C*nt - American vs UK?

[Justjoinedforthis]

So I just recently found out that cunt as an insult has very different connotations in the US and the UK. In the US apparently it is more used as a horrible insult against women, or men deemed effeminate. Maybe an American can confirm this is correct?

I have personally never found it offensive, but thinking about it in the American context I think it would be a pretty horrible word. Now am trying to think back to any times I have used it jokingly in front of Americans...they must think I am awful.

I'm not sure about the specific connotations of 'cunt' but I can confirm that 'twat' is MUCH more offensive in the USA than in the UK. It's pronounced more like 'twot' and as offensive as 'cunt'.

@SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito

I use cunt affectionately. DH and I call each other a cunt jokingly, as an over the top insult. I would also call one of my male friends a daft cunt.

I don't use it much outside the home, and wouldn't say it around people I don't know very well. That said, I did once use it at work to describe Michael Gove, but in a teachers' staff room that's pretty much one of the more positive ways to describe him! I also wouldn't use it around Americans as I am aware that there it is far more shocking / beyond the pale than here.

I would apply it equally to men and women. Actually, more likely to be used in reference to a man, as they are more likely to be deserving of being called a cunt, in my experience!

A lot of swearing is rooted in misogyny, so I don't see why this one word is seen as worse than any other word. Why is cunt worse than twat? They mean the exact same thing!

This 👍

@GreenTulips

It is a vulgar word and not one I’d ever use

A lot of vulgar people post on here

@GreyishDays

But that applies to many words, the meaning isn’t the problem. Shit is worse than crap which is worse than poo.

As Mark Thomas was told in "Serious Organised Criminal"

Just to prod the wasps nest, is it fair to say "UK" here, or do some parts have a slightly different take on it ? Maybe in Scotland and Ireland, compared to England ?

Germaine Greer did a piece years ago for "Balderdash and Piffle" asking why it was still the most obscene word we can come up with in English.

I used to work at the BBC, where there was a list of swear words in order of offensiveness for programme-makers and broadcasters to use for reference. That was the #1 most offensive word, so I’m afraid you’re wrong that it’s not offensive in the UK!

#2 was a racist word beginning with N, and #3 was motherfucker.

Here, it’s bad but seems equal to bitch or asshole.

I think it depends on the area and what words are used commonly. I may use the word bitch at work but I wouldn't use the word cunt.

Where I grew up in Glasgow, many moons ago, it was absolutely the worst of the worst swear words and absolutely nobody I knew used it. It was seen as vulgar/common/disgusting/beyond reproach. Whereas now in the same area, it's been completely downgraded to a much less severe swear word. Last time I was there, there were cunts all over the place like it was an everyday word.

Where I grew up it's actually something of a compliment. 'He's a real good cunt.'

I have no issue at all with swearing, but the fact one of the biggest insults you can throw at someone is that they're female reproductive organs.... The feminist in me can't condone that word at all. Being female is not an insult!

Friendly . Its an awful word, it even sounds harsh.

I’m British and find the word incredibly offensive.

Maybe it’s a generational thing though. Have younger people started using it like my generation used the F word more freely than our own parents?

I use it almost daily.

Just yesterday it must have been uttered about 4-5 times. Said it about my DP and NDN. DP and BIL also called me a cunt at other times during the afternoon.

It's just a word. No need for the pearl-clutching.

Linguistics wise, it's usually to do with the origin of the words. Most of the English swear words are from the Anglo Saxon languages. The words were not originally swearing, but were deemed vulgar after the Norman conquest when Norman French became the language of the court & upper class.

(Same reason we use the French derived words for food but the old English derived words for animals, btw, eg. pork vs pig, beef vs cow. Different words for the class of people who just ate the food, as opposed to those who farmed it. The upper class words then trickled down over the centuries.)

Swear words lose their power over time, it's called semantic weakening. It's why we no longer use 'zounds' or 'sblood' as oaths. Why bastard is not as offensive as it was. Other factors contribute of course, like cultural change, which is why 'nigger' is more offensive now than it was 100 years ago (rightly so).

Cunt is likely to be seen as less offensive in 100 years from now, according to the principles of semantic weakening. What's interesting is what will replace it in the number one spot.

I think my post was hidden for using an example of another vile slur, by the way- I was comparing a word that Americans seem to use but is more offensive here.

I think the C word is considered worse in America.

Ah, mine may go the same way, in that case.

Term of endearment in Scotland

@SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito

Ah, mine may go the same way, in that case.

Mine was automatically applied. Which is fair, because the word is disabilist, but I see it written and said frequently by American people and in films/TV.

M word?

Was it the adjective relating to spasticity? Yes, that is commonly used to mean 'clumsy' in the USA and doesn't have the offensive connotations that it does in the UK.

I was watching “House of Cards” and they used it in the same way the English do.

Yes, mine has just been auto blocked too. Understandable. It's the word which was in the former name of the charity Scope.

It’s considered a lot more offensive in the US than in the UK. Lots of people in Britain hate it and consider it vulgar, but it’s not absolutely shockingly (I’m trying to think of an expression to replace “beyond the ” as I know many MNers find that racist).

I’m in London and it’s not that offensive a word here. I have friends who will casually say things like “got a cunting parking ticket.”

I think it’s because in America it’s used explicitly as a misogynistic slur and mainly used against women, whereas in the UK it’s more likely to be used against men.

Traditionally far worse in America but seems to be moving in the British direction.

Never heard it used as a slur against gay men just women.

Came on to say it’s practically a term of endearment in Scotland but @Dugheed bet me to it 😂

I find it really offensive, the worst swear word.
That said, I don't like been sworn at, at all. Its pretty unnecessary imo.