, but I would know there isn't any sort of misguided violence
behind it.

M -- I give it a three, more on other's reactions than mine. I don't
mind the word, and use it myself, both as in "Eep - cunt itch*" and as
an insult, "what a fucking cunt!" As for the latter, I save it for
those instances when someone is really over the top nasty so it
doesn't lose its edge like 'bitch' has. Personally, I love the word.

S -- In England and Ireland it means nothing and is used all the time*

H -- When I'm describing myself or a good friend. :P

D -- I am 100% desensitized to the word since my best two gay bois use
that word like there is no tomorrow. I am less offended by it than
pussy

Met -- I wouldn't use it unless I was either really pissed or wanted
to offend someone. I think the general perception of its meaning is
pretty taboo.

O -- I wouldn't want to be called one unless it's from one of my gay
boys being obnoxious, but I don't mind the word at all. I say it quite
a bit, even, in referring to bad people. The word itself doesn't shock
me at all.


* Can those of you from England and Ireland confirm that "cunt" is not
offensive at all and used all the time there?


--
You can turn away from me
but there's nothing that'll keep me here you know
And you'll never be the city guy
Any more than I'll be hosting The Scooby Show

Scooby Show - Belle and Sebastian

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