25

SWEARWORD - A popular term for a word or phrase that is obscene, abusive, and socially offensive.

For some reason, all of them seem to be associated with excrements, sex and religion. This question is specific about offenses, not intensifiers. Can you identify any that doesn't follow the rule and tell when and where it originated?

I don't mean mild offenses like "dumb", "idiot", "jackass", "blockhead" or the like, but words or phrases that will shock those who overhear them.

EDIT - It seems my question has been misunderstood by some. I'm looking for swearwords that are not related to excrements, sex or religion, and still might shock someone. I don't expect a list because I believe they are few, and some of them have already been mentioned in the answers below. If I find them together in one answer and there is some reference as to where and when each one originated, I'll accept that answer.

ps. Of course, whether or not we find a word shocking or offensive largely depends on where (and how) we have been brought up, our educational background and elements of culture. I would therefore consider the average man (average income, age, education) as a reference.

Centaurus
  • 50,047
  • There are an awful lot of them which refer to the alleged mental capacity of the addressed person. – rumtscho Sep 29 '14 at 14:44
  • 14
    Those are insults, not taboo words. Excrements, sex, and religion are the sources of magic power, and magic power is what makes words taboo. Some people object to other people's using the words (that's what "obscene" means) under what they consider inappropriate circumstances, because otherwise Bad Things Happen. Magically. Practicing excretion, sex, or religion is OK, but different from invoking them with words improperly; that's the taboo. If a new source of magic appears in our culture, it, too, will generate ritual and obscenity. – John Lawler Sep 29 '14 at 14:50
  • 3
    @user463240 Are you looking for *intensifiers* ("That f-----g ...") or something else? – Andrew Leach Sep 29 '14 at 14:51
  • I've just edited and tried to make it more specific. – Centaurus Sep 29 '14 at 14:54
  • Given than "obscene" is part of the definition, it's no surprise that most swear words fall into those three categories. – JenSCDC Sep 29 '14 at 16:21
  • 5
    The interesting thing about English is that it has no swear words that are associated with illnesses. Many other languages treat cancer, cholera, and so on as (parts of) bad words. – Eric Sep 29 '14 at 18:01
  • From the collection of answers and comments, it is becoming more likely now that English has no such swearwords. So in comments, are there any other languages that have words outside of religion, excrement, sex? – Mitch Sep 29 '14 at 21:42
  • 1
    Check out the Lexicon Valley podcast about profanity and obscenity with author Melissa Mohr. She talks about her book "Holy Shit: A Brief History of Swearing" which divides bad words into two major camps: the “holy”—religious oaths that we consider profane—and the “shit” —bodily functions and sexual terms that we deem obscene. – Dhaust Sep 29 '14 at 23:15
  • 1
    @Eric: Spanish, Filipino (+ others?) use illnesses as curses. – smci Sep 30 '14 at 00:36
  • 1
    It's still not clear [and evidenced by the variety of answers] whether you're asking for intensifiers or insults, or just "language which will shock". In any case, list questions are frowned upon. If the question can be made absolutely specific without invalidating a large number of answers, please do that; otherwise, I suggest rethinking what you are actually wanting to know and asking another question (referencing this one, if that would be helpful). – Andrew Leach Sep 30 '14 at 06:42
  • Would "What are the categories of the sources of offensive words?" be a valid question? – JenSCDC Sep 30 '14 at 09:23
  • @AndrewLeach I have edited and added another sentence explaining what exactly I have in mind for an answer. I'm open to suggestions if you have any. – Centaurus Sep 30 '14 at 16:06
  • This question should be closed because it is too broad (and not useful, IMHO). There are zillions of such words. Just think of all of the words that are socially unacceptable because they are offensive to one community of people or another. – Drew Oct 04 '14 at 06:59
  • @Drew How many such words - not about sex, religion or excrements, that will shock someone who overhears them - can you think of? Note well, in my question I say "will shock someone who overhears them". – Centaurus Oct 04 '14 at 17:44
  • Any ethnic slur, to start with. Any slur of any human community, not just an ethnic community. They will shock and offend at least some members of the target community. There are zillions of them. I'm not going to feed them to you, and there is no sense in trying to count them. How about 42 as an answer - does that help you? What's surprising, even shocking, is that you think that objectionable, offensive, shocking words are limited to the categories you posed. This question should be closed as too broad (not to mention nonsensical and unhelpful), IMO. – Drew Oct 04 '14 at 21:10
  • @JohnLawler I doubt that most people who object to vulgar language object on the basis that they believe that "bad things will happen magically" if you use such words. Rather, I think most object because such words bring distasteful or unpleasant images to mind that they would rather not have, or because they see them as an insult to their beliefs or their group. If every time someone made a stupid mistake people said, "Oh, he really pulled a John Lawler yesterday!", I think you'd find that insulting and would be offended. (Depending on your personality, you might laugh along, but I think ... – Jay Oct 08 '14 at 13:49
  • ... most people deep down would have hurt feelings even if they did put up a good front.) If you are married or have a girlfriend, she would likely be more offended for you than you are for yourself. You don't have to suppose that she believes that anything physically bad will happen to you or others because people use your name as a swear word. It's just the insult of it. – Jay Oct 08 '14 at 13:51
  • @Jay: As I said, there's a big difference between obscenity -- violating a speech taboo -- and making a personal insult. Anybody who had never heard of me (which is the vast majority of English speakers) would be puzzled if somebody said what you quoted. My name is not yet obscene; that's simply an insult. Insults are cheap and personal and easy. Obscenity takes more effort and offends more people. And you may doubt all you like about "vulgar language" (your phrase, not mine), but if you can't tell the difference between obscenity and insult, your doubts may not be definitive. – John Lawler Oct 08 '14 at 14:59
  • @JohnLawler The intent of my comment was to postulate that your name is being used as a vulgarity. To say that it is improbable that this would happen ... well, duh. Perhaps I should clarify that my intent was not to insult you but simply to invent a whimsical example. – Jay Oct 09 '14 at 13:04
  • The thing is that nobody can do that. Make a name into an obscenity, that is. We can try -- I'd like it if the word Republican were an obscenity in American English, for instance. But so far it's still legal on TV. Individuals don't have that magic power, except by accident. It's not you or me but Norma Loquendi who decides what's fit to say and what's wash-your-mouth-out-with-soap evil, dirty, disgusting, and obscene. It's not a conscious reaction -- it's cultural and we're not in charge of it. – John Lawler Oct 09 '14 at 15:10
  • By the way, "vulgarity" is precisely the kind of euphemism that dodges this issue; vulgar means 'common' -- stuff that's not what us upperclass folks do or say. It is common (in the sense of 'frequent') for people to say obscene words, but it's certainly not limited to common people. The issue is obscenity, not class, education, or emotion. "Vulgarity" muddies the ethnographic water. – John Lawler Oct 09 '14 at 15:14
  • @JohnLawler: Is the N-word insulting or obscene or taboo? Has it moved from being an insult to being taboo? How are you drawing the line between these categories? And surely the applicable category (however you define it) for a given term can evolve. (In any case, the OP never mentioned taboo. But yes, s?he did list some categories that one might associate with taboo.) – Drew Oct 10 '14 at 21:09
  • I think any racial slurs like the N-word meets all your criteria – user12211554 Dec 18 '19 at 23:06

13 Answers13

27
  • bitch (a female dog)
  • bastard (a person born out of wedlock)
  • honk(e)y (a white person)
  • kike (a Jew)

EDIT
The etymology of bitch, bastard and honky/honkey as provided by the Online Etymology Dictionary

bitch (n.) Old English bicce "female dog," probably from Old Norse bikkjuna "female of the dog" (also fox, wolf, and occasionally other beasts), of unknown origin. Grimm derives the Old Norse word from Lapp pittja, but OED notes that "the converse is equally possible." As a term of contempt applied to women, it dates from c.1400; of a man, c.1500, playfully, in the sense of "dog." Used among male homosexuals from 1930s. In modern (1990s, originally black English) slang, its use with reference to a man is sexually contemptuous, from the "woman" insult. BITCH. A she dog, or doggess; the most offensive appellation that can be given to an English woman, even more provoking than that of whore. ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1811]

bastard (n.) "illegitimate child," early 13c., from Old French bastard (11c., Modern French bâtard), "acknowledged child of a nobleman by a woman other than his wife," probably from fils de bast "packsaddle son," meaning a child conceived on an improvised bed (saddles often doubled as beds while traveling), with pejorative ending -art (see -ard). Alternative possibly is that the word is from Proto-Germanic *banstiz "barn," equally suggestive of low origin.

Not always regarded as a stigma; the Conqueror is referred to in state documents as "William the Bastard." Figurative sense of "something not pure or genuine" is late 14c.; use as a vulgar term of abuse for a man is attested from 1830. As an adjective from late 14c. Among the "bastard" words in Halliwell-Phillipps' "Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words" are avetrol, chance-bairn, by-blow, harecoppe, horcop, and gimbo ("a bastard's bastard").

honky (n.) also honkey, derogatory slang word for "white person," by 1967, black slang, of unknown origin, perhaps from late 19c. hunky "East-Central European immigrant," a colloquial shortening of Hungarian. Honky in the sense of "factory hand" is attested from 1946.

Mari-Lou A
  • 91,183
  • 9
    Possibly the negative connotations with outside of wedlock link back to religious laws (no sex outside of marriage) so it may be that that is religious? – Tim Sep 29 '14 at 15:30
  • 3
    Could you say something about the etymology of "bitch" as a swearword? – Centaurus Sep 29 '14 at 15:31
  • 1
    Using sow or pig or cow or ape to refer to a person might qualify, though I think the top two in that list are about the best candidates. – Spehro Pefhany Sep 29 '14 at 16:12
  • jackass, technically refers to the animal not the body part.. it's used a lot... – Eric Brown - Cal Sep 29 '14 at 16:29
  • 4
    I would argue that kike is a racial slur first, since the recipient will be Jewish, but may or may not actually follow Judaism. And most of the hate towards the Jewish people aka anti-semitism is towards the Jews as a people, a race, not as a practicing religious group. – Himarm Sep 29 '14 at 20:21
  • 1
    These strike me as insults rather than swear words - I have trouble imagining these being used in a way that didn't refer to a particular person. – Brilliand Sep 29 '14 at 20:23
  • 1
    @Brilliand That's true, although I think modern usage of "bitch" (especially as "BEE-atch") is progressing towards general-purpose exclamation, not necessarily aimed at anyone in particular. But the word loses much of its bite in that connotation. – AmeliaBR Sep 29 '14 at 21:40
  • 2
    It surprises me that nobody commented on the sexual aspects of creating a bastard yet. This alone may suffice to make the term sexual in the sense of the question. Moreover, I can very well imagine that a primitive culture considers sins to be inheritable, people repsonsible for their parents’ flaws or people unclean just due to being the product of extramarital and thus unclean sex. By the way: A German swearword with similar “mechanisms” is Hurensohn (son of a prostitute), which is clearly sexual. – Wrzlprmft Sep 29 '14 at 22:22
  • @Wrzlprmft whilst it is true that the term bastard is derived from the result of "illicit" sexual intercourse, nowadays nobody uses that slur with its original meaning. I don't think anyone who calls another a bastard is actually accusing (or even cares) that person of being an illegitimate child. – Mari-Lou A Sep 30 '14 at 01:17
  • Bitch and bastard are non-examples. Even if they are "swearwords" (this is questionable), bitch specifically refers to a female dog in the context of a sexual/reproductive role, not just in general, and bastard refers to the target's mother's sexuality as a means of causing offense. – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE Sep 30 '14 at 02:11
  • 1
    A bastard is defined as "a person born of parents not married to each other." There is no mention of the conception, therefore I don't take this as a sexual term. A bitch is "a female canine animal" and therefore also nothing to do with sex. – rybo111 Sep 30 '14 at 06:17
  • I think we cannot exclude the history and etymology of terms (though in the end, the OP has to decide about this). Otherwise I would use a non-sexual swearword, when saying something like: “My car is fucked up.” – Wrzlprmft Sep 30 '14 at 07:03
  • @Mari-LouA I have edited the question. You have good examples but there is no mention to etymology. – Centaurus Sep 30 '14 at 15:58
  • 1
    No one has commented that no one considered 'honky' a swear word at all. It is a lame attempt at an insult epithet, but is as offensive as white bread. Even alternate stronger epithets are not 'swear words' (cracker, white trash), possibly impolite, but definitely not swear words. – Mitch Sep 30 '14 at 18:26
23

If you're looking for something shocking, the word nigger is shocking in and of itself and if you actually use it as an insult (as some do) it is about as shocking as it gets.

Its etymology according to the online etymological dictionary is:

1786, earlier neger (1568, Scottish and northern England dialect), from French nègre, from Spanish negro (see Negro). From the earliest usage it was "the term that carries with it all the obloquy and contempt and rejection which whites have inflicted on blacks" [cited in Gowers, 1965, probably Harold R. Isaacs]. But as black inferiority was at one time a near universal assumption in English-speaking lands, the word in some cases could be used without deliberate insult. More sympathetic writers late 18c. and early 19c. seem to have used black (n.) and, after the American Civil War, colored person.

Note that reasonable people consider the word incredibly offensive and would never use it. Of those who do, only the most extreme of bigots would actually use it as an insult and not a description but using it as an insult is possible. Of course, whether you would actually be insulting anyone but yourself when using it is debatable.

terdon
  • 21,559
  • Could you say something about thej etymology of "nigger" as a swearword? (when and where it originated) – Centaurus Sep 29 '14 at 15:32
  • 1
    @user463240 see update. – terdon Sep 29 '14 at 15:48
  • 5
    There are a variety of similar slurs for other ethnicities as well — "spic", "chink", "dago", "greaseball", "cracker", and "redskin" for example — but "nigger", by far, tops the list in offensiveness. (Commented for those who don't have a native understanding, not just to list random offensive words.) – wfaulk Sep 29 '14 at 20:01
  • 3
    "Note that reasonable people consider the word incredibly offensive" No… I see perfectly reasonable people using it in normal conversation, mostly two black people talking or somebody of another race another race talking to a close black friend. – bjb568 Sep 29 '14 at 21:30
  • 2
    A swearword is not the same as an offensive word, let alone a word that others find offensive. – Tim Lymington Sep 29 '14 at 21:42
  • 1
    @TimLymington no, but this particular word can and is used as a swearword and the OP specifically asked for things that are shocking to others. In any case, since this word is most certainly used by some people as a slur on others, it fits the definition of a swearword perfectly. – terdon Sep 29 '14 at 21:43
  • Obscene? Until you address the actual difference between being offensive and swearing, I find it hard to take this answer seriously. If the N-word fitted the definition of a swearword rather than an insult, it would be used as an intensifier, or at least in circumstances unrelated to colour. I don't believe it is. – Tim Lymington Sep 29 '14 at 21:55
  • 1
    @TimLymington why is being used as an intensifier a prerequisite to bring a swearword? Also, note the OP's provided definition of swearword. How does my suggestion not fit it? Plus, it is used in circumstances unrelated to color. For example, a racist idiot saying something along the lines of you nigger!" to a person of whatever color as an insult. – terdon Sep 29 '14 at 22:25
  • @TimLymington What you describe is an expletive, not a swear word. The two terms overlap, but the OP's explicit definition focuses on offensive swear words, not expletives (of which there are similarly many without religious, excretory, or sexual meaning). – Wlerin Sep 29 '14 at 23:03
  • @terdon Can't you find a couple of additinal swearwords and add them with their references, as you have done beautifully with the N-word? – Centaurus Sep 30 '14 at 00:19
  • @terdon I've edited the question. It's only fair that you should edit your answer, if you feel like. – Centaurus Sep 30 '14 at 15:59
  • @user463240 I'm afraid that all other options O can think of have already been mentioned by Mari-Lou. – terdon Sep 30 '14 at 16:05
  • @terdon Would you vote for reopening the question? – Centaurus Sep 30 '14 at 16:16
  • I could find good examples here (All those @Mary-Lou A has mentioned, your answer, Nazi, maybe Leprous. – Centaurus Sep 30 '14 at 16:29
4

Bloody - It's often used with 'hell' making it religious. ('Bloody hell! What's she gone and done now?').

But can be used on its own. 'Shut the bloody dog up!'.

dwjohnston
  • 10,945
  • 1
    @jwpat7 That's not certain. According to the wikipedia page there are several theories. – dwjohnston Sep 29 '14 at 23:48
  • Note, I deleted my comment, not having a ref for it – James Waldby - jwpat7 Sep 29 '14 at 23:49
  • The British folks here say it's a very mild swearword these days. – Centaurus Sep 30 '14 at 00:21
  • 1
    @user463240 - It really depends on who's around. Of course it's a more mild swearword than 'cunt' or 'fuck', but depending on who you ask, it could be considered more obscene than 'crap' (some people see that as not a swear word at all). A kid could expect a cuff around the ears for saying 'bloody'. – dwjohnston Sep 30 '14 at 00:30
  • 1
    Although there are different theories and no clear evidence as to which one is right, I think most (all?) of them fall under either religion or sexual/genital categories. – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE Sep 30 '14 at 02:14
  • 2
    I for one am quite convinced that "bloody" is a reference to the crucifixion of Jesus. I've never seen any convincing evidence to the contrary, and the prevalence of profane phrases like "god's wounds" and "god's blood" supports the hypothesis quite strongly, in my opinion. – phoog Sep 30 '14 at 06:11
  • 1
    Would you vote for reopening the question? – Centaurus Oct 01 '14 at 00:59
  • 2
    @user463240 I have already - I'm not sure why it was closed. – dwjohnston Oct 01 '14 at 01:55
  • The etymology I was taught for bloody as an expletive is very much religious. It was supposed to be a contraction of 'by Our Lady' (ie Mary, Jesus' Mum) ... this starts to be credible if you say the phrase quickly in a cockney accent. – ArchContrarian Aug 08 '19 at 11:17
  • That is not a swear word – user12211554 Dec 18 '19 at 23:05
3

Fore diseased & unclean:
"pox-ridden"
"syphilitic"
You could argue that these are venereal diseases, and so are linked back to sex.

There are also sport-related swear words, but the line between swear and insult may be a tad blurry for:
"umpire" or
"Chelsea supporter" [to quote an episode of The Goodies]

Alan Campbell
  • 141
3

The first that came to my mind relate to disability:

  • "Retard" denotes a person with intellectual disability, but it has since joined "idiot" (severe ID), "imbecile" (moderate ID), and "moron" (mild ID) as general terms of abuse. This has inspired pledges not to use it; see R-Word: Spread the Word to End the Word.
  • "Spastic", denoting a person with cerebral palsy, is offensive in Great Britain and caused recalls of the video games Mind Quiz: Your Brain Coach and Mario Party 8 in parts of Europe.
Damian Yerrick
  • 1,255
  • 2
    The trouble is each new generation takes the new "approved" term and uses it as an insult. The favourite I hear now is "special". – neil Sep 30 '14 at 07:25
2

'Blast!' is one, although it's British. I've been using this word since teenage days, although I don't know how I picked it up. My guess is, growing up in New York City in the '50s there were a lot of British movies around to fill the vacuum left by HUAC's blacklisting of screenwriters. You can hear James Mason shout 'Blast!' in 'Age of Consent'.

user3847
  • 2,495
  • What exactly does it mean? Is it just an interjection? Is it shocking? – Centaurus Sep 30 '14 at 00:24
  • 1
    Blast means to curse or to damn. It is short for "blast it (her/you) to hell." It is informal, not shocking. Use is not confined to Britain. Americans use it with the a sounding typically shorter the British. – Theresa Sep 30 '14 at 01:21
  • 3
    If @Theresa is correct, and I think she is, then "blast" doesn't satisfy the question because it is religious in origin. – phoog Sep 30 '14 at 06:07
  • 1
    I can hear the roaring sound of a hair splitting! – user3847 Sep 30 '14 at 08:21
  • @user3847 Would you vote for reopening the question? – Centaurus Oct 02 '14 at 01:16
  • user463240--there's very little to be gained by reopening this question. I am not voting to reopen. – user3847 Oct 02 '14 at 03:01
  • How about 'For an Occasion!' When said fast and loud it sounds like 'Fornication!' This will produce shock and satisfy the speaker's desire to swear (in a nice way). – user3847 Oct 02 '14 at 03:09
1

Your definition of swearword is an example of how language changes over time. Swearing was once synonymous with blaspheming and profaning, meaning some taboo use of the name of God. Current use blurs the distinction between obscenity or foul language and profanity or swearing.

Theresa
  • 2,551
1

The difficulty of the question lies in your definition:

... a word or phrase that is obscene, abusive, and socially offensive.

Obscenity is a highly subjective standard. To approach a universal standard would probably require someone to go into issues that people usually keep private (bathroom time, bedroom time, worship time).

Here's a phrase that could be used as a curse or swear that would be considered shocking on a moral level: BABY KILLER. I invite you to give it a try.

While it may be considered an excrement (as well as a euphemism) SNOT is a standby that I often use: You have snot for brains.

Of course, perhaps one of the most well known euphemisms is BLEEP, although it would probably not be considered shocking in any way.

jxh
  • 10,463
-2

knucklehead

jarhead (spelling?) - term for a U.S. Marine but also used to imply that someone is not too bright.

dumb bunny

Admittedly, these aren't as harsh as "asshole", "dickhead", or my personal favorite, "you wiper of other people's bottoms"*

You didn't mention that politics is out of bounds so you could also use, "Commie Pinko Liberal" "Nazi" "Republican"

Dave

*From Monty Python

Dave
  • 61
  • These are insults, but not swearwords. – dwjohnston Sep 29 '14 at 23:33
  • 1
    Given the OP's definition: "A popular term for a word or phrase that is obscene, abusive, and socially offensive.", I would say that the examples I gave are swearwords. It depends on ones tolerance I suppose. Certainly, I would find the use of the word "Nazi" obscene, abusive, and socially offensive. "knucklehead" would depend on context. – Dave Sep 30 '14 at 00:07
  • @Dave but it's not obscene, abusive, or socially offensive to say "the Nazi party controlled Germany during and immediately before the second world war." In contrast, it is (at least arguably) socially offensive to say "the toilet is where you shit" or "people have babies by fucking." So Nazi is only obscene/abusive/offensive when you assert that someone is a Nazi. Even then, it's only offensive if the target of the insult finds Nazi ideals offensive. It would be a very empty insult to throw at Hitler, for example. – phoog Sep 30 '14 at 06:22
-3

"Asshole" works, considering that the entity that it describes is neither a genital, nor excrement itself. Granted, this is playing with a technicality in your question, but it's certainly less likely to get you knocked square on your ass than some of the other suggestions.

sdfolsom
  • 481
  • For some people it is a genital, though. – Centaurus Sep 29 '14 at 21:59
  • 3
    @user463240 -- Genital is from Latin genitalis, “pertaining to generation or birth”; it's connected with words like genetic, generic, gens, the name Eugene ("from a good family"), gentle (originally meaning born into a high-status family), and genius ("inborn talent"). It doesn't matter how much fun you are having with your butthole, you aren't conceiving any children that way. Moreover, in the singular, the word is an adjective ("genital herpes"), not a noun. – Michael Lorton Sep 29 '14 at 22:41
  • @Malvolio In order for it to be "in the singular", it must be a noun, English has no plural adjectives. I assume you meant without final -s. – Wlerin Sep 29 '14 at 23:07
  • 1
    @Malvolio I mean "for some people it is part of the genitalia". And you know it's true, otherwise we wouldn't have such terms as "anal sex" and "anal intercourse". – Centaurus Sep 29 '14 at 23:18
  • 2
    Despite what you may have heard in jokes about politicians, anal sex cannot generate, engender, lead to a generation of, anybody. For that you need... genitalia. – Michael Lorton Sep 30 '14 at 01:49
  • 2
    And how is this one not related to excrement? – Loren Pechtel Sep 30 '14 at 02:58
  • 1
    @Malvolio whether you choose a strict or loose definition of "genitals," there is no question that "asshole" can be related to sexual activity. Of course, it is also unambiguously related to excrement, even if it is not itself excrement. – phoog Sep 30 '14 at 06:26
-5

Rare on the ground, but: eggsucker, kitten killer (and its like).

Wayfaring Stranger
  • 8,181
-5

Balderdash!

According to Google:

"late 16th century (denoting a frothy liquid; later, an unappetizing mixture of drinks): of unknown origin."

Kaz Dragon
  • 1,361
  • 9
    Balderdash is no longer a swearword - it now means "Senseless talk or writing; nonsense." – Tim Sep 29 '14 at 15:31
-5

Freaking. As in: "A freaking good time."

MDJS
  • 1