Do You Curse?

[hobbsyoyo]

By the way, how bad the f-word is considered in English? There is a bit of disagreement among movie translators how this word should be translated into Russian.
Most translators use fairly mild words to interpret it, but others use extreme profanities, which often put a movie into 18+ category.

In my opinion, it is an extreme profanity in almost all contexts*, but has been so overused it has lost all impact or meaning. The translators *should* have a problem figuring out what to do with it
*"Wanna F?" is perfectly fine in private between intimate partners. And there might be some legitimate doctor-patient uses for the word for patients with limited vocabulary. That's all I can think of, but I'm not very imaginative.

It is generally considered one of the more severe, but it still depends on context. In some national, cultural, social contexts it's mild punctuation and a general purpose intensifier. In others it's a harsh term of abuse.

By default, it's only considered less impactful than certain racial epithets and c***.

I agree with both of these guys. It's both a contextual word but it is also shifting. I don't think it used to get a pass as a word that could be used openly regardless of the context until kind of recently. It has never been as bad as some racial epithets but probably was close at one point. And the c-word is still verboten in the US even as it seems the Aussies seem quite fond of it.

 

[red_elk]

With the c-word, at least it's clear how to translate it

 

[civvver]

Yes among friends and with my spouse, she probably has a worse mouth than I do actually. I try not to in front of the kids but it happens, I really need to work on it. I never swear at them except for maybe a couple slip ups over the years, but I'll drop something in the kitchen and let a s word drop and they'll go ooooo daddy said a naughty word!

At work it's very casual and a lot of people do swear but I mostly do not. I might be like this code is really s***ty sometimes with my co workers. But mostly I do not. I never use it in writing.

 

[rah]

Many years ago, driving my then young daughter home from day care when a woman driver cut me off and I casually tossed out the b word. I didn't think anything of it until a few days latter when my daughter asked my wife what a b**** was. I was much more careful after that.

 

[Josu]

A lot.
Mostly in Spanish because there are not many swear words in Basque

 

[Cheetah]

I don't know the etymology of curse but banning/bannskap stems from the old norse word bann which means forbidden. Which I think makes a little more sense.

Close. The etymology is bigger. «bannlyse»/«banishing» is also related. Here's the Norwegian dictionary for «banne»: banne verb (norrøntbanna, egentlig 'lyse i bann, forbanne')

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

And the c-word is still verboten in the US even as it seems the Aussies seem quite fond of it.

Cucumber?

 

[Snerk]

Close. The etymology is bigger. «bannlyse»/«banishing» is also related. Here's the Norwegian dictionary for «banne»: banne verb (norrøntbanna, egentlig 'lyse i bann, forbanne')

Not quite the same. Bannlyse is made of two words. Bann which is Norse but stems from the old Saxon word ban which means forbidden, and lysing which is old Norse for announcement.

https://www.naob.no/ordbok/bann

 

[Arwon]

With the c-word, at least it's clear how to translate it

Ooooh, even then, it's gonna depend on the context of the word in the specific usage, and the available vulgarities in the target language. Take Spanish for instance - the direct cognate is coño but is generally closer in usage to "damn" or "f***". If you translate from Spanish literally, you're going to get something way more vulgar in English than was intended in the original Spanish, and going in reverse, you're going to lose a lot of the severity of the English word by rendering it directly in Spanish. I believe the French con is similarly mild.

On the other hand, English swear words don't really centre as much around prostitutes as much as some other languages. The word "whore" for instance I'm pretty sure isn't even auto censored here and doesn't figure into swearing much, whereas "puta" is fairly strong in Spanish and used a lot of ways. I think similar terms can be quite harsh amd common in some Slavic languages (eg Polish kurwa?)?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Not really surprising that the puritanical Anglosphere would put more shock value on the word for the act itself, where more relaxed cultures are more focused on who the act is with.

That said, the issue really comes down to how you use a word. If I hit my thumb with a hammer and some word comes out hardly anyone is going to be even surprised. That same word dropped in casual conversation will likely raise a few eyebrows but still not cause an unbearable crisis. But take that same word into an already heated exchange and apply it directly to the other person...that changes things.

 

[red_elk]

On the other hand, English swear words don't really centre as much around prostitutes as much as some other languages. The word "whore" for instance I'm pretty sure isn't even auto censored here and doesn't figure into swearing much, whereas "puta" is fairly strong in Spanish and used a lot of ways. I think similar terms can be quite harsh amd common in some Slavic languages (eg Polish kurwa?)?

I don't think it's too strong in Slavic languages unless it's applied to somebody. If you translate whore in Russian, you'll get the similar uncensored word. The difference I see is that in English there are swear words related to religion (probably in Spanish too?), whereas in Russian there are almost none.

 

[Hamilton321]

interesting path of conversation

 

[Cheetah]

Not quite the same. Bannlyse is made of two words. Bann which is Norse but stems from the old Saxon word ban which means forbidden, and lysing which is old Norse for announcement.

https://www.naob.no/ordbok/bann

Sure, but «curse» is literally «forbanne»:
for|banne verb (fra lavtysk; av banne)
1 lyse straffedom over; banne og sverge over

 

[Kyriakos]

Words (obviously) get a shocking/other negative meaning due to expectation and transferring of such emotion onto the word. This is quite clear in the case of the current most used greek term for f_, which etymologically just refers to getting married. The tie was (I have to assume), that married people do that as well.
The ancient greek term was different.
Another good example is of the most used current greek 'swear word', which literally just means "soft", but clearly refers to onanism; the tie there being an assumption that only if one is meek they'd do this.
In both cases, the etymology/meaning isn't clear to most of those using it, but the emotional investment in the term may render it significant. As I said, those people are just ape-shamans

 

[Manfred Belheim]

I'm often surprised by the swear words that aren't censored here. Presumably because they're not considered offensive in the US, or not even heard of. **** arse.

Edit: Oh one of them was. fudging typical. Piss.

 

[Camikaze]

I never swear at home, but do pretty frequently at work. It's quite an acceptable practice in white collar workplaces in dialogue (but not so much larger groups), including at times with clients and other third parties. It only really becomes unacceptable when it's directed at someone or if the conversation is very serious.
Occasionally it is also necessary to use swearing or other inappropriate language in very formal settings, in properly quoting something.

 

[MaryKB]

I don't really swear, except maybe occasionally when I'm typing something - for some reason, typing it seems easier than saying it. But that's very rare for me, and only when I'm either really trying to add some emphasis, or be funny.

When I want to "swear" IRL, I'll most likely say "bleep!/bleeping!", etc. I also like The Good Place swears, like "fork," "shirt," etc.

I also make up my own, like "Holy Potato!", or "What the monkey?"

 

[Patine]

It has never been as bad as some racial epithets but probably was close at one point.

If you look at mainstream American television in the '70's and '80's, the "seven unspeakable words," are still mostly taboo, or at least bleeped out or dubbed over, such as if they're playing a more mature movie in a television slot. But, if you look at a few series from that period, like "All in the Family," "the Jeffersons," "Blazing Saddles," "Wild, Wild West," and "In the Heat of the Night," as VERY good examples, you'd be surprised how many times the "N-word," drops.

 

[amadeus]

When I'm speaking in person, I can be colorful.

But as a matter of personal preference and experience, it's uncouth and ineffective; "crap" or "baloney" have the same impact in written form than any other words.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I don't really swear, except maybe occasionally when I'm typing something - for some reason, typing it seems easier than saying it. But that's very rare for me, and only when I'm either really trying to add some emphasis, or be funny.

When I want to "swear" IRL, I'll most likely say "bleep!/bleeping!", etc. I also like The Good Place swears, like "fork," "shirt," etc.

I also make up my own, like "Holy Potato!", or "What the monkey?"

Is it wrong that I immediately pictured you in a sexy Robin costume saying "Holy Potato Batman!"?