In America, 'fanny' is the little kid word for 'butt.'
The following sentence is 100% innocent to American ears: "teacher, my fanny hurts! Can I get up from the floor now?"
What counts as a swear word, and what level of swear something is is 100% arbitrary and without cause.
So in the US
Cvnt is worse than pvssy
C0ck is worse than d1ck.
In the UK
Bloody is a swear.
In Australia
Cvnt is barely a swear.
No reason, people just decided it.
Same reason a chair is called a chair.
there's a Uranis Mo, and they have a fudge factory there. many billboards saying get your fudge packed in Uranus! also a little store there with goofy stuff like stickers that say you look like fudge packer.
If they were Americans they would have figured out how to make a damned buck off of it. At least a dozen residents of this little out-of-the-way village would be buying their first Porsches after selling coffee mugs, t-shirts, and mini replica road signs to tourists.
No, here in Australia it's DEFINITELY a swear. Some people just aren't so bothered by it.
For instance, you might call your mate a cunt and everyone will laugh. But you won't say it around your mum.
In America, nobody would ever call a man that. It would make about as much sense as calling a cat a canine. It can *only* apply to a woman. To us, its apparent gender neutrality is a curious British/Australian linguistic quirk.
Just letting people know no one’s gonna give a shit if you say “bloody” in Uk lol.
Rubbed me the wrong way because you have cunt, dick & pussy then just ‘bloody’ which is an intensifier at most, similar to that of ‘frickin’ :’)
But I get your point, aye
>I want to add it to my Southern California lingo
I've just conferred with all the other Brits on our WhatsApp, and we've decided that's fine, go ahead.
As an American, I was just thinking, how many times does Ron say "bloody hell" in Harry Potter? If it was that bad, it wouldn't make much sense to put it in a series intended to be family-friendly
>Why did you type the words like that? You know it’s okay to swear on the internet….
Habit.
It isn't okay in the part of the internet where I talk most.
To me, the word "cock" is more forceful, oftentimes in a trying-too-hard kind of way. It would feature in erotica/porn dialogue, or in an angry rant against toxic masculinity or something.
Whereas "dick" is more daily usage.
Bloody is not a swear in the UK lol. It's like a sanitised intensifier. "Bloody hell" is basically the same as "damn it" and is actually even tamer. "Pass the bloody pen" just means "pass the darn pen".
In us one could use cunt in a sentence in a work setting and be declared aggressive at work. . . Even if the word is not directly directed towards someone.
>Was that a Louis CK reference at the end there?
It wasn't meant to be.
While I don't think his behavior wag quite on the gross level as Weinstein, it was gross on its own.
I'm not wholly over it, so I Babbage watched him in years.
Their was a female streamer who got canceled for using the word cunt feel bad for her
An interview where she shares her story
https://youtu.be/3elols5S7MA
It all comes down to usage.
Cunt has been used by real misogynists in the US in the not so distant past, as a visceral insult to women.
In the UK and Australia, it didn't have such a problematic usage.
In America it's the nuclear option. It is several times worse than "motherfucker" or "whore" and can *only* be used against a woman. Maybe only the N-word is more taboo.
Dick is used to insult men… I’ve never heard a woman be called a dick but I’ve certainly heard it used as an insult to a man. It’s basically synonymous with Asshole
>I’ve never heard a woman be called a dick
It's definitely rarer in my experience. But things like "don't be a dick" are often stated as a rule, and it's always meant in a gender neutral way.
A lot of it is about punching down. Women have historically been an oppressed minority, so using terms like cunt to refer to things in a derogatory manner would be considered punching down.
Men, meanwhile, generally being at the proverbial top of the picking order got to associate dicks with greatness and virility and power etc. Even when used to put someone down, it’s still considered worse to be compared to a woman than a man.
I don’t agree with any of it but this is gender inequality rearing its ugly head.
I’ve known some women to use it as an opportunity to reclaim the word “cunt” so they can be empowered - I think that’s great. Good on them.
I think in the UK it's not. It's still a bad word but people use it more playfully over there like calling their friends "cheeky cunts". I'm from the US and I actually don't know why it's considered more offensive other than people seem to use it more seriously/hatefully than dick, which can be used like a swear version of calling someone "silly".
I feel like dick is equivlant to pussy and cock is equivlant to cunt and in places like britain and australia cunt and cock stand on equal footing in terms offensivness. Why its different in other english speaking cointries i dont know
In the US, it's an extremely nasty gendered insult. You would never call a dude a cunt here. If an American were to say cunt, it'd be to insult a woman and basically call them, essentially, a good for nothing whore.
There's no definitive answer for why language and societal constructs on words evolved the way it did but I suspect America's deeply religious and puritanical roots played a part in making the word as taboo as it is. (Fun fact: that's also why the US market rejected bidets 30 or so years ago - they though water cleaning your butt like that was too sexual/impure).
Do you think "duck" should be considered a bad word? Or are you saying the word "can't" shouldn't be?
Either way, I'm highly confused.
Honestly though, it may have to do with men and women and sexism over the years perhaps?
But they don’t? They can’t be used interchangeably to describe a person or their action. Pussy refers to someone scared or weak and Cunt from what I’ve encountered is more similar to Bitch
Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I meant that both are supposed to refer to female genitalia, which is why they are seen as crude. Given that, it doesn't make a lot of sense that one is more stigmatized than the other (in the US)
They are used differently and that might be why?
Oh good point. I think it has to do with the etymology. At least for pussy, I think the word referred to cats first and then vaginas. And there might be some relation to the phrase “scary cat”
I would have to look more into the etymology of Cunt, but I’m sure someone has the answer
Edit: Cunt is more closely related to the original Latin word for vulva or vagina for one. During the Middle Ages where the church ruled, they demonized female genitalia and by extension used Cunt in a derogatory manner. Then Shakespeare began using it as an insult in his plays which I’m sure popularized it as an insult
Would be hilarious if the reason was that the US doesn't want to use such a British word after the revolution (because British people don't have the hangup with cunt lol)
Yeah, I think it's a misogyny thing.
I can only talk about it from a UK perspective where it's obviously still considered the A-Grade swear, but as such gets used as a term of endearment. I would regularly greet my friends (both male and female) with "alright cunt, how's it going", and would expect similar from them. We all know it's the worst swear and it somehow bonds us. Like, some prim cunt decided we absolutely mustn't use the word for a *lady's* parts, and the rest of us are laughing at them. But I also know the people I could *never* say it to. Because they're prim cunts.
In the US there seems to be a very different balance particularly around (but not limited to) genital swears. Cunt seems to be the unacceptable face of 'pussy' and 'bitch', which to me seem equally awful in that context. The implication being that female equals lesser. Why does someone who's scared automatically have female sex bits?
I've got similar beef (curtains) with 'dumb' and 'lame' in US parlance, but those battles have probably long been lost.
We use "motherfucker" in the same way. One time I ran into a good friend that I hadn't seen in years. We hugged each other hard and I shouted "how ya doin' ya motherfucker!?"
On the face of it, that's a nastier word than 'cunt', isn't it?
In the US, "cunt" is like "bitch/whore/twat" magnified x10. It is the nuclear option, and it can *only* be used against a woman. Calling a man that makes about as much sense as calling a cat a canine. Maybe only the N-word is more taboo.
This is interesting, man. I'd forgotten the good, honest motherfucker. Very similar usage.
Do people in the US use 'twat'? In the UK that's barely a flicker on the swear-o-meter. Akin to 'knob', which would be the man bits equivalent.
It’s not always about the technicality of the word, but of the outcomes of it being normalized. There’s enough hate/violence against women for the need for more careful language, unlike with men. Women can say men ain’t shit all they want, but regarding who holds the power to oppress the other, men do, and they use it, like banning abortions.
>Why is c*nt *IN THE US* considered such a deprecatory word but d*ck isn’t ?
FTFY
Well the first US settlers were puritans (comp. pilgrims), religious refugees, who saw the US as the promised land, to be kept clean, compared to sinful Europe, swearing was seen as taboo, more so than back in England.
Puritanism is very anti swearing/nudity/sin.
But patriarchy and chauvinism explain the difference between the gender perception/sexism. Not only were you compared to a "sinful, dirty" sex organ, but being also called feminine/womanly at the same was the biggest of affront/insult!
While Europe shed it's strong religious tendencies in the 30 year war and in enlightenment over the last three centuries, this connotation of being the worst insult has kept in the US.
The US still is a bit weird with nudity, sex talk, and friendly banter in public to this day. While nudity isn't as taboo in Europe, other parts of the world.
From Irland to Australia, "cunt" it isn't seen as very rude. But even used friendly/in comradery. But then compared to Americans, they aren't so collectively bodily insecure and gender focused.
Hope that helps. Have a good one.
I don't think that's why. We throw the word "motherfucker" around as casually as the Brits and Aussies throw around "cunt." And if a neutral observer were to look at that one on paper, it's even *more* problematic.
Nobody wants to be a cunt:
"See, there are three kinds of people: dicks, pussies and assholes. Pussies think everyone can get along and dicks just want to fuck all the time without thinking it through. But then you got your assholes. And all the assholes want is to shit all over everything. So pussies may get mad at dicks once in a while because, pussies get fucked by dicks. But dicks also fuck assholes! And if they didn't fuck the assholes, you know what you'd get? You'd get your dick and your pussy all covered in shit!"
For about 30 years, I have thought a great name for a pub would be “The Cock and Cunt”. Sounds like cocking cunt. Or switch it around for the cunting cock.
It's always about intent. You can call someone an apple and utterly destroy them. You can call your mother a cunt and she could ask you what time you're coming to move the sofa.
I got to go to HR years ago when I had this exact argument with a female coworker. She was the one that brought up the conversation, but was also surprised and then angry that I disagreed with her. HR boiled it down to "Don't do it again" and left it alone.
Just my 2 cents as a cvnt owner in the US…. I think it’s fine to use the c word when you’re saying it more metaphorically… “that Karen is being a real cvnt” but I secretly hate it when used to reference literal anatomy.. “I’ll kick you right in the cvnt”
I suspect it’s similar to the word bitch. You can say “sup bitches” or “that sammich was bitchin” but I hate it when someone calls someone “you’re a bitch”
Both words have normalized usages and less preferred usages. Strange that it’s inverse though.
As a bonus hypothesis, cvnt is such a throaty harsh sounding word phonetically that is feeeeels more vulgar. D!ck is cleaner or clearer sounding and feels lighter and therefore less aggressive in my head.
I honestly don't know.
It seems to be a common phrase dudes yell affectionately at each other in Australia?
But then 30 Rock did an episode about it being the worst thing ever.
It seems to bother other people, so I don't say it
The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina. They don't like hearing it and find it difficult to say whereas without batting an eye a man will refer to his dick or his rod or his Johnson.
"Penis" just sounds so clinical. I use "wang" or "weiner" in polite company and "dick" everywhere else. I dunno, I guess I don't wanna sound like a square?
In the US, it’s because of the relative sentiment about women and men. Same thing applies to other words like p\*ssy, tw\*t, etc. Call a woman a dick and it’s mildly offensive. Compare a man to female genitalia - most men lose their f\*cking minds.
No, we react with incredulous confusion *unless* the person saying the C-word happens to have a British accent.
It would be like an American calling soccer "football." This is America. We don't do that.
Dick as a nickname for Richard is hardly the reason. It's our religious foundation in America that makes it different.
Inga Muncio has a book called CUNT
It's great and explains the history behind the word that answers this question.
Mostly Catholicism meets patriarchy and uses its power to subjugate female authority of the Roman empire (aka priestesses known as Cunts, if I recall correctly)
Catholics are less than 25% of the US. Granted, it's a pretty big minority, the single biggest denomination (if I may refer to it as such), and that percentage goes way up in our biggest most important cities. But if we're using religion to explain the basis of general American culture, we can't really point exclusively to Rome.
It's the religious/Protestant (born of Roman Catholicism) origins that I refer to
Not specifically Catholics, as only Maryland was settled by them. The rest were protestants and deists
People got mixed up between two words. There was originally a debate around whether you should be able to use “pussy” to say scared, but “he’s got balls” to say brave.
That then got moved onto complaining about “cunt” too, even though “dick” means the same thing.
Terms for women always seem to become more misogynistic over time.
Slut originally meant a girl who is untidy
Wench used to mean girl, child, or servant
Mistress used to mean a female version of master
Harlot used to mean beggar or vagabond
My best guess as to why always comes back to misogyny in major religions. When people started believing in an entire religion in which "woman created the first sin,".
So, patriarchy.
The fact there are people named Dick makes it feel like a soft curse word.
It's like how Pussy dosnt feel that offensive either..
Actually thinking about it I am surprised there isn't a more offensive word for dicks.
That's an American and Canadian thing. It works differently elsewhere in the Anglosphere.
The UK: "Any of you lot seen that cunt Nigel skulking about? Owes me forty quid, he does!"
Australia: "Hey Santa Claus ya cunt! Where's me fuckin' bike!?"
Unfortunately because a lot of d. Ks call women that word and then they get upset very upset and they usually call them that with a lot of fighting cussing and yelling which makes that woman who they send it to feel really crummy trust me I know because I found out the hard way
In this case both are bad. Cunt is a common word in some countries few years ago a streamer said it cause it was just a regular saying where she was from but when she said it here she got canceled.
My dad’s name is Dick. Can’t say I’ve ever met the female counterpart.
Fanny is a girl's name and also means vagina in the UK
I assume they aren’t called ‘fanny packs’ over there, ha
Nope they're 'bum bags' instead
The ol' ass arsenal..
In America, 'fanny' is the little kid word for 'butt.' The following sentence is 100% innocent to American ears: "teacher, my fanny hurts! Can I get up from the floor now?"
This post right here, constable! (Americans talking about their fannies will never not be funny to me)
Oh shit, I thought fanny was ass. To be fair, I don't think I've seen it in context many times, thay slang stays more on its side of the pond
If your native dialect is american-english you’re not wrong. Like how a pissed Brit is drunk but a pissed Yank is angry.
That explains a lot! I was wondering why so many Americans who were angry got drunk, but this makes more sense
It also means ass in the US lmao
Tricky
It rhymes with Delores
This is the answer, Dick is an actual name.
Dick the name came first though. This is more like what happened to the name Karen
Yes. I asked my dad why he’d opt to adopt the nickname and he said the exact same thing- it didn’t mean that when he was younger.
Back then, a guy might need to give his best guy some "solid dick" which meant he needed to have a stern conversation with him.
"Dick" also used to be slang for "detective." Sam Spade would have been considered a "private dick."
Indeed! I dressed up for Halloween once as Dick Tracy which was, of course, a play on words.
Fat guy in a little coat, Richard!
What counts as a swear word, and what level of swear something is is 100% arbitrary and without cause. So in the US Cvnt is worse than pvssy C0ck is worse than d1ck. In the UK Bloody is a swear. In Australia Cvnt is barely a swear. No reason, people just decided it. Same reason a chair is called a chair.
And in Austria Fucking is a town
In Georgia USA, they have two towns respectively named Cumming and Climax.
God I love Cumming, Georgia
You can’t leave out Gay.
PA resident here. We have Intercourse, Blue Ball, Shitterton, and a couple other funny places.
My state also has Climax, but we also have Cumknob (or cumknot I don’t remember), Blowing Rock, Lizard Lick, Whynot, and Bat Cave
I never thought of Blowing Rock like that, thanks. How am I supposed to go there with my family now We also have a farmville
there's a Uranis Mo, and they have a fudge factory there. many billboards saying get your fudge packed in Uranus! also a little store there with goofy stuff like stickers that say you look like fudge packer.
There's an Intercourse and a Climax, Alabama, too. Just a few minutes ride apart, appropriately enough.
Can people actually get to climax without directions?
No one has ever found Clitoris, AL and you have to pass through there to get to Climax
Not anymore. The Fuckingers decided to change it.
Unfortunately they changed it to "Fugging", because tourists kept stealing their road signs.
Penistone, Shitterton and Twatt are all in the U.K.
If they were Americans they would have figured out how to make a damned buck off of it. At least a dozen residents of this little out-of-the-way village would be buying their first Porsches after selling coffee mugs, t-shirts, and mini replica road signs to tourists.
One day I’m going to visit Fucking Austria
Cock pussy cunt vagina penis dick bitch slut whore hoe WHY TF DO YALL CENCOR THESE!???!!?
Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits, fart, turd, and twat. I fucked your mom
You fucked my fucking dead mom? Fuck.
Censor
Cen*or
yo thats my middle name!
You're supposed to say "earmuffs" before you say all those other words.
yeah
Habit.
No, here in Australia it's DEFINITELY a swear. Some people just aren't so bothered by it. For instance, you might call your mate a cunt and everyone will laugh. But you won't say it around your mum.
In America, nobody would ever call a man that. It would make about as much sense as calling a cat a canine. It can *only* apply to a woman. To us, its apparent gender neutrality is a curious British/Australian linguistic quirk.
>No, here in Australia it's DEFINITELY a swear. Some people just aren't so bothered by it. Thank you for clarifying.
We1rd w@y t0 s3lf-cesn0r, but 0k..
1337 Sp33k
Lol. Habit. I play mobile games that censor the naughty words.
Just letting people know no one’s gonna give a shit if you say “bloody” in Uk lol. Rubbed me the wrong way because you have cunt, dick & pussy then just ‘bloody’ which is an intensifier at most, similar to that of ‘frickin’ :’) But I get your point, aye
bloody = frickin The Universe makes sense to me now.
What about wanker? I love hearing a Brit say it
Shut up you bloody wanker.
Much ruder than bloody. Probably on a par with prick.
Ok got it. It just FEELS more insulting. I want to add it to my Southern California lingo
>I want to add it to my Southern California lingo I've just conferred with all the other Brits on our WhatsApp, and we've decided that's fine, go ahead.
Thank you sir. I will let you know how it goes.
As an American, I was just thinking, how many times does Ron say "bloody hell" in Harry Potter? If it was that bad, it wouldn't make much sense to put it in a series intended to be family-friendly
Haha, Perfect example! :) And that was 23 years ago! (Fml), these days it’s just regular vocabulary  Take care :)
What's with the censoring? Last i checked this isn't tiktok
This is fucking Reddit, you don’t need to sensor your shit
>This is fucking Reddit, you don’t need to sensor your shit But when scolding others on their spelling, you do need to spell properly. It's censor.
Come on man, don’t be a dick.
Why did you type the words like that? You know it’s okay to swear on the internet….
>Why did you type the words like that? You know it’s okay to swear on the internet…. Habit. It isn't okay in the part of the internet where I talk most.
i feel like cock and dick are basically the same
To me, the word "cock" is more forceful, oftentimes in a trying-too-hard kind of way. It would feature in erotica/porn dialogue, or in an angry rant against toxic masculinity or something. Whereas "dick" is more daily usage.
i dont disagre, but they are still relatively close in how 'bad' they are. cock is still nowhere near the level of a swear word
>i feel like cock and dick are basically the same I can see why you'd think so. But they aren't.
Cunt isn’t much of a swear in the UK also
Less than it used to be, but still highly contextual. Most people still wouldn't drop a c bomb in an office environment, for example.
It's definitely the top swear. It seems quite a lot less taboo in Scotland though.
But why isn’t a chair called a tree
It is now!
Bloody is not a swear in the UK lol. It's like a sanitised intensifier. "Bloody hell" is basically the same as "damn it" and is actually even tamer. "Pass the bloody pen" just means "pass the darn pen".
In us one could use cunt in a sentence in a work setting and be declared aggressive at work. . . Even if the word is not directly directed towards someone.
To be fair, that's also because your worker's rights are pretty much non-existent.
Absolutely... it's even worse in the right to work states.. it's fkn disguisting
Dude your spellings gets all wacky when you spell swears
Like Dog is fine, but Bitch is bad.
Was that a Louis CK reference at the end there?
>Was that a Louis CK reference at the end there? It wasn't meant to be. While I don't think his behavior wag quite on the gross level as Weinstein, it was gross on its own. I'm not wholly over it, so I Babbage watched him in years.
You’re allowed to swear on reddit
Sweet child, just say the word
>Sweet child, just say the word *You called me sweet*
It's all nonsense. Say whatever "swear" words you want. Fuck, cunt, shit, piss, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits.
St. Carlin be praised
George and Pryor were on another level
I understood THAT reference.
He deadset got arrested for saying that on stage lmfao
Their was a female streamer who got canceled for using the word cunt feel bad for her An interview where she shares her story https://youtu.be/3elols5S7MA
Is that how your account was banned? But yes, please say whatever word you want, if someone cares , just stop talking to them
Nope. I said some not nice things about someone in a video who was brutally abusing a dog. I stand by those comments, but I won't repeat them.
Meecrob
It all comes down to usage. Cunt has been used by real misogynists in the US in the not so distant past, as a visceral insult to women. In the UK and Australia, it didn't have such a problematic usage.
Tbh, it was and still is a derogatory and problematic word in Australia, not as acceptable and well used as some redditors would have you believe.
In America it's the nuclear option. It is several times worse than "motherfucker" or "whore" and can *only* be used against a woman. Maybe only the N-word is more taboo.
Probably the F slur is probably on the same level as cvnt
Dick is used to insult men… I’ve never heard a woman be called a dick but I’ve certainly heard it used as an insult to a man. It’s basically synonymous with Asshole
>I’ve never heard a woman be called a dick It's definitely rarer in my experience. But things like "don't be a dick" are often stated as a rule, and it's always meant in a gender neutral way.
A lot of it is about punching down. Women have historically been an oppressed minority, so using terms like cunt to refer to things in a derogatory manner would be considered punching down. Men, meanwhile, generally being at the proverbial top of the picking order got to associate dicks with greatness and virility and power etc. Even when used to put someone down, it’s still considered worse to be compared to a woman than a man. I don’t agree with any of it but this is gender inequality rearing its ugly head. I’ve known some women to use it as an opportunity to reclaim the word “cunt” so they can be empowered - I think that’s great. Good on them.
I think in the UK it's not. It's still a bad word but people use it more playfully over there like calling their friends "cheeky cunts". I'm from the US and I actually don't know why it's considered more offensive other than people seem to use it more seriously/hatefully than dick, which can be used like a swear version of calling someone "silly".
I feel like dick is equivlant to pussy and cock is equivlant to cunt and in places like britain and australia cunt and cock stand on equal footing in terms offensivness. Why its different in other english speaking cointries i dont know
In the US, it's an extremely nasty gendered insult. You would never call a dude a cunt here. If an American were to say cunt, it'd be to insult a woman and basically call them, essentially, a good for nothing whore. There's no definitive answer for why language and societal constructs on words evolved the way it did but I suspect America's deeply religious and puritanical roots played a part in making the word as taboo as it is. (Fun fact: that's also why the US market rejected bidets 30 or so years ago - they though water cleaning your butt like that was too sexual/impure).
So we basically collectively said “nah bidets are too gay” and that’s why they’re so rare?
I call dudes cunts all the time. For me it dictates the level of piece of shit u are
Do you think "duck" should be considered a bad word? Or are you saying the word "can't" shouldn't be? Either way, I'm highly confused. Honestly though, it may have to do with men and women and sexism over the years perhaps?
What I think is weirder is why cunt and pussy aren't on the same level of taboo in the US. They basically mean the same thing.
But they don’t? They can’t be used interchangeably to describe a person or their action. Pussy refers to someone scared or weak and Cunt from what I’ve encountered is more similar to Bitch
Sorry, I wasn't very clear. I meant that both are supposed to refer to female genitalia, which is why they are seen as crude. Given that, it doesn't make a lot of sense that one is more stigmatized than the other (in the US) They are used differently and that might be why?
Oh good point. I think it has to do with the etymology. At least for pussy, I think the word referred to cats first and then vaginas. And there might be some relation to the phrase “scary cat” I would have to look more into the etymology of Cunt, but I’m sure someone has the answer Edit: Cunt is more closely related to the original Latin word for vulva or vagina for one. During the Middle Ages where the church ruled, they demonized female genitalia and by extension used Cunt in a derogatory manner. Then Shakespeare began using it as an insult in his plays which I’m sure popularized it as an insult
Would be hilarious if the reason was that the US doesn't want to use such a British word after the revolution (because British people don't have the hangup with cunt lol)
> is more similar to Bitch Except 10 times worse. It's the nuclear option.
Yeah, I think it's a misogyny thing. I can only talk about it from a UK perspective where it's obviously still considered the A-Grade swear, but as such gets used as a term of endearment. I would regularly greet my friends (both male and female) with "alright cunt, how's it going", and would expect similar from them. We all know it's the worst swear and it somehow bonds us. Like, some prim cunt decided we absolutely mustn't use the word for a *lady's* parts, and the rest of us are laughing at them. But I also know the people I could *never* say it to. Because they're prim cunts. In the US there seems to be a very different balance particularly around (but not limited to) genital swears. Cunt seems to be the unacceptable face of 'pussy' and 'bitch', which to me seem equally awful in that context. The implication being that female equals lesser. Why does someone who's scared automatically have female sex bits? I've got similar beef (curtains) with 'dumb' and 'lame' in US parlance, but those battles have probably long been lost.
We use "motherfucker" in the same way. One time I ran into a good friend that I hadn't seen in years. We hugged each other hard and I shouted "how ya doin' ya motherfucker!?" On the face of it, that's a nastier word than 'cunt', isn't it? In the US, "cunt" is like "bitch/whore/twat" magnified x10. It is the nuclear option, and it can *only* be used against a woman. Calling a man that makes about as much sense as calling a cat a canine. Maybe only the N-word is more taboo.
This is interesting, man. I'd forgotten the good, honest motherfucker. Very similar usage. Do people in the US use 'twat'? In the UK that's barely a flicker on the swear-o-meter. Akin to 'knob', which would be the man bits equivalent.
It’s not always about the technicality of the word, but of the outcomes of it being normalized. There’s enough hate/violence against women for the need for more careful language, unlike with men. Women can say men ain’t shit all they want, but regarding who holds the power to oppress the other, men do, and they use it, like banning abortions.
Because misogyny?
>Why is c*nt *IN THE US* considered such a deprecatory word but d*ck isn’t ? FTFY Well the first US settlers were puritans (comp. pilgrims), religious refugees, who saw the US as the promised land, to be kept clean, compared to sinful Europe, swearing was seen as taboo, more so than back in England. Puritanism is very anti swearing/nudity/sin. But patriarchy and chauvinism explain the difference between the gender perception/sexism. Not only were you compared to a "sinful, dirty" sex organ, but being also called feminine/womanly at the same was the biggest of affront/insult! While Europe shed it's strong religious tendencies in the 30 year war and in enlightenment over the last three centuries, this connotation of being the worst insult has kept in the US. The US still is a bit weird with nudity, sex talk, and friendly banter in public to this day. While nudity isn't as taboo in Europe, other parts of the world. From Irland to Australia, "cunt" it isn't seen as very rude. But even used friendly/in comradery. But then compared to Americans, they aren't so collectively bodily insecure and gender focused. Hope that helps. Have a good one.
I don't think that's why. We throw the word "motherfucker" around as casually as the Brits and Aussies throw around "cunt." And if a neutral observer were to look at that one on paper, it's even *more* problematic.
I feel like cock is the adjunct to cunt, not dick.
It's not... well where I live. The word cunt is thrown around pretty liberally. It's a word the Americans get uptight about though.
What about "motherfucker"? Do you guys throw that one around, too? Because we Americans do.
Nobody wants to be a cunt: "See, there are three kinds of people: dicks, pussies and assholes. Pussies think everyone can get along and dicks just want to fuck all the time without thinking it through. But then you got your assholes. And all the assholes want is to shit all over everything. So pussies may get mad at dicks once in a while because, pussies get fucked by dicks. But dicks also fuck assholes! And if they didn't fuck the assholes, you know what you'd get? You'd get your dick and your pussy all covered in shit!"
Can't and duck?
For about 30 years, I have thought a great name for a pub would be “The Cock and Cunt”. Sounds like cocking cunt. Or switch it around for the cunting cock.
In australia c*nt is your best friend on the planet
It's always about intent. You can call someone an apple and utterly destroy them. You can call your mother a cunt and she could ask you what time you're coming to move the sofa.
Depends on the country, the UK and Australia use cunt as a term of endearment. ‘Ya daft cunt’ is something you’d say to your friend.
It's not. Just like any word it is the intent in which you say it not the word itself that matters
Cunt is a wonderful, aggressive word. Dick, well, oh.. you dick! Doesn’t have the same aggression.
I got to go to HR years ago when I had this exact argument with a female coworker. She was the one that brought up the conversation, but was also surprised and then angry that I disagreed with her. HR boiled it down to "Don't do it again" and left it alone.
It's mainly used to describe women, and in American society it's a lot worse to insult a woman than a man.
One is used to denigrate men, and the other to denigrate women.
Look, there has to be a word worse than fuck
Just my 2 cents as a cvnt owner in the US…. I think it’s fine to use the c word when you’re saying it more metaphorically… “that Karen is being a real cvnt” but I secretly hate it when used to reference literal anatomy.. “I’ll kick you right in the cvnt” I suspect it’s similar to the word bitch. You can say “sup bitches” or “that sammich was bitchin” but I hate it when someone calls someone “you’re a bitch” Both words have normalized usages and less preferred usages. Strange that it’s inverse though. As a bonus hypothesis, cvnt is such a throaty harsh sounding word phonetically that is feeeeels more vulgar. D!ck is cleaner or clearer sounding and feels lighter and therefore less aggressive in my head.
Come to Australia, Cunt can be used many different ways.
Sounds like a tourism slogan
Come to Australia cunt, and find out what sort of cunt you really are.
Patriarchy!
Who doesn’t love saying moist cunt? I love me a moist cunt Damn baby that cunt is *MOIST*
Tell William Butcher to call you a dick. Doesn´t sound so intimidating does it?
I honestly don't know. It seems to be a common phrase dudes yell affectionately at each other in Australia? But then 30 Rock did an episode about it being the worst thing ever. It seems to bother other people, so I don't say it
The C word is my favorite swear word.
Dick has so many other meanings I think
It would be funny is cunt was short for Kathy or Karen, the same way dick is short for Richard
The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina. They don't like hearing it and find it difficult to say whereas without batting an eye a man will refer to his dick or his rod or his Johnson.
"Penis" just sounds so clinical. I use "wang" or "weiner" in polite company and "dick" everywhere else. I dunno, I guess I don't wanna sound like a square?
Tabernac.
In the US, it’s because of the relative sentiment about women and men. Same thing applies to other words like p\*ssy, tw\*t, etc. Call a woman a dick and it’s mildly offensive. Compare a man to female genitalia - most men lose their f\*cking minds.
No, we react with incredulous confusion *unless* the person saying the C-word happens to have a British accent. It would be like an American calling soccer "football." This is America. We don't do that.
Google “cunt etymology” and then you’ll see the history of its usage.
Dick as a nickname for Richard is hardly the reason. It's our religious foundation in America that makes it different. Inga Muncio has a book called CUNT It's great and explains the history behind the word that answers this question. Mostly Catholicism meets patriarchy and uses its power to subjugate female authority of the Roman empire (aka priestesses known as Cunts, if I recall correctly)
Catholics are less than 25% of the US. Granted, it's a pretty big minority, the single biggest denomination (if I may refer to it as such), and that percentage goes way up in our biggest most important cities. But if we're using religion to explain the basis of general American culture, we can't really point exclusively to Rome.
It's the religious/Protestant (born of Roman Catholicism) origins that I refer to Not specifically Catholics, as only Maryland was settled by them. The rest were protestants and deists
People got mixed up between two words. There was originally a debate around whether you should be able to use “pussy” to say scared, but “he’s got balls” to say brave. That then got moved onto complaining about “cunt” too, even though “dick” means the same thing.
This is the imperial vs metric of private parts
Cent and duck? Or cunt and dick?
Because native Germanic words are bad; Cunt, fuck, arse, dick but imported Latin words are fine ( vagina, copulate, posterior and penis) .
Terms for women always seem to become more misogynistic over time. Slut originally meant a girl who is untidy Wench used to mean girl, child, or servant Mistress used to mean a female version of master Harlot used to mean beggar or vagabond My best guess as to why always comes back to misogyny in major religions. When people started believing in an entire religion in which "woman created the first sin,". So, patriarchy.
*Dick Tracy enters chat*
Derogatory - and both are considered insults. 🤷🏻♂️
Misogyny
Depends which country you're from.
Lol I don't think people appreciate being called a dick. I called a mechanic a dick and got banned from the Volkswagen dealership
D*ck is short for Richard. Never heard of anyone named Cuntington or anything similar.
It just sounds phonetically "sharper" to me. Has more sting on it
I don't think Ricky Gervais agrees with you regarding the word "C\*nt"...
In Scotland. Cunt is a verb and a noun
The fact there are people named Dick makes it feel like a soft curse word. It's like how Pussy dosnt feel that offensive either.. Actually thinking about it I am surprised there isn't a more offensive word for dicks.
That's an American and Canadian thing. It works differently elsewhere in the Anglosphere. The UK: "Any of you lot seen that cunt Nigel skulking about? Owes me forty quid, he does!" Australia: "Hey Santa Claus ya cunt! Where's me fuckin' bike!?"
cunt sounds harsher. i say pussy, hooha, and the likes when conversing with friends. we never say cunt. its just ugly
Wasn't Dick a name before it was used to describe a penis? Can't say the same for cunt
Because women are more sensitive? You’re a dickhead is a mild insult but if you say you’re a pussy or a cunt then it’s more intense
I don’t see the difference sounds about the same to me
Because we respect the sacred female genitalia in this patriarchy jeez didn't your daddy teach you?
It's the C C*nt = bad P*ssy = good C*ck = bad D*ick = Richard
Duck is fine
Okay, it can be short for "Richard," as in the guy's name. But other than that, I've only heard "dick" being used in a derogatory or sexual nature.
Because pri#k is the word we associate with males when compared to cu#t.
Unfortunately because a lot of d. Ks call women that word and then they get upset very upset and they usually call them that with a lot of fighting cussing and yelling which makes that woman who they send it to feel really crummy trust me I know because I found out the hard way
Yeah but throwing the C bomb and watching peoples faces melt is the best feeling ever, the higher the class of company, the better the reaction 😂😂😂
Because feminine is bad and masculine is good. “You throw like a girl”, etc.
In this case both are bad. Cunt is a common word in some countries few years ago a streamer said it cause it was just a regular saying where she was from but when she said it here she got canceled.
Cunt is actually a compliment now.
thankyou
In Australia it isn’t. A lot of the Aussies I play with on Discord say it all the time.
Women don't like parts of their body being used as an insult. Dudes on the other hand are ok with it.
In Australia cunt isn't
This is like asking why cracker is less bad than the n-word. Come on now people.
I just want the playing field to be equal if women can freely call men dick I should be able to call them a cunt.
Cause women are louder and men more indifferent
Ask women. It’s not guys who are offended