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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

BrightOranges · 17/09/2016 16:18

Twat is on the same par as crap? Really?

I think sometimes people don't even know the meaning of the words they utter.

Titsywoo · 17/09/2016 16:27

My 9 year old ASD son has had this argument with me. Being so literal he feels that if it is not a swear word then he should be able to say it. So I have said it is swearing. He also asks why swear words are bad words because they are just words. He has a point but he sticks to my rules that he can't say them until he is older

MewlingQuim · 17/09/2016 16:28

I am also aware of knackered meaning shagged out, but dad definitely knew it as a word meaning testicles too, as in "he got kicked in the knackers".

He was a Geordie/Scot. Any other Northeners heard it in that context? I assumed it was an old fashioned northern term

CancellyMcChequeface · 17/09/2016 16:36

I thought that knackered just meant exhausted - I wouldn't think of it as a bad word at all, let alone a swear word. Isn't the origin to do with the knacker's yard?

ShatnersBassoon · 17/09/2016 16:43

Crap is just a slang word to me, as far beyond the pale as fart, boobs and willy. OK for children to use, but only at certain times with certain people. Knackered isn't even vaguely naughty.

Swearing doesn't bother me, generally speaking, so I'm possibly more relaxed than the average person about bad language. Yesterday, a cobbler managed to say bollocks and shite to me in one very short conversation; I was quietly impressed.

gamerwidow · 17/09/2016 17:05

BrightOranges I do know the meaning of twat I just don't think it is considered a strong swear word especially when compared to the other swearword which means the same.

LikeDylanInTheMovies · 17/09/2016 17:18

I think sometimes people don't even know the meaning of the words they utter.

I am fully aware of what a twat is. I still don't think it is a swearword. Prat and faff re also slang terms for female genitala, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who'd consider prat or faff to be swearwords or grossly offensive.

FourEyesGood · 17/09/2016 17:48

YANBU. Crap is coarse slang, which is how my dictionary defines swearing. It's definitely one of the milder swear-words, but it's still swearing. The students in my classes don't get away with using it - and many of them claim they didn't know it was swearing. Having read this thread, perhaps that's not surprising.

And 'twat' is DEFINITELY swearing. Not mild, either.

Wriggler79 · 17/09/2016 18:04

My DP terms this 'casual swearing'. The kids try to push boundaries with it but we frown on it without truly forbidding it. Lots of prompts from us about appropriate language, and how this depends on whose company you're in. E.g, religious grandparent would be upset at 'oh god' etc so kids try not to do that around her. 'Fart' not allowed at dad's house so kids say it quite frequently here, just to get it out of their system I think! We swear constantly when kids not around just trying to teach them boundaries and to understand respect for peoples' preferences really.

BrightOranges · 17/09/2016 18:26

Prat and faff are not terms for female genitalia.

Oh you're being such a crappy twat.

Mari50 · 17/09/2016 18:47

I would classify crap as a swear word, again on the very mild end of the scale. I use it in front of DD but wouldn't like her to repeat it. Similar to bloody. DD does use knackered which isn't the most polite word and doesn't sound particularly nice coming from a 7 year old but I can't be arsed making a fuss about it because I have bigger fish to fry with regards to other words she knows that I have to make sure she never uses.

SenecaFalls · 17/09/2016 19:13

In the US, we tend to distinguish vulgar words from swear words (profanity). "Oh my god" is swearing and actually offensive to lots of folks in the US.. "Fuck you" is not swearing, but it very vulgar.

Where I live in the US, "crap" would be considered mildly vulgar. It would be ok for kids to use, but they probably wouldn't say it to a teacher.

BolshierAryaStark · 17/09/2016 19:17

Crap, whilst not particularly great, is not a swear word-you wouldn't put it up there with cunt would you?

spankhurst · 17/09/2016 19:21

I was told off for saying it as a kid. I don't want DS saying it. But I don't think it's a swear word per se.

Buttercupsandaisies · 17/09/2016 19:43

Whilst not a swear word, there's no way I'd let my kids say crap -twat is one of the worst swear words imo -right up there with cunt!

Original poster

IncidentalAnarchist · 17/09/2016 19:47

Sounds like things are ripping more in my favour here!

OP posts:

RainbowDashstolemyidentity · 17/09/2016 19:51

It's swearing in my house OP & so is Bloody which I think is on the same level. I wouldn't be happy if my kids used them in everyday language. My DP's kids use them ALL THE TIME I hate it, they also use frickin which i think shows intent to use fucking!

user97billionand3 · 17/09/2016 19:55

Mild swears - fine at home not at church, school or grandmas. See also sod, knackered, fart, damn.

mathsmum314 · 17/09/2016 19:55

No words are inherently 'swear words', but every word can be made a swear word. Its the context, meaning and culture that makes words 'rude'. You can use fuck as a normal word and you can turn crap into a swear word, if you put it in a context that is insulting and demeaning. #

Unfortunately some people are trying to create a culture where not being offended is a legally enforceable human right, which is just ridiculous.

If DC was trying to say something was not very good and used the word crap then its not a swear word.

They dont write fuck in most newspapers/tv, they use f**k, what is the difference, we all know what the word is?

Oblomov16 · 17/09/2016 19:58

Cherylene · 17/09/2016 20:00

Ill-gotten gains =mediaeval biblical English:

Ill-gotten gains do not profit, But righteousness delivers from death - Proverbs10:2

Crap is definitely 'swearing' because it is using a bodily function word out of context to emphasise, (like a sexual or religious one) but everyone swears these days (although not swearing as in a legal oath)

Original poster

IncidentalAnarchist · 17/09/2016 20:01

Rainbow, I class 'bloody' as a swear word too

As an aside, I'm not a prude and I swear like anything - but NOT in front of children and I want my kid to appreciate the art of fine communication. I'd rather people didn't use swear words in front of him and that includes 'mild' ones

OP posts:

Cherylene · 17/09/2016 20:02

Also, crap has four letters, so must be swearing

WhateverWillBe · 17/09/2016 20:03

every word can be made a swear word. Its the context, meaning and culture that makes words 'rude'

I agree with this, definitely. Ds1 is 8 and really likes one particular Youtuber for Minecraft tips. Then one day he came out with 'I don't give a fudge' complete with rolly eyes - and he'd picked it up from the videos he was watching. Noone would say 'fudge' is a swearword but it definitely was in the contect he was using it in.

Arfarfanarf · 17/09/2016 20:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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