Do you class knackered as swearing?

[DisappointedD]

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.

What?!? Doesn’t it just mean tired? I’m so confused and think I’m missing something

Its not a swear word imo

When I was younger I recollect getting a telling off for saying it, but now it's acceptable.

It means tired or broken, swear word? 😂

Yes I was always told it was too!

Where I am from (North East) it isn't a swear word and often used to describe someone as looking tired (ie you are concerned about how tired someone is) but I live further South now and it is definitely seen as an insult if not a swear word per se.

Learned this the hard way 🫣

I don't remember anyone getting ticked off for that word growing up and that's pretty much my barometer.

Google it

I hope not, I tell my dad I’m knackered every time he texts

Yes tired, but IMO not a particularly pleasant way of saying it. I do say it, but wouldn’t want my 5 year old saying it.

I always thought it meant really tired/ broken. Not a swear word. But what about bugger?? Do others class this as a swear word

I grew up in Kent and Midlands and lived in London and Kent for 25 years since. It's not even vaguely a swear word. It's slang but it's not swearing.

Of course it’s not a swear word!

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

Just because it has a meaning doesn’t automatically mean it’s not a swear word or pleasant.

AI
In British slang, "knackered" means extremely tired or exhausted, like "I'm absolutely knackered.
"knackered" means extremely tired or exhausted, like "I'm absolutely knackered after work," but it can also mean something is broken or worn out, such as a "knackered old TV". It's a common informal term for being completely worn out, stemming from the old term for sending worn-out horses to the "knacker's yard" for disposal, hence "tired out" or "finished". after work," but it can also mean something is broken or worn out, such as a "knackered old TV". It's a common informal term for being completely worn out, stemming from the old term for sending worn-out horses to the "knacker's yard" for disposal, hence "tired out" or "finished".

Never thought of it as a swear word.

It's no different to saying "I'm exhausted" other than it being informal.

It isn't a swear word or rude (not in the south either!) I have never thought of it as anything other than a casual way of saying exhausted.

I googled it and it just says “tired”. I say it around kids all the time. Never even crossed my mind that it was rude?!? (In my 30s and from the south)

No, and I am quite prim and proper.

I had the playlist changed at my gym because it was full of real swear words.

No, I consider it slang. I guess in my grandparents day it might have been considered mild swearing. I Wouldn't use it in polite/formal conversation.

Erm no it really isn't
It's just slang for 'tired'!

I think it divides opinion - I still remember the horrified reaction when I announced I was knackered at school age 6 😅. Many use it just to mean tired whilst others think it has connotations of being tired from having sex…

Not at all. It means I'm so tired it feels like I need to be carted off to the knackers yard. I say it all the time. Its only on here some years ago I heard some people seem to think it's something to do with sex, which it isn't

Funnily enough my mum was very anti swearing and told me off for saying pissed off once, yet she was fine with calling someone a sod, or a bugger

My lovely dm used to tell me off for saying that. She also didn’t let me watch Michael Barrymore’s Strike It Lucky back in the day because it was ‘common’. So I didn’t pay much attention to ‘knackered’ being a swear word but I believe it may have sexual connotations *grabs smelling salts. In the real world I think it’s fine.

I got disciplined in primary school in the 1980’s for saying ‘crap’. Had no idea some people thought this was a swear word either 🤷‍♀️