I cannot think of any word my friends or me would find offensive which is why I have to take care not to say the wrong things when in other countries. I was raised in the Netherlands in schools where we had plenty of religious discourse and we all (my friend group) became atheist, so anything using the lord's name in vain wouldn't bother me at all; it doesn't even register most of the time. And then most of our parents didn't want to shield us much from the big-bad-world, so swearing US humor and UK humor were normal as well. I really didn't know until I met my aunt from Canada for the first time when I was 9 or 10 that 'fuck' is not normal in some circles. Note this was the early 80s; no internet, very limited communication besides few BBS's + magazines + tv + local (Dutch, no foreigners) events. I don't see anything wrong with it; some words are just 'stop words' but to respect other people's feelings I try not to use anything that I know is considered 'bad' in those circles.

It always amazes me that rich/educated people swear a lot and poor/uneducated people swear a lot but in between (middle-class) everyone is ultra polite. At least that is what I found from the limited (as one person of course experiences cannot be very broad) set of meetings in NL/UK/US.

>It always amazes me that rich/educated people swear a lot and poor/uneducated people swear a lot but in between (middle-class) everyone is ultra polite

Makes sense though. The poor don't have anything to lose by offending someone else, and are likely the people who would be most offended by some curse words in the first place. The rich don't care because everyone else looks up to them for their money anyway, who's going to call them out? The middle class have everything to lose if the wrong person is offended by what they say.

Ha, you should see how badly it's received in the US for a real contrast.

As a kiwi who mistakenly slipped that out among friends (who were familiar with it) at a bar in the US.. Oh god.. I know.

As a German I'm routinely confused by Americans referring to "the $initialLetter-word", especially when it's not obvious from context.

I understand avoiding the "n-word" because of America's still ever-present latent racism, and I can kinda understand avoiding the "f-word" because of a schizophrenic attitude to sex based on Puritan "family values", but I'm still at a loss whenever I see all kinds of other letters of the alphabet pop up now and then with no indication what the speaker is actually trying to refer to.

EDIT: Apparently HN ratelimits me whenever I get downvoted. Yay for passive aggressive auto-moderation.

The most interesting illustration of this was John McCain calling his wife a cunt in front of reporters... and he got away with it because none of them could actually report on it due to it being so shocking and offensive.

This wouldn't fly today, as people online will post anything, but in 1992, it literally did not get airtime or newspaper coverage because no newspaper would print it, and no TV network would even allude to it.

In Glasgow, among certain subcultures, 'fuck' or 'fucking' is basically meaningless.

I one took a long taxi trip across Glasgow. The driver was cheery, amiable, very Glaswegian, and almost incomprehensible; and I'm Scottish! I could understand about 50% of everything he said, because 50% of what he said was 'fucking'. He used it as an adjective on (as far as I could tell through his accent) every noun. It seemed to be used as a flavour enhancer --- good things were fucking great; bad things were fucking awful. Rain was fucking wet, the roads were fucking slippery, as it was nighttime it was fucking dark, etc, etc. It certainly wasn't being used in its literal sense.

I'm not part of that subculture, but I didn't find it the slightest bit offensive, merely interesting and rather weird.

'Cunt' isn't so bad when it comes to banter and jest in the UK. Typically male banter. Many females seem to take an offense to it no matter the context.

I'm curious what makes the "c-word" so much more offensive than other vulgar insults based on female genitalia -- and even more so those based on male genitalia.

I feel like as a non-native speaker I must be missing a significant cultural subtext everybody else seems to be painfully aware of (similar to how someone who's never heard of racial segregation and slavery in the US would be confused why the "n-word" strikes such a nerve).

As far as I know, the difference is intent. Calling someone a cunt is a much greater expression of contempt than calling them a fucker or an asshole. Call someone one of the latter words and there's still a chance it might be affectionate. Call someone a cunt and it removes all doubt.

I get that, but that doesn't seem to be universal at all. There are many communities and regions where "cunt" (or the regional equivalent) doesn't raise any eyebrows.

Why is it that the word is so much more offensive in the US (and England too, apparently) than, say, certain parts of Scotland or Australia?

It's not universal. Cultural definitions count.

It's similar to the word 'fanny'. In the US, it seems it means 'bum'. The word 'fannypack' would translate to 'vagina pack' in the UK, which is pretty funny to hear. The equivalent in the UK is bumbag, where bum is the non-offensive version of arse (which is ass in the US).

Or, for those offended by my slew of filth above, similar to the old chips-crisps problem. American Chips = British Crisps. British Chips = American Fries.

The attacker isn't calling the receiver a vagina. It takes on a different meaning when used like that.

A cunt is loosely defined as a horrible person. To say "he's a proper cunt" is to say "I really don't like him" or "he is deliberately unpleasant".

I find cunt pretty much common among Australians too..

not in Scotland[1], England yes.

[1] http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Cunt+(Scottis...

Highlander here, now living in Aberdeen. The usage you linked to is prevalent only in the Central Belt; up here, it still carries a derogatory implication unless it's being used by close friends. Also worth noting that I've never, ever heard a woman from the Central Belt using it in the way UD describes, only men.

I moved from Glasgow to Aberdeen (and stayed there for a decade) and it was noticeable how differently they treat that word. Even in situations where swear words were flying, breaking out "cunt" would put pause to the conversation. It was strange, and amusing.

Women from Glasgow certainly use that word. Just as frequently as men. That's not to say all women, or all men, but in equal proportion.

only around Glasgow: it still carries a sting in Aberdeen, where I'm from

In Scotland, 'cunt' simply means 'person'.

Yeah, this always amuses me. Back in September, I went to Munich for Oktoberfest. I spent one evening with a couple Australian women who unexpectedly raised their glasses and shouted, "Cheers, cunts!" Needless to say, as an American man, I immediately looked around, worried that someone was going to be highly offended. I nervously laughed and said, "Cheers," then explained there was no way I could add "cunts" to the end, especially not to a couple of women. They laughed at me, and explained how frequently they used it in Australia. They then made a point to keep doing it all night.