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The C Word

zooterkin said:
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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I was joking (though I didn't read the rest of the OP).

I far prefer my C Word to your C Word.
 
Antiquehunter said:
To me, the word is so harsh because of how it rolls off the tongue.
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Not that harsh I would submit, unless you pronounce the u with more of an a sound, as one supermodel (down to her posh accent IIRC) did when appearing on a mid-morning TV programme a couple of years back; nobody noticed at the time. The Scottish comedy programme Chewin-the-Fat did the same to get round being bleeped out.

Bastard I think is more harsh. It really sounds like an expletive. But it's relatively mild these days.
 
It has certain comedic effect that is invaluable.

Cook and Moore back in the 60s

Cook "I've written to the Pope, I said

Dear C*** in charge of Religion..."

Moore "You kept it formal then"

Cook "Well give the man his place.."
 
Chaucer used it. And in the fourteenth century the street in London where the ladies of the night hung out was called Grope**** Lane. There was a street with that name in every major town.
 
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The UK version doesn't strike me as too bad--it's a bit sexist used of a male, because it suggests that being called something associated with females is bad. The US version carries a real nastiness that it shares with the N-word when that word is used with hostility. Connotation's hard to give evidence for, but to me at least, with US users, it seems to carry a strong implication of subhumanity--as if the person were nothing but the body part in question.
 
dafydd said:
Chaucer used it. And in the fourteenth century the street in London where the ladies of the night hung out was called Grope**** Lane. There was a street with that name in every major town.
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The things one finds in Wiki. :p
 
Visual Purple said:
The UK version doesn't strike me as too bad--it's a bit sexist used of a male, because it suggests that being called something associated with females is bad. The US version carries a real nastiness that it shares with the N-word when that word is used with hostility. Connotation's hard to give evidence for, but to me at least, with US users, it seems to carry a strong implication of subhumanity--as if the person were nothing but the body part in question.
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I never use the word unless I am actually talking about the piece of anatomy in question. To use it as an insult is an insult to women.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
The things one finds in Wiki. :p
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See my post above. Wiki didn't come into it. And I did read about it a while ago in one of Bill Bryson's books. Do not assume things without sufficient information :) I very rarely look at Wikipedia. I heard a footballer on Radio 5 Live this morning saying that his Wiki entry says that he once played bassoon on a Boney M record. He would have been five years old at the time.
 
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dafydd said:
See my post above. Wiki didn't come into it. And I did read about it a while ago in one of Bill Bryson's books. Do not assume things without sufficient information :)
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I was afraid you'd think that was what I meant. Sorry, I didn't. I googled the origin of the word and Wiki had the :rule10 street in the first paragraph.
c 1230, refers to the London street known as :rule10 Lane.
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Skeptic Ginger said:
I was afraid you'd think that was what I meant. Sorry, I didn't. I googled the origin of the word and Wiki had the :rule10 street in the first paragraph.
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You are forgiven :) Take out an online subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica, it's much more reliable.
 
sadhatter said:
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.
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Offense, the gold standard currency of identity politics.
 
joesixpack said:
Offense, the gold standard currency of identity politics.
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I don't get offended by it, I just don't understand why it is an insult. As Billy Connolly once said:
' Vagina is a nice word, and a nice place too. If you saw on the back of your cornflake packet ''Enter this simple competition and win two weeks in Vagina'', you'd say, ''I think we'll go in for that'.
 
dafydd said:
I don't get offended by it,
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That's because you don't choose to be offended by it. Taking umbrage at a simple word is a choice that feminists (in this case) consciously make. Would they be offended at being called a prick? How about a "knee" or "wrist"? Those are body parts. Being called a piece of the anatomy is only objectionable because the target decides to take exception.

Honestly, I could see a woman being offended by being called "ovary" or "Breasts", because the speaker is reducing the woman to her biological role in reproduction, which seems calculated to objectify her, but the word ****is so divorced from the actual anatomical meaning that it's hardly even an insult, much like "prick". Except by consensus, **** is no more offensive than "putz".
 
joesixpack said:
That's because you don't choose to be offended by it. Taking umbrage at a simple word is a choice that feminists (in this case) consciously make. Would they be offended at being called a prick? How about a "knee" or "wrist"? Those are body parts. Being called a piece of the anatomy is only objectionable because the target decides to take exception.

Honestly, I could see a woman being offended by being called "ovary" or "Breasts", because the speaker is reducing the woman to her biological role in reproduction, which seems calculated to objectify her, but the word ****is so divorced from the actual anatomical meaning that it's hardly even an insult, much like "prick". Except by consensus, **** is no more offensive than "putz".
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I don't understand why people choose to use it. One of my teachers, whom I had a great deal of respect for, used to say 'swearing betrays an empty mind'. Although the air does turn blue if I hit my thumb with a hammer. Nobody is perfect.
 
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I had someone complain about me saying "pussy." I did not even use it in a sexual context. I said, "coke is for pussies; legalize meth!" Of course, she had a pussy (I'm guessing), so I was a given a talking-to.
 
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".

Your misogyny argument doesn't hold up because there are other words for the female anatomy that are milder swears (pussy, fanny, twat) that aren't as serious.
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Big Les said:
I agree with the Scotland bit (also in the forces), but not re England, generally speaking. My perception is that it's still thought far worse than the F word, especially by women (have you heard the phrase 'it's a word that hates women'?). Doesn't stop my wife using it regularly though!
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Yeah, I agree that in Scotland it could well be the first word a baby says but in England the word still packs a bit more clout than the F-word. A lot of TV comedians and sit-com writers are busily trying to desensitize us to the word yet somehow it still is just a bit worse. That said, English people are certainly much more comfortable using the word than Americans and Canadians, in my experience. Saying the word to them apparently has an effect similar to stabbing them in the ears.

There's a section in a TEFL book called Practical English Usage in which the swearwords are given approximate offense-ratings from one to four stars. The C-word is the only four star word.

Paul W said:
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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Paul W said:
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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I already do say that but it is considered a bit eccentric especially by other passengers on the bus.
 
I have gotten to know the C word quite well the last few years. While commenting on the Amanda Knox case I've encountered many British gals using the word. They threw it around a lot with some direct hits sent my way. :p From an American perspective it made them look low class and trashy. It is just not used the same way at all in the two countries. After a while it lost its impact on me because I heard it used so often. I came to understand that it was a much more casual word to them.

One night over dinner with a few good girlfriends I decided to give the C word a try - UK style. I said something along the lines of "could you pass the bottle of wine my way ****." The room was quiet as they both stared at me in astonishment. Laughter broke out and the friend I used the word on said "WHAT did call me!" I then explained about the international UK/US language differences I had been experiencing. My friends and I took to calling each other the C word in private for about a month after that. It was fun to use such a taboo word. We had a lot of laughs using it on each other. Very saucy.

It's not a play word in the USA. It is extremely insulting here. It's degrading in a way that says that is ALL a woman is - and that isn't a good thing. Something to be used but of little value. It brings a woman's worth down to only one function, one piece of anatomy.
 
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