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The C Word

Apparently some web sites had a problem with Scunthorpe.

For non-UK readers, it's a town in Northern England.

(I wonder if I'm going to get moderated over this post! I did over p****d.)

Edit: Apparently not!
 
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This is beginning to bend my brain.

Perhaps we could use the phrase "You're a stupid Scunthorpe"?

I can think of a few people who are.

Edit: Maybe residents in said town might get a bit upset. (I actually accidentally typed " ... sad town ... " but I thought I'd better correct it.)
 
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To me, the word is so harsh because of how it rolls off the tongue. 'Dork' for example just sounds more light and frivolous. The 'C' word sounds angry and derogatory. Purely psychological I suppose.
 
Well, it's a genderized insult that tries to denigrate people by a comparison with female anatomy. So it involves both the possible taboos of "negative attitude towards women and their bodies" and "sexual insult, possibly indicating impotence or physical weakness in general".
I wonder what we get after that.
Though the word with the most shock value here in Germany is "Jew". Which is used by some of our neonazis as if it were an insult. Those guys are really something.
 
pristerognathus said:
I suspect it is because both "cock" and "prick" are only expletives in certain contexts and can be used for very inoffensive purposes, although cocking a weapon might actually be more offensive, if you take my meaning:o
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That doesn't explain its absence given the same can be said for almost all the other words on the list.
 
Lamuella said:
I think you've misunderstood my argument.

The OP said: "Is it because it refers to that part of a woman that should never be referred to? Isn't that a terribly misogynistic Victorian attitude that has no place in the civilised modern world?".

I was demonstrating that the reason for the c word's perceived offensiveness cannot be merely because of this because there are other words for the same thing that AREN'T seen in this way.

I wasn't saying "using the c word isn't misogynistic". I was saying "taking offense to the c word isn't misogynistic".
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OH, never mind. ;)
 
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Feminist Philosophy of Language
There is sexism in language, it does enhance the position of males, and males have had control over the production of cultural forms. (Spender 1985: 144)
This, Spender claims, provides circumstantial evidence that ‘males have encoded sexism into language to consolidate their claims of male supremacy’ (Spender 1985: 144)....

...Spender and others also suggest that the maleness of language constrains thought, imposing a male worldview on all of us, and making alternative visions of reality impossible, or at least very difficult to articulate. These arguments often draw upon the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (Sapir 1949; Whorf 1976). This is generally described as roughly the hypothesis that “our worldview is determined by the structures of the particular language that we happen to speak” (Cameron 1998b: 150).

Some suggest that male power over language allows men to shape not just thought, but also reality....

...Instead, we must aim to create a new reality more congenial to women. Some feminists have argued that the only way to achieve this is for women to create their own language, either by redefining terms already in use, or by inventing a new language, with new words and new rules. Only in this way, they suggest, will women be able to break free from the constraints of male language and male thought, to articulate a competing vision for the world, and to work toward it (Daly and Caputi 1987, Elgin 1985, MacKinnon 1989, Penelope 1990, Spender 1985). Lynne Tirrell offers an especially sophisticated and complex discussion of this idea in her “Definition and Power: Toward Authority Without Privilege” (1993).
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Perhaps the way some in the black community use the n word referring to each other in a friendly way, women could also take the negativity out of the c word by using it more often but in a different context.

Just a thought.
 
Lamuella said:
it's not considered more unpleasant everywhere. In england it's about on a level with the f word. In Scotland it's about on a level with "good morning".
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I lol'ed at that. Add Australia to the list, too. Seems like it's synonymous with "mate" there.
 
Has anyone mentioned that George Carlin dicussed this issue on his album "Class Clown," which was released (good GRIEF!!) forty years ago?
 
There was considerable offence expressed when Jeremy Hunt, Culture Secretary was spoonerised.
 
The French equivalent, con, is fairly mild. It translates pretty much as the English "idiot" ,"dick" and so on.

I suppose it all depends on which ◊◊◊◊◊◊ you come from.
 
Complexity said:
Which "C Word"?

There are more than one.
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Is it not clear from the OP? Is there another "C word" which "refers to that part of a woman that should never be referred to"? If this were Community, we could spell it out for you.
 
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Honestly, i believe people get offended by this word to the extent they do because it is useful.

Getting offended, especially when the offense is one that other people tend to agree is offensive, is a great way to win, or stop an argument. While this issue is a bit more complex when speaking of different topics, with this word it is pretty clear cut.

Once the argument gets to the point where this word is being used, the only goal is winning, not debate. And when you can react as if the person just crossed some kind of line, especially in the court of public opinion, you have one. I mean, i am sure we have all seen a situation similar to the following...

Jane - You limp **** , son of a *****, how dare you, you **********. You think your a man? Your not a man, your a ******* worm.

John- Could you stop being a **** maybe?

Jane- How dare you!

And when this story is related , later, by Jane, many folks will immediately jump on her side. " Oh, that was terrible. He was completely out of line saying that, etc, etc.".
 
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