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Original poster

Do you class knackered as swearing?

264 replies

DisappointedD · 14/01/2026 19:36

I have always thought of it as a mild swear word. A word I wouldn’t want my younger children using but wouldn’t be too bothered by a teen (but not to their grandparents) type word.

There is a current radio ad using the word which made me think about it earlier. I was surprised when I heard it and didn’t think it was a word I’d heard used in ad’s before.

OP posts:
nocoolnamesleft · 14/01/2026 20:00

It's informal, but not swearing. It means exhausted, or worn out through overwork. Like a horse fit only for the knacker's yard.

yeesh · 14/01/2026 19:59

I think it’s like crap, not really swearing but not for children or formal conversation.

Love2read12 · 14/01/2026 19:59

Funny I don’t allow my children to use it and I always say because it’s a swear word. That only came about as when i was younger I said it in class and got into trouble. My parents gave me a lecture (I am 46) about its a word that people use after sex. So they don’t want me to say this as a young girl 🤣 I’d have been maybe 15 when I got into trouble from the teacher. It always stuck with me 🤣

Namechange6578 · 14/01/2026 19:59

My nearly 5 year old says Arse sometimes 🙈
That's probably worse 😂

Barrellturn · 14/01/2026 19:58

I use it. I associate it with the knackers yard i.e., I feel like a very old horse that needs to be made into glue at this point in the day.

AnnaQuayInTheUk · 14/01/2026 19:57

I seem to remember when I was a child there was a big fuss because Prince Charles said it, possibly after a polo match. I'd never heard it before so assumed it was a "bad" word but I use it all the time and don't think of it as a swear word.

That said. I wouldn't say it in a work meeting.

LVhandbagsatdawn · 14/01/2026 19:57

My dad used to tell me off for saying it! I don't personally consider it a swear word but clearly some people do.

SPQRomanus · 14/01/2026 19:57

I think knackered isn't a swear word but it's vulgar and certainly shouldn't be used by children. I wouldn't use it in polite company. I'm in my sixties and understand it originally to mean exhausted as in after sex, so quite a rude word.

Bugger is definitely a swear word. Certainly not to be used by or in front of children. It's a horrible word, it means putting a penis in someone else's anus, so is pretty disgusting.

Sod is an abbreviation for sodomy, the same meaning as bugger, so again pretty rude. Children shouldn't be using it.

Crap/shit/turd are rude and children shouldn't hear or use.

I always think that any words you wouldn't use in a formal letter or essay type of thing or use in front of a class of children should be considered as rude.

Tigerbalmshark · 14/01/2026 19:56

oilead · 14/01/2026 19:39

It used to mean a specific type of being tired. As in, after sex tired.

No it didn’t! It comes from the knacker’s yard, where old worm out horses are shot and turned into dog meat (historically).

Do some people think the word comes from testicles? 🤣

Bikergran · 14/01/2026 19:55

"Knackers" meaning testicles, could be thought of as a mild swear word.

"Knackered" meaning worn out, as in fit for the knacker's yard (where a knacker, in this context, means a dealer in dead animals, someone who would dispose of horses in days gone by) is a colloquial expression rather than a swear word.

Original poster
DisappointedD · 14/01/2026 19:55

To clarity, I am not in the slightest offended. I don’t have any issue with swearing at all. Was just surprised to hear it on the radio and the person I was with agreed with the majority here that it’s not a swear word.

OP posts:
LoveWine123 · 14/01/2026 19:55

Never saw it as a swear word but then English is not my first language so there’s that. Now that I think about it, I’ve only ever seen it used on mumsnet and not in real life.

BashfulClam · 14/01/2026 19:55

I have never thought it was a swear word, vulgar or unpleasant it’s just an everyday word to me like shoe or door or bus.

WellMaybeYouShouldntBeLivingHeeeeeeee · 14/01/2026 19:54

Moonface318 · 14/01/2026 19:53

My Mum would tell me off for using it when I was a kid. It means you're tired from having sex.

It really doesn’t seem to mean that to a majority of people.

Moonface318 · 14/01/2026 19:53

My Mum would tell me off for using it when I was a kid. It means you're tired from having sex.

CoffeeCakeAndALattePlease · 14/01/2026 19:52

No, I wasn’t aware that anyone considered it a swear word or even rude.
I’ve only known it as broken or tired.

Hollowvoice · 14/01/2026 19:51

dementedpixie · 14/01/2026 19:46

I have never known it to be associated with tiredness after sex and I'm in my 50s. I use it to mean I'm really exhausted

Same here (in my 40s), never known it to mean anything other than exhausted. I use "shattered' and "knackered" interchangeably

HandMadeInYorkshire · 14/01/2026 19:51

Knackers (in Yorkshire) was another name for bollocks, so it was seen as a swear word, same as 'fart', that was also known as a swear word.

Devilsmommy · 14/01/2026 19:50

I don't think I've ever heard of this being a swear word. It just means tired. Would cream crackered be just as offensive for you as well?

AcidicTrifle · 14/01/2026 19:49

I’ve never heard of it being considered a swear word! It’s not formal, but not something I would have thought twice about saying casually.

Surroundedbyfools · 14/01/2026 19:49

What on earth ? No it’s not a swear word. I wouldn’t think twice about a child or anyone else saying it. Growing up my grandmother used to act like fart was a swear word. I think ppl get to het up about words. Fair enough u don’t want ur kids going round saying proper swears like fuck and cunt but words like arse etc don’t bother me ! Knsckered is defo not a swear word

SoOriginal · 14/01/2026 19:49

DisappointedD · 14/01/2026 19:44

Funny isn’t it as I would never think of turd being a swear word, just a very childish word.

Show quote history

Yes agreed on turd. That’s more a swear word in my opinion and I wouldn’t want my children to say it.

Wolfpa · 14/01/2026 19:49

I wouldn’t class knackered as a swear word but I also would class fart which I know a lot of people have a problem with.

LighthouseLED · 14/01/2026 19:48

Definitely wouldn’t consider it swearing, and would also associate it with the knackers yard rather than sex.

”Shagged out” on the other hand…

Twinkletwinkly · 14/01/2026 19:47

How about nuckin fackered? That’s a favourite of mine 😄