Here, (those who are old enough to remember this stuff), have a chuckle at the US interpretation of the word 'fanny' ... yes, we know that word as a tame somewhat affectionate name for a vagina ... the kids today would have a different word to use ... having said that, there are dozens of alternative words and always have been and I could be wrong but they may have come here from the US (?)

Another use for 'fanny' is that is has popped up as someones name (only in the UK AFAIK) ... as in "aunt Fanny" from Enid Blyton's much loved Famous Five series ...

Over here we also have another use for the "f-word" and that is to insert it into certain words such as:

fantastic!
incredible!
outrageous!
hooray!

there are no doubt other words that have escaped me but here are the new version of the above words, once the "f-word" has been added:

fan / f-ing / tastic!
in / f-ing / credible!
out / f-ing / rageous!
hoo / f-lng / ray!

I'm not aware of this usage of the 'f-word' in the US or the UK and I'm sure I would have come across it in the various films and such that reach our shore ... ;)

Oh yes, the grammatical construction of "Tmesis" or an "infix" is well known. My favourite being:
Un--f--ing--believable!

Here's a link to "Roger's Profanisaurus", originally from the pages of Viz comic in the UK. It's an encyclopaedia of swearing, euphemisms and colloquial expressions relating to toilet and bedroom activities. Enjoy:
http://www.milkinfirst.com/dictionary/profanisaurus.htm

It's very difficult not to laugh out loud when reading through it!

You know it's suddenly occurred to me, over here in the US we have a huge mortgage broker called Fannie Mae (pronounced Fanny Mae) I suppose that title doesn't sound terribly official in Britain, eh?

Also, thanks for the warning on saying c**t which is a fairly innocuous term in the US (most people wouldn't recognize it.) I've developed a maddening habit of using it to swear under my breath (I really need to stop swearing, it can't possibly be good for my health.) Anyway, I'll try and cut that out now...

I have noticed the that F-Bomb is much worse in the US than in England. Over here in the US it is far and away the worst of all the swear words. It's stands on a plinth unto itself ;). For example, you are allowed one F-bomb per PG-13 movie. If you use it again, it's an automatic R rating. And the F-bomb is never allowed on public television...

As for the original word I was referring to, someone already said it. It's "spastic" or "spaz". In America it simply means to have too much energy, usually in the sense that it causes you to make an error. Where as in Britain (I'm told) it's a derogatory term for someone who is handicapped.

What's interesting to me is that England even has a derogatory word for a handicapped individual. In America all of the words that are considered rude that are derived from handicaps are no longer associated with said handicapped. Take "dumb" for example. If I call someone dumb I'm saying they're stupid, not that they are unable to speak. Retarded is fairly similar, with only a loose connection to it's original meaning. And both those words are quite mild on the offensive scale.

Somehow all this talk has reminded me of one time when I was talking to a friend from South Africa. I mentioned I'd heard a word in an Eddie Izzard skit and wasn't sure what it meant or if it was rude or what. I should point out, he was a fairly conservative individual, so perhaps even brining this up was a mistake, but... Anyway I ended up asking him what a "w*nk*r" was, and he turned a couple shades paler, then suddenly started laughing when he realized I had no idea what I had just said... And no, he didn't explain, I ended up having to google it.

I did find out that apparently the word is much more offensive in South Africa than it is in England. Anyone from South Africa, Australia or New Zealand? Want to tell us some good swears from there?

(PS -- I'm just glad I didn't ask him what a "pu**er" is, might have ended up even worse.)

When I think of the word puffer I just think of a puffer fish!

http://animals.nationalgeographic.co...ish-puffed.jpg

In England a 'poofter' or 'poof' is used by some people to refer to a homosexual person

Another term which people sometimes use is 'bender' (which means the same as poof / poofter) - is that term used in the US?

We have 'shirt lifter' here as well as a stream of other tags ....

I think Poof is a long forgotten word here ... it's actually a piece of furniture:

http://img.skitch.com/20101116-efykw...ieddyyfhm9.jpg

I thought that I'd never hear the word c**t on TV but I finally did hear it and I was shocked ... that's the last bastion of decorum smashed to bits ... sometimes being called a c**t isn't meant as an insult ... it can be used affectionately between folk but the people I'm talking about are what we here refer to as 'bogans' ...

It was on an ABC program so that sort of explains things ... although Chef Gordon Ramsay was broadcasted on a commercial channel ... now there's someone who needs a swear jar ;)

Our teen son regularly calls me a retard but I just let it slide as I know he is only referring to the generation/technical gap he perceives between us.

We also use 'spaz' in pretty much the same context as the US and we no longer house them in large complex/hospitals as they are now integrated into society.

Something I found really weird was that in the US the showing of the belly button on women was forbidden ... for example: 'I dream of Jeannie' .... Jeannie's belly button or navel was always covered up:

I thought this was some weird censorship from the 60's until I was watching an episode of "Burn Notice" and Fiona was wearing a bikini and I suddenly noticed that her belly button was blanked out! The woman extra/bit part, who was also in a bikini, was showing her belly button off to the world but poor Fi had to have hers smudged ...


she still looked extremely hot!


.

That would be the opposite of my experience. Everybody I know considers it the most offensive word of all, and avoid even oblique references. Recently, a friend of mine accidentally referred to it, to her deep chagrin. A group of stay-at-home parents (all moms, I'm the only dad) were getting together weekly to hang out while the kids played. At the end of one visit, one mom was walking down the street to her car, and another mom called out "See you next… " paused in embarrassment and mumbled "Tuesday."

Huh, and suddenly I wonder what sort of differences there are in swear words between different areas of the same nation!

I don't think c**t is considered a clean word over here in Utah, it's just never really used. Even by people who indulge in a lot of swearing. Maybe I just haven't heard it enough to see how people might react to it around me. I'll just start yelling it when I walk down the street and see what happens :D.

And poofer? Instead of puffer? That doesn't make much sense to me, I have to admit. I wonder if maybe poof means the same thing as puff? Oh well. Though this does remind me that I was once castigated by my grandfather for saying "that sucks". While the phrase was innocuous to me, in his mind it was an explicate reference to gay sex. I'd never really thought about it before, but I did remove the phrase from my vocabulary...

Yell that word on the street and I'll bet you'll quickly learn why even those who indulge in a lot of swearing don't use it. ;)

While living in US I did a decorations for a party for designers. They wanted to use Leonardo da Vinci's well known Vitruvian Man as stage background. To my baffelment they insisted the genitals to be wiped out. It looked pretty profane that way.

Readers interested in this thread may want to spend some time perusing the research reported in Maledicta: The International Journal of Verbal Aggression. Before clicking the link below for information, take note:

"W A R N I N G !

Caveat Lector!


This Website specializes in uncensored language research protected by the First Amendment. If you are under 21 years of age, immature, a legal scumbag, a shallow journalist, a p.c. creep, or offended by words, just go away."

http://aman.members.sonic.net/

I guess that offence, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. If you don't take offence at it, it isn't offensive.
One of the the best pieces of advice my dad gave me at school was: "if someone is insulting you, they are probably just trying to get a reaction. The best way to get back at them is by not giving the satisfaction."

And yes, I always thought that the C word was generally far too offensive in the US. I've only heard it in three US films: Saturday Night Fever, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Departed.

However, it's used on telly, late night, in the UK. If it's artistically justified!

Hey benwiggy, you're almost at 3000. Congrats. :)

I consider insults mean, whether you can take it or not. One of my quotes is: "A sense of humour is more than making a joke - it's also taking a joke."

That's one word that I tend to avoid because it can still offend many people. Other than that I tend to let fly quite liberally, especially under stress.



My first stint of factory work I found hanging with bogans to be a little on the threatening side. Once I realised that they talk to everyone like that I was less worried about getting my head kicked in and realised that that was just how they make friends. What can I say, I guess I had a sheltered upbringing.

Yeah I've had friendships where good-natured ribbing was commonplace but the trouble is you don't know people's boundaries until you've crossed them and then it can be tricky back-pedaling.

I've had that happen to me too. One of my friends keeps playing annoying jokes on me. I told him to stop, it's passed pleasantry, but he won't listen. Stepping to the next level…

Bogans are likely to be heard saying; "you silly c**t!" but it's mere playfulness on their part, nothing nasty at all. I personally would rather not hang around bogans as they just freak me out a lil'.

Speaking of bogans a friend was once saved by some AC/DC trivia. He was crossing through a park when he was confronted by a group of drunk bogans looking for a fight. When he noticed one of them wearing an acca-dacca t-shirt he quickly spouted off what he could remember about Bon Scott which got them on-side. Crisis averted they let him go.

That is funny. Here it's just another tame word for a butt. Actually the polite term for "ass".

Say what? Just so we're clear, are talking about c u n t? If so, that word is not innocuous in the US *at all*. In fact, it's pretty much a worse word to say than the F-word, anywhere I have ever lived.
Utah must really be a sheltered place.

It was the same for me in Arizona, California, Washington and Missouri. More likely the sheltered person is me. I've only heard it used once or twice, maybe. Maybe that's just because it's so offensive? The odd thing is, I wonder if the fact that it's never being used makes it become less offensive as time goes by, just because nobody has heard it to know it's offensive. To me the worst word to say has always been the F-bomb, which I've been exposed to, well, quite a bit considering the music I listen to.

Is this word ever pronounced as 'arse' in the US? That's how we use the word and the only time we'd be heard saying the 'ass' word if we were saying:

"Don't behave like an ass!"

As conflicting as it seems, I'm fairly sure we don't even use this word to describe a donkey ... ;)