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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Crap is a swear word

162 replies

IncidentalAnarchist · 16/09/2016 21:08

Yes, a trivial AIBU but help to settle the argument!

I believe that crap is a swear word, albeit on the mild end of swearing

My friend believes it is not.

AIBU to think she is wrong and that crap is a swear word?!

OP posts:
Original poster
IncidentalAnarchist · 16/09/2016 22:41

I'm glad more sane people have joined the thread Grin

OP posts:
CathFromCooberPedy · 16/09/2016 22:42

Of course crap is used in professional settings. It is happily used for something that's below par or not what we were expecting.

Those saying otherwise, do you actually work in these type of roles? Hmm

Batteriesallgone · 16/09/2016 22:45

Crap isn't a swear word?! Shock

And there are people here who would use crap in a professional role? Lawyers or accountants?! Shock Shock surely not.

I need a lie down...

INeedANameChange · 16/09/2016 23:01

I'm a lawyer and I'd use the word crap to some clients. But I'm laid back like that.

It's the only mild swear word that I'm sort of ok with my DC10s using... But I wouldn't accept anything else being said!

INeedANameChange · 16/09/2016 23:03

Oh and I always thought knackered meant "shagged out". Grin

TiggyD · 16/09/2016 23:06

Mild swear word.

"I need a crap."

"You're full of crap."

"Your face looks like a pile of emu crap."

All very rude.

DubiousCredentials · 16/09/2016 23:08

I wouldn't expect my doctor/head teacher/solicitor to say crap and would be Shock if they did tbh. And I certainly wouldn't have said it to my granny which is the benchmark for all vulgarities as far as I'm concerned Grin

Gatehouse77 · 16/09/2016 23:09

I'd say it's a vulgar word rather than a swear word.

Rachcakes · 16/09/2016 23:11

It's a swear word. Not a bad one but I wouldn't say it to small children or my posh FIL.

My 14 year old DS tried to tell me shite isn't a swear word, because it's got an e on the end, today.

DerekSprechenZeDick · 16/09/2016 23:13

I was allowed to say feck and shite in front of dad if I used them correctly and not for the sake of it

Crap is nothing

RainbowDashian · 16/09/2016 23:17

I don't consider crap a swear word. It's about the same as fart or poo in my opinion.

user1471443957 · 16/09/2016 23:17

YANBU crap is a mild swear word (and one I use regularly) YABU for using 'gotten'. Grin

I was told by my DM as a child/teen not to use knackered as it meant tired from sex!

lionheart · 16/09/2016 23:19

I thought I heard a presenter on CNN use it today. In her defense, she was talking about Trump.

AllPizzasGreatAndSmall · 16/09/2016 23:19

Well I don't think people would use it in a report or anything, but surely people use it when talking to colleagues without anyone being horrified.

multivac · 16/09/2016 23:19

There's no objective measure of sweariness. It's utterly dependent on context and opinion.

If you say something is 'a swear word', then it is, as long as you are in charge of the definition. A bit like 'weeds'.

AllPizzasGreatAndSmall · 16/09/2016 23:23

I am not allowed to say it to the children I teach, therefore it is a swear word.

There are words that would be inappropriate to use, such as cock or knob, but it doesn't make them swear words.

StrangeLookingParasite · 16/09/2016 23:26

I'd probably agree with Gatehouse, that it's along the lines of a vulgarity rather than an actual swear. A very very mild swear, I suppose. I can't imagine my mother (b. 1925) saying it, for example.

Duckafuck · 16/09/2016 23:27

My 9 year old refers to crap as the 'c' word. He has no idea any other 'c' word exists. We do get funny looks if he refers to it in public Grin

I don't think it's swearing, a bit uncouth but not a swear word.

ErrolTheDragon · 16/09/2016 23:29

I remember a fellow chemistry student including the word 'crap' in a lab write-up to describe the products of his unsuccessful reaction. The lecturer who marked it crossed it out and wrote that the correct technical term was 'crud'. (Which is actually true, though back then probably wouldn't have passed muster in polite conversation either)

PinguForPresident · 16/09/2016 23:31

Of course crap isn't a swear word. Unless you're a nun or similar.

BrillianaHarvey · 16/09/2016 23:44

My parents were utterly mortified when, aged 9, I described something as 'crappy' to my great aunt. It was a word I'd learned from the cool girl at school and couldn't wait to try out.
Mind you, I later discovered, said great aunt had been around the block a few times (ran off with her married boss) so may not have been as easily shocked as all that.

multivac · 16/09/2016 23:47

It's not about putting words into binary categories; that's daft. It's about knowing what you can say, to whom.

Our 11-year-olds swear with easy and creative elegance at home. They know better, however, than to call each other 'idiot' in my presence - or, indeed, describe an opinion as 'crap' to their teacher.

ImissGrannyW · 17/09/2016 00:38

The origin come from Thomas Crapper who (I think) invented the flushing toilet. Hence "going for a crap" or "having a crapper".

But context is everything in this. The vehemence with which it is said, to who, etc.

Smidge001 · 17/09/2016 00:52

I'm ok with saying something is 'a bit crap', but I'd be horrified if someone said they were 'going for a crap'. In the first instance I see it as an alternative for rubbish, whereas the second a synonym for shit.

I'd class it as a mild swear word. what makes a swear word? I would have said 'cock' is also a swear word but someone up thread said it wasn't.

I'm with ineedanamechange - I always thought knackered was a rude word because it meant tired after sex. I still reckon that's what it does mean (but I haven't googled).

dybil · 17/09/2016 00:56