Why is the word 'cunt' so offensive?

[Dr Gloom 21965]

Anyone? I've never really got it. Said it in front of a girl mate of mine recently and she was so offended. Got into a massive argument with her about it. I claimed it was no more offensive than cock or prick, she disagreed to the point our craic has never been the same since. I made the mistake of using the word once infront of an American lass once - don't even go there, trust.

 

Honestly, what's up with the way some people view this word? If you take it literally, it really isn't more offensive than prick. I find pricks way more offensive than cunts tbh.

[ajax_andy 0]

Anyone? I've never really got it. Said it in front of a girl mate of mine recently and she was so offended. Got into a massive argument with her about it. I claimed it was no more offensive than cock or prick, she disagreed to the point our craic has never been the same since. I made the mistake of using the word once infront of an American lass once - don't even go there, trust.

 

Honestly, what's up with the way some people view this word? If you take it literally, it really isn't more offensive than prick. I find pricks way more offensive than cunts tbh.

 

 

I think its very short, and the "unt" sound is much more aggressive than "ick" in prick.

 

Until a few years ago you never even heard the word really, but now its become much more socially acceptable.

 

I think it really comes down to context as much as anything though... If I turn round to my mate and called him a "daft cunt", its different to squaring up to someone in a heated argument and calling them it.

 

Personally i'm not keen on the word, I don't think it sounds very nice, and tend not to use it... but if someone said it to me then I wouldn't get all up in their grill about it either.

[Christmas Tree 4729]

Its the stigma society attaches to the word that makes it offensive.

 

Cunt is like Fuck was to a degree some forty years ago. We couldnt even say it which is why we have "The F word".

 

Eventually it becomes, through use, more acceptable to the extent that fuck is such a throwaway remark these days in lots of different contexts.

 

The english language needs to have a bad boy and currently cunt is it.

 

It is amusing how we associate distaste with body parts. Imagine having a blazing row and calling someone a stupid ear.

[NJS 4389]

I've always thought it was a bit like antibiotics in the way diseases have become resistant so certain strains of drugs are or should be held back - the taboos of using swear words have been eroded over the years and this is the "top dog" which is still rare. I think that has encouraged people to give it that special status of offence in some ways just so that there is something to still get upset about it.

 

Of course that doesn't really explain why that word - in other languages it isn't the top dog and was used more in old English as I understand it.

 

I've always thought it was daft using something so good as an insult/swear word and if I had to guess why its seen as bad I'd say the offence is related to a general mistrust/derogation of anything to do with women's sexuality because of English prudeness.

[catmag 337]

I fully accept that it is just a word. I just don't like it and it makes me cringe. Being on this forum has slightly lessened it's impact on me though

[JawD 99]

It just is. All words are just words and I'm a firm believer that it should be the context they are used and not the word itself. Cunt = Nigger = paki for example. They are just words but to some highly offensive no matter the context. I never say nigger, seldom paki and rarely cunt. I only say "paki" as it was deemed acceptable as I was growing up, but I mean no offence by it. Same I have a perhaps incorrect tendency to say "coloured person", only because I was told to say that as I grew up.

Edited June 29, 2011 by JawD

[Christmas Tree 4729]

It just is. All words are just words and I'm a firm believer that it should be the context they are used and not the word itself. Cunt = Nigger = paki for example. They are just words but to some highly offensive no matter the context. I never say nigger, seldom paki and rarely cunt. I only say "paki" as it was deemed acceptable as I was growing up, but I mean no offence by it. Same I have a perhaps incorrect tendency to say "coloured person", only because I was told to say that as I grew up.

 

 

And some of us grew up watching Blazing Saddles.

[Inglez 0]

Growing up in Walker definetly softens the blow of hearing 'cunt'. No different to any other swear word to me.

[Tom_NUFC 0]

Up until the 18th century it used to be a lot more acceptable. Almost every city and town in England would have a street named 'Gropecunt Lane' which was where Prostitutes would ply their trade (Newcastle's Gropecunt Lane is now known as Pink Lane). If you go back to before the 16th century some of the prostitutes themselves would be known by surnames like Smallcunt or Widecunt etc. So I'm not sure why its no longer acceptable, but I would suggest its related to Prostitution which became more morally unacceptable by the turn of the 19th century.

[AgentAxeman 182]

It just is. All words are just words and I'm a firm believer that it should be the context they are used and not the word itself. Cunt = Nigger = paki for example. They are just words but to some highly offensive no matter the context. I never say nigger, seldom paki and rarely cunt. I only say "paki" as it was deemed acceptable as I was growing up, but I mean no offence by it. Same I have a perhaps incorrect tendency to say "coloured person", only because I was told to say that as I grew up.

 

 

And some of us grew up watching Blazing Saddles.

 

 

whats wrong with saying Nigger? Black people say it all the time (either as a mark of respect or of distaste). To say that white people aren't allowed to use the word is inherently racist.

 

paki = shortened term for pakistani. same as brit = short for british.

 

cunt = cunt however. I still dont get why people find it more offensive than other swear words.

[NJS 4389]

I used to have an Irish manager who loved telling people how when he came to London in 95, it took him a while to realise it was a bit taboo and used it all the time to general offence until he realised/was told.

 

Also from another female pov, a German lass I used to work with also couldn't understand the problem - though she didn't use it, she also didn't take offence hearing it.

[NJS 4389]

It just is. All words are just words and I'm a firm believer that it should be the context they are used and not the word itself. Cunt = Nigger = paki for example. They are just words but to some highly offensive no matter the context. I never say nigger, seldom paki and rarely cunt. I only say "paki" as it was deemed acceptable as I was growing up, but I mean no offence by it. Same I have a perhaps incorrect tendency to say "coloured person", only because I was told to say that as I grew up.

 

 

And some of us grew up watching Blazing Saddles.

 

 

whats wrong with saying Nigger? Black people say it all the time (either as a mark of respect or of distaste). To say that white people aren't allowed to use the word is inherently racist.

 

paki = shortened term for pakistani. same as brit = short for british.

 

cunt = cunt however. I still dont get why people find it more offensive than other swear words.

 

The argument goes that those who have been called Nigger and Paki have the right to deem it offensive as historically they were very much insults. It does make sense to me - again context is the key.

 

It's a bit like "Mackem" - anyone who tells you that was their invention is an idiot.

[Monroe Transfer 0]

It just is. All words are just words and I'm a firm believer that it should be the context they are used and not the word itself. Cunt = Nigger = paki for example. They are just words but to some highly offensive no matter the context. I never say nigger, seldom paki and rarely cunt. I only say "paki" as it was deemed acceptable as I was growing up, but I mean no offence by it. Same I have a perhaps incorrect tendency to say "coloured person", only because I was told to say that as I grew up.

 

 

And some of us grew up watching Blazing Saddles.

 

 

whats wrong with saying Nigger? Black people say it all the time (either as a mark of respect or of distaste). To say that white people aren't allowed to use the word is inherently racist.

 

paki = shortened term for pakistani. same as brit = short for british.

 

 

Not sure if serious.

[McFaul 35]

I think if you go to Scotland and asked this question it wouldn't be a question. I remember reading in one of Irvine Welsh's books, some old timer died and his missus went "he wis a wee awwd cunt but a loved um ken". That sums it up, it's just another word with a hundred meanings, one of the most creative words in our vocabulary. Francis Begbie's usage of it, is how it should be used imo.

[NJS 4389]

I think if you go to Scotland and asked this question it wouldn't be a question. I remember reading in one of Irvine Welsh's books, some old timer died and his missus went "he wis a wee awwd cunt but a loved um ken". That sums it up, it's just another word with a hundred meanings, one of the most creative words in our vocabulary. Francis Begbie's usage of it, is how it should be used imo.

 

I don't think it's a bad idea to have a "doomsday" swear word which you know will offend if used in the right way. Fuck has certainly lost its power over the years which I think in some ways is a shame.

 

Swearing should be about enhancing the language by effect/offence - if all swear words become like "flipping" then we have lost something imo.

[Ayatollah Hermione 13894]

I think if you go to Scotland and asked this question it wouldn't be a question. I remember reading in one of Irvine Welsh's books, some old timer died and his missus went "he wis a wee awwd cunt but a loved um ken". That sums it up, it's just another word with a hundred meanings, one of the most creative words in our vocabulary. Francis Begbie's usage of it, is how it should be used imo.

 

"Cunt" is just what Scottish people say when they can't think of another word and need to keep their sentence going. "Aye, we're going down the, erm...cunting paper shop"

[McFaul 35]

I think if you go to Scotland and asked this question it wouldn't be a question. I remember reading in one of Irvine Welsh's books, some old timer died and his missus went "he wis a wee awwd cunt but a loved um ken". That sums it up, it's just another word with a hundred meanings, one of the most creative words in our vocabulary. Francis Begbie's usage of it, is how it should be used imo.

 

"Cunt" is just what Scottish people say when they can't think of another word and need to keep their sentence going. "Aye, we're going down the, erm...cunting paper shop"

Aye like friends can say "ya daaaaaaaaaaft cunt " and it's not seen as offensive. It's how you it too though like someone could annoy and you could say "who the fuckin ye taakin tee ya daft cunt???" and it has a far more aggressive meaning. It's tone, but also as you say also in Scotland especially it has so many meanings. Like take Begbie when he's in the pub on about on about Spud, "ah wis eh cunt the tried tae get um off it" was he shite but that's irrelevant, he's referring to himself as a cunt, cunt meaning person. Or someone could use the word cunt as an entity like "ma fuckin mortor conked oot so it hus, am sick of eh cunt". You know the crack anyway.

[ajax_andy 0]

I think if you go to Scotland and asked this question it wouldn't be a question. I remember reading in one of Irvine Welsh's books, some old timer died and his missus went "he wis a wee awwd cunt but a loved um ken". That sums it up, it's just another word with a hundred meanings, one of the most creative words in our vocabulary. Francis Begbie's usage of it, is how it should be used imo.

 

"Cunt" is just what Scottish people say when they can't think of another word and need to keep their sentence going. "Aye, we're going down the, erm...cunting paper shop"

Aye like friends can say "ya daaaaaaaaaaft cunt " and it's not seen as offensive. It's how you it too though like someone could annoy and you could say "who the fuckin ye taakin tee ya daft cunt???" and it has a far more aggressive meaning. It's tone, but also as you say also in Scotland especially it has so many meanings. Like take Begbie when he's in the pub on about on about Spud, "ah wis eh cunt the tried tae get um off it" was he shite but that's irrelevant, he's referring to himself as a cunt, cunt meaning person. Or someone could use the word cunt as an entity like "ma fuckin mortor conked oot so it hus, am sick of eh cunt". You know the crack anyway.

 

 

I know what you are saying, but it does come down to being a bit retarded too, in the fact that if you have to use the word cunt, or any swear word just to keep a sentance going, then you must be pretty thick.

 

For instance:

 

"ma fuckin mortor conked oot so it hus, am sick of eh cunt"

 

Is pretty moronic, especially when the following is hardly shakespeare but would suffice:

 

"My car's broken down and i'm sick to the back teeth"

 

I know your example was just to show how it could be used, but I'm very much of the opinion that if you have to resort to using it to describe something, and that you are unable to contruct a sentance without swearing, then you are a bit of a mong.

 

*When I say "you" i'm not referring to you, i'm referring to "you" in a wider context btw.

[Christmas Tree 4729]

Up until the 18th century it used to be a lot more acceptable. Almost every city and town in England would have a street named 'Gropecunt Lane' which was where Prostitutes would ply their trade (Newcastle's Gropecunt Lane is now known as Pink Lane). If you go back to before the 16th century some of the prostitutes themselves would be known by surnames like Smallcunt or Widecunt etc. So I'm not sure why its no longer acceptable, but I would suggest its related to Prostitution which became more morally unacceptable by the turn of the 19th century.

 

 

Thats brilliant Tom :crylaughin:

[McFaul 35]

I think if you go to Scotland and asked this question it wouldn't be a question. I remember reading in one of Irvine Welsh's books, some old timer died and his missus went "he wis a wee awwd cunt but a loved um ken". That sums it up, it's just another word with a hundred meanings, one of the most creative words in our vocabulary. Francis Begbie's usage of it, is how it should be used imo.

 

"Cunt" is just what Scottish people say when they can't think of another word and need to keep their sentence going. "Aye, we're going down the, erm...cunting paper shop"

Aye like friends can say "ya daaaaaaaaaaft cunt " and it's not seen as offensive. It's how you it too though like someone could annoy and you could say "who the fuckin ye taakin tee ya daft cunt???" and it has a far more aggressive meaning. It's tone, but also as you say also in Scotland especially it has so many meanings. Like take Begbie when he's in the pub on about on about Spud, "ah wis eh cunt the tried tae get um off it" was he shite but that's irrelevant, he's referring to himself as a cunt, cunt meaning person. Or someone could use the word cunt as an entity like "ma fuckin mortor conked oot so it hus, am sick of eh cunt". You know the crack anyway.

 

 

I know what you are saying, but it does come down to being a bit retarded too, in the fact that if you have to use the word cunt, or any swear word just to keep a sentance going, then you must be pretty thick.

 

For instance:

 

"ma fuckin mortor conked oot so it hus, am sick of eh cunt"

 

Is pretty moronic, especially when the following is hardly shakespeare but would suffice:

 

"My car's broken down and i'm sick to the back teeth"

 

I know your example was just to show how it could be used, but I'm very much of the opinion that if you have to resort to using it to describe something, and that you are unable to contruct a sentance without swearing, then you are a bit of a mong.

 

*When I say "you" i'm not referring to you, i'm referring to "you" in a wider context btw.

I must be a bit of a mong then. To be fair I swear when it's appropriate and some doilum from Bishop Auckland doesn't have the right to class someone as a "mong" because that way of speaking doesn't fit in with their idealistic methods of communication.

 

"Sick to the back teeth"?!?!?!? I'm from the West End of Newcastle not fucking Windsor.

 

I bet you're the type of kid who says "bugger" and feels a bit uncouth saying it.

[Toonraider 0]

I've always thought it was a bit like antibiotics in the way diseases have become resistant so certain strains of drugs are or should be held back - the taboos of using swear words have been eroded over the years and this is the "top dog" which is still rare. I think that has encouraged people to give it that special status of offence in some ways just so that there is something to still get upset about it.

 

Of course that doesn't really explain why that word - in other languages it isn't the top dog and was used more in old English as I understand it.

 

I've always thought it was daft using something so good as an insult/swear word and if I had to guess why its seen as bad I'd say the offence is related to a general mistrust/derogation of anything to do with women's sexuality because of English prudeness.

 

Ahh this (and Tom's post) explains why the word is used regularly in one of my favourite films...The Libertine. Though as it's Johnny Depp I'll forgive him!!

[WordPlay 0]

It's my favourite word

[ajax_andy 0]

I think if you go to Scotland and asked this question it wouldn't be a question. I remember reading in one of Irvine Welsh's books, some old timer died and his missus went "he wis a wee awwd cunt but a loved um ken". That sums it up, it's just another word with a hundred meanings, one of the most creative words in our vocabulary. Francis Begbie's usage of it, is how it should be used imo.

 

"Cunt" is just what Scottish people say when they can't think of another word and need to keep their sentence going. "Aye, we're going down the, erm...cunting paper shop"

Aye like friends can say "ya daaaaaaaaaaft cunt " and it's not seen as offensive. It's how you it too though like someone could annoy and you could say "who the fuckin ye taakin tee ya daft cunt???" and it has a far more aggressive meaning. It's tone, but also as you say also in Scotland especially it has so many meanings. Like take Begbie when he's in the pub on about on about Spud, "ah wis eh cunt the tried tae get um off it" was he shite but that's irrelevant, he's referring to himself as a cunt, cunt meaning person. Or someone could use the word cunt as an entity like "ma fuckin mortor conked oot so it hus, am sick of eh cunt". You know the crack anyway.

 

 

I know what you are saying, but it does come down to being a bit retarded too, in the fact that if you have to use the word cunt, or any swear word just to keep a sentance going, then you must be pretty thick.

 

For instance:

 

"ma fuckin mortor conked oot so it hus, am sick of eh cunt"

 

Is pretty moronic, especially when the following is hardly shakespeare but would suffice:

 

"My car's broken down and i'm sick to the back teeth"

 

I know your example was just to show how it could be used, but I'm very much of the opinion that if you have to resort to using it to describe something, and that you are unable to contruct a sentance without swearing, then you are a bit of a mong.

 

*When I say "you" i'm not referring to you, i'm referring to "you" in a wider context btw.

I must be a bit of a mong then. To be fair I swear when it's appropriate and some doilum from Bishop Auckland doesn't have the right to class someone as a "mong" because that way of speaking doesn't fit in with their idealistic methods of communication.

 

"Sick to the back teeth"?!?!?!? I'm from the West End of Newcastle not fucking Windsor.

 

I bet you're the type of kid who says "bugger" and feels a bit uncouth saying it.

 

 

Yeah I agree you must be.

 

I dont have a problem with people swearing when its appropriate, but the examples you gave would be from someone with a seriously low IQ and a failure to grasp even the most basic concepts of the English language.

 

"sick to the back teeth, pissed off, this car is doing my fucking head in" what ever, any of them are fine, and you dont have to be from Windsor to speak with some sort of Intelligence btw.

 

I can't stand people who walk around and every other word is fuck or cunt though... even when they are going in to a professional place like a bank or shop and talking to the staff... utter mongs if you ask me.

 

People who have a poor comprehension of the English language resort to articulating with swear words because they are unable to grasp the basic concepts of conversation i.e:

 

"Aye like me fuckin car's proper fuckin knackered again, am proper fuckin sick of the cunt"

 

Its hardly the words of a properly educated person, and the reason why they include so many swear words is beacuse they are unable to convey their feeling about the situation in a coherant and proper manner. Being from x part of any city doesn't prevent someone from speaking with a certain degree of correctness, and hiding behind where you are from is just using that as an excuse to speak like a retard (if you used swear words in the context i've specified... and again i'm using the word "you" in a wider context than just you specifically).

 

Also being from Bishop Auckland or any other place isn't a correct way to judge why a person speaks correctly (to an extent as even I dont speak the Queen's English by a long stretch), as there are plenty of people in Bish or other places that speak like utter mongs too.

 

And I'm not from Bishop Auckland anyway so your point is redundant.

[McFaul 35]

What a fanny.

[Ayatollah Hermione 13894]

What a fanny.

 

Some might say he's a cu-