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.

It just means exhausted! It’s not a swear word.

I've never thought of it as swearing and it was used commonly when I was growing up (and my mum would tell us off for saying bloody, so certainly didn't encourage swearing). I do remember though that one of my friends came into school as a teen saying another friend's strict dad told her off for saying it when he was giving them a lift. We were all mystified about why and 30 years later am none the wiser! I think this is the first time since then I've heard it described as swearing! I'd still think of it as slang but not swearing and certainly am not surprised to hear it anywhere.

Maybe it's to do with age, I'm 60 and it was definitely a word you were not allowed to say when I was young.

I still get a little shock when I hear young kids saying it :)

In Scotland it most certainly is not a swear word or a rude word or even a slang word!, it’s a daily used word by well pretty much everyone from very young to very old

Interesting, the dad who told me friend off for using it was from the Midlands.

Ha that reminds me of getting told off for using the word 'crappy' in a creative writing task in year 5. I had no idea it wasn't appropriate.

And no, knackered is not a swear word and is used regularly in our house and in front of DD. DH from northern Ireland me from South London and neither of us know of it as a swear word

I couldnt care less if my kids said turd.

How odd, it’s just an emphasis on tired. Not a swear word whatsoever.

The context in which it is used has changed over the years to it now having lost its original meaning of tired after sex because a man's 'knackers' being used; a bit like I feel completely bollockeds (sp)
I feel most swear words have lost their energy or intended imact over the year's because of over use. Take 'bugger' for example. Its actually a very vulgar term of phrase and I feel that because most dont understand its true meaning (anal rape to save anyone a google search), they think its mild compared to fuck off....

That is definitely a swear word.
Bugger is buggery a sex act and illegal until the end of the twentieth century.

I think I remember it being used less when I was younger but I do use it now but don't see it as swearing.

I'm just wondering if anybody else has got a decent way through life (I'm 46), without ever having heard it said that 'knackered' specifically relates to being tired after sex? Hand on heart - this thread is the first time I've ever heard that!

Why though, it's just a word really as are all words. It maybe has some sort of connotation that you don't like?

Some of these answers are bizarre.

Animals were taken to the knacker”s, or to the knackers yard, to be slaughtered when they were tired, worn out and of no further use. That’s what being knackered means.

I suppose people have less than less to do with animals and slaughtering, so the meaning gets lost.

It's something to do with killing an animal when it's past its useful live. My mum would class it as a swear word and would have told me off for saying it as a child. Akin to "bloody".

Yes bugger as well is a minor swear word. Means fucking someone up the arse though so I can see more clearly why it's offensive

It makes me laugh when young kids say it but that's because to me it sounds like something an older person would say, not quite right coming out of their mouths. I hadn't considered that might be because it's swearing though.

Isn't it related to the business of a knackers yard? That's what we used to call the abattoir when I was young in the 70s and 80s. It's where tired and run-down animals went. It's the first time I've heard of a non-swear everyday word possibly being considered to be rude. It's usually the other way around where swear words lose their potency to offend over time.

Just found this online to answer your question:

Formerly considered a rude word – possibly implying that the subject was exhausted from having sex, perhaps due to conflation with knackers (“testicles”) – and still considered offensive by some (primarily older British people).

I will always laugh now when someone tells me they are knackered! And that’s me educated - I’ll not be using it again either.

I don’t think it’s a word I’ve ever used but I don’t swear and I wouldn’t think it was a swear word 🤷‍♀️

I’ve never heard the connection before today, early 40s

Definitely not a swear word, my dm swears maybe 2 or 3 times a year but will regularly say knackered!

That wasn’t its original meaning, though.

Also, nobody says ‘I’m bollocked’ to mean they are tired after sex.

Apologies is this has already been posted. From Chat GPT -

“I’m knackered” comes from knackers’ yards.

The short version

A knacker was a person whose job was to collect animals (usually horses) that were old, injured, or dead and process them for glue, leather, or fat. These animals were sent to a knacker’s yard.”

When younger I always thought same as OP as in its a mild swear word, but I don’t bat an eyelid when I hear it now.

Sounds like you've been reading the Urban Dictionary!

It's slang but definitely not a swear word and I've heard all sorts of people use it in various situations all my life but never in a sexual context.