Do you cringe when people use the C word?

Eve_Dublin

krudler wrote: »

hell no, its a horrible word. moist.

MOIST

^ look at it! rotten word.

Not in reference to cakes it isn't. Particularly of the Mr Kipling variety. A Bakewell Tart, for instance.....mmmm..... moist.

Ickle Magoo

OldNotWIse wrote: »

(hate the b1tches lol)

Please make your point without reverting to crass blanket insults/generalisations that others are likely to find inflammatory. Flaming is against site rules.



If you wish to discuss this moderator action please do so only via PM.

Faith

I used to have a problem with the word. I found it harsh, guttural, just an assault on my ears basically. It wasn't anything to do with it meaning 'vagina' though, I just didn't like the word. A guy I worked with almost used it as punctuation, and I did ask him to stop using the word around me because I didn't like it. Over the last couple of years, though, my attitude has changed. I started using it once in a blue moon when I was VERY angry and needed the strongest word I could find. Then I discovered, like another poster said, that when used in the right context, it became very erotic. Now I regularly use the word, but only when I'm driving . I get terrible road rage and F and blind my way along the journey . In general conversation, I would say "C word" because I still find it tasteless when the word is thrown around very casually. I still think it's a very strong swear word, and it isn't necessary to use it casually.

Re: Moist, I always hated the word until I started baking regularly. Now I'm always going on about cakes being moist

The Big Red Button

Sharrow wrote: »

So you insult a man by telling him he's nothing but a vagina and tell people to stop being dramatic by saying they are acting like a vagina or someone with one but it's not sexist, rigth suuuuure it's not.

I'd be every bit as likely to call a person (guy or girl) a dick as a c*nt.

I've never really understood why c*nt is sort of put up on a pedestal as being the worst bad word - it's no more or less offensive than any other curse word, in my opinion.

Sharrow wrote: »

I can certainly see how the repetitive exposure to such language can effect a person and cause stress.

...

It think that it is a shame that the personal subjective section of the piece
seems to distract from what the core of it is (to me anyway) about the emotional and mental impact words can have and how they can make a place or gathering hostile to certain people.

The thing is, some people do get offended or uncomfortable when curse words are used. And yeah, some people can get upset or stressed (by any cursing, not necessarily just the word c*nt.) And we should certainly be considerate of this.

Because of this, even though I regularly use bad language, I recognise that there's a time and a place for it. I would never use any curse words when I'm in work or in a similar professional environment - and wouldn't feel particularly comfortable if my colleagues used such language. It's just not appropriate. I try to avoid cursing around my parents/aunts/uncles, as I know they don't like it and it makes them feel uncomfortable. I don't usually have any such filter on when talking to friends/siblings.

But, to me, it's nothing to do with sexism, and all to do with respect for those around you (regardless of gender.) C*nt is just a word - making out like it's so much worse than any other curse/slang out there is just giving it a sort of power that it doesn't have in it's own right. It's just four letters, and has no more power than any other word.

xDramaxQueenx

To be honest, i find feminists (not directing it at this thread in general) to be far more offensive to me personally, telling us what we should be offended about or what we should be causing a ruckus over, rather than a 4 lettered word used to describe someone who no doubt is the c-word.

Princess Peach

Yes I do cringe! I hate pretty much all profanities, rarely use them myself and a lot of words spoken can hit me like a knife, and the C word more than others, in any context. Be it as a profanity or in a sexual context, I just hate it. I suppose I would have viewed it as sexist in the past, I remember one friend when we were young was livid against it. Now I just view it as one of the most vulgar words.

Eve_Dublin

xDramaxQueenx wrote: »

To be honest, i find feminists (not directing it at this thread in general) to be far more offensive to me personally, telling us what we should be offended about or what we should be causing a ruckus over, rather than a 4 lettered word used to describe someone who no doubt is the c-word.

I'd call myself a feminist and I'd never tell anyone how to live their lives. I'd say many posters who don't find the word offensive would say the same thing.

I find people who tar all feminists with the same brush irritating and ill-informed. Not all of us match the stereotype of man-hating, bra-burning kill joys. I'd say the vast majority aren't, in fact.

fatmammycat

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

I'd call myself a feminist and I'd never tell anyone how to live their lives. I'd say many posters who don't find the word offensive would say the same thing.

I find people who tar all feminists with the same brush irritating and ill-informed. Not all of us match the stereotype of man-hating, bra-burning kill joys. I'd say the vast majority aren't, in fact.

Agreed, I'm a feminist and I have no particular issue with the word.

Ophiopogon

Does she have anything to back up the statement that "sexually threatening stress" could cause heart attack/ stroke?

I found it a bit of depressing read as she seem more emotive about the fact that someone was cooking salmon than about the horrible chant of the collage boys but again that could be just her writing style.

Wibbs

IMHO a word way worse than C U Next Tuesday? A word with more real world impact, both subtle and overt and used a lot more? Bitch. It's a word fired at women and men if real meat is behind the insult(IE you're so useless as a bloke you're also a chick to boot). It's a word even other women use to denigrate their fellows. If she had been wittering on about the B word I'd reckon a point might remain to be found even under the gargantuan weight of her usual tripe.

TBH I find Wolf the academic feminist equivalent of Julie Burchill. Wheeled out to cause "WTF?" feelings while reading ones paper of a Sunday morning. Light on facts, heavy on the hype, but good for sales.

Wibbs

fatmammycat wrote: »

Agreed, I'm a feminist and I have no particular issue with the word.

Outside of the Woody Allenesque circles of Wolf and her ilk and the poor unfortunates who get sucked in by her(wide eyed college kids and ex hippies wondering why the world isn't wearing tie dyed hair shirts) I'd reckon the vast majority of women worldwide would be of the same opinion FMC.

Ophiopogon wrote: »

Does she have anything to back up the statement that "sexually threatening stress" could cause heart attack/ stroke?

I doubt it at least in her examples. A woman in an abusive relationship for years, yes of course, but after chanting by gobshítes? It's one of those things that seems to be logical, but hard to prove, like a shed load of her output. There's an awful lot of science nonsense in her stuff. Indeed I would respectfully suggest taking her current title as a kick off point, that her next tome should be entitled "Balls". Defo goes up in the accuracy sense.

I found it a bit of depressing read as she seem more emotive about the fact that someone was cooking salmon than about the horrible chant of the collage boys but again that could be just her writing style.

The salmon story was beyond risible. That it affected her sooooo deeply*sob* that she had writers block for 6 months was the icing on the cake. Jesus.

You know what's worst about all this for me? She propagates an idea of the massively over sensitive, self indulgent and whiny stereotype of a womanhood that has to be protected like a delicate flower otherwise they wilt that the most chauvinistic Victorian male writer would find hard to top. That's what really grinds my gears about her and others like her.

supernature

Great thread.

Mixed feelings about the word. As ever context is key.

When I find myself getting annoyed/angry/irritated with it I just think to myself "it's anglo saxon for sword sheath. Stupid unimaginative men." It helps a little...

Millicent

supernature wrote: »

Great thread.

Mixed feelings about the word. As ever context is key.

When I find myself getting annoyed/angry/irritated with it I just think to myself "it's anglo saxon for sword sheath. Stupid unimaginative men." It helps a little...

Vagina is the one that means "sheath". They're not really sure on the origins of the c-word.

boomkatalog

I use it when I'm angry as its a sharp little word and the other swear words don't cut it. When I'm angry, I love sharp words, I wouldn't use it in association with my vagina, no more than I'd visualise someone with a penis coming out of their forehead when calling them a d1ckhead!

Have to agree that its also quite welcome in the bedroom, suppose because the word is a taboo and again because its sharp. I'd say the same about cock.

I love my onomotopoeia :pac: (I never could spell that word, mother of God!)

Lyaiera

I disagree Wibbs. I am quite in favour of the word "Bitch." I think it recognises that there can be a form of female nastiness that is quite distinct and separate to the male ideas of acceptable or unacceptable behaviour. I think it is a truly useful word that to a degree delineates male and female interaction.

I'd love to actually sit down and talk to someone about this, and tease out my ideas. I don't think there are many words that are so unequivocally used and owned by woman, to describe women, amongst women.

Yes, it can be used broadly by a lot of people to apportion something to obviously feminine expression, but that's where it's value is. It's obviously feminine. Even if a huge amount of people don't grasp the severity and impact of the word, it is very much particular and quite involved when it is used amongst people who do understand it. Because, as people have said, when someone says, "Bitch" That can cause a lot of breaths to be drawn, much more so than ****. And that's because it is more powerful. But I do think it's more powerful because it's a word female understanding owns, rather than male understanding.

1979Bob

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

Do people call other people penis'??

Have you not read Ross O'Carroll Kelly:D he is always calling his father Knob features, penis and things along that theme.

As you can see I dont have many posts but this thread caught my eye.
The c word is one of my favourite insults, but to me it has none of its original meaning and now means a very unpleasent person. I also say it to my friends and one of my sisters whenever I see her or answer the phone to her.
In her case it was her hating the word when I said it to her first about 6 years ago now she thinks its funny.

Just thinking about it I have called people a knob,dickhead, dildo, dork when they are been foolish, you know stop acting like a dick.
Male = foolish , woman = unpleasent.
Of course I have also called unpleasent person an auld bollox and as for calling someone a cu**y bastard - I dont know.
In short ignore the above its just a word and context has to be taken into account

meeeeh

Just one obvious point. Of course cnut can cause stress as can any other word, when it's used to bully people. You can use perfectly respectable research to prove just about anything.

Butterface

meeeeh wrote: »

Just one obvious point. Of course cnut can cause stress as can any other word, when it's used to bully people. You can use perfectly respectable research to prove just about anything.

I don't use it as regularly as other swear words, but I'm not offended by its use. However, as the above poster stated, any words can affect you if they're used in a bullying context.

I worked in a shop a few years ago and was in charge of a section, with a younger guy working beneath me in the same section. He took umbrage with me taking him to task on something he did wrong and went off on an abusive rant at me which ended with him calling me a cunt. He did this on the floor of the shop with other co-workers and customers present, so under the circumstances he actually reduced me to tears (I wouldn't consider myself easily riled btw).

My co-workers, who were mostly female, and my manager couldn't believe he'd used that word, and were more offended by its use at the time than me. The fact that he was shouting at me in public, in a threatening way was more upsetting to me, and I probably would have been reduced to tears had he called me a bitch or whatever else instead.

Kimia

Everytime I see one of these threads pop up my heart sinks. This really reminds me of the thread NP did before she quit boards for good. I know my opinion will be unpopular but here goes.

Calling someone a c*nt is comparing them to a vagina, and by doing this, conveys the idea that a vagina is something bad, offensive, and distasteful. This, I think, is what the OP and the author felt was worthy of discussion.

The fact that everyone leaped up to say that they don't get offended when someone calls them a c*nt is great, it shows that many of us are not easily offended and can banter with the best of them. But equally, shouldn't it be ok for some people to get offended? The shaming and judgement that went on at the start of the thread was unfortunate.

Someone pointed out that calling someone a d*ck doesn't even offend anyone anymore, that it's totally lost all meaning. The author may argue that calling someone a d*ck doesn't get taken seriously because the masculine connotation is not as negative. It's not as bad to be referred to as something male.

Whatever you say about the writing, the point was - are you offended by swear words that convey that being a woman is disgusting? And if I'm honest, yes, I am. I do think that there is a disparity between using c*nt as offensive language and using d*ck as offensive language. One is seen as more serious than the other.

And to the person who said that words don't mean anything? What a pile of steaming bull****. I've never heard anything more ridiculous in my entire life. Words are powerful, compelling and deeply meaningful - they are the way we communicate with each other ffs. They mean everything.

sweeney1971

Worked with lads most of my life. I did not bother about them swearing, but then again I am not into this girly crap its all false. Nothing makes my flesh crawl when I hear a woman telling a bloke off for swearing then goes on to tell all her mates what great F*** she had the other night behind a nightclub in town.

meeeeh

Kimia wrote: »

And to the person who said that words don't mean anything? What a pile of steaming bull****. I've never heard anything more ridiculous in my entire life. Words are powerful, compelling and deeply meaningful - they are the way we communicate with each other ffs. They mean everything.

Words are just a group of letters. They get meaning with context. If a couple are using **** or other words as part of the sex, the word has totally different meaning than when is being used to threaten someone. Same word can even mean totally different objects, activities or whatever and you have to know the context to understand what somebody is saying.

Ophiopogon

Kimia wrote: »

Everytime I see one of these threads pop up my heart sinks. This really reminds me of the thread NP did before she quit boards for good. I know my opinion will be unpopular but here goes.

Calling someone a c*nt is comparing them to a vagina, and by doing this, conveys the idea that a vagina is something bad, offensive, and distasteful. This, I think, is what the OP and the author felt was worthy of discussion.

The fact that everyone leaped up to say that they don't get offended when someone calls them a c*nt is great, it shows that many of us are not easily offended and can banter with the best of them. But equally, shouldn't it be ok for some people to get offended? The shaming and judgement that went on at the start of the thread was unfortunate.

Someone pointed out that calling someone a d*ck doesn't even offend anyone anymore, that it's totally lost all meaning. The author may argue that calling someone a d*ck doesn't get taken seriously because the masculine connotation is not as negative. It's not as bad to be referred to as something male.

Whatever you say about the writing, the point was - are you offended by swear words that convey that being a woman is disgusting? And if I'm honest, yes, I am. I do think that there is a disparity between using c*nt as offensive language and using d*ck as offensive language. One is seen as more serious than the other.

And to the person who said that words don't mean anything? What a pile of steaming bull****. I've never heard anything more ridiculous in my entire life. Words are powerful, compelling and deeply meaningful - they are the way we communicate with each other ffs. They mean everything.

It's the problem with the use of words though, I do say cvnt and dick at times but for the me the words are interchangeable in their use. I don't find it offensive as I don't equate it with women.

If I don't find certain words offensive and don't use it them in an offensive manner but someone else finds my use of it offensive am I still being horribly offensive by using it?

I find it vulgar and offensives and yes I would be upset if it was used habitually in my company by anyone man or woman.

Kimia

Ophiopogon wrote: »

It's the problem with the use of words though, I do say cvnt and dick at times but for the me the words are interchangeable in their use. I don't find it offensive as I don't equate it with women.

If I don't find certain words offensive and don't use it them in an offensive manner but someone else finds my use of it offensive am I still being horribly offensive by using it?

It's really a personal choice. Know your audience. If you know that they are offended by your use of a swear word, make your decision based on that.

Mr Benevolent

Why would someone have a problem with using colloquial variations of 'vagina'? There are far more variations of 'penis' and few have a problem with that. Anything else is just double standards or, more rarely, misandry.

The Sweeper

I don't mind words.

I do mind atmospheres. Music, if you will. Diversity and tolerance speaker Brian McNaught refers to the 'music' of your life, meaning the background tone and noise that you grow up with, or that permeates a situation. He means atmosphere, but he means so much more - words, and tensions, and implications, and unspoken communication.

So no, the c word doesn't bother me.

However if I had published a book about women and the subtle communication levelled against women and then went to a book party and discovered someone making 'cuntini' pasta, and serving it with sausages and fish, I would feel I were in the presence of juvenile assholes trying to be provocative, but in a way that simply isn't funny. I would also feel that to call them out on it would immediately make me a humourless bitch.

That does irritate me, because it's not up to Naomi W to have a sense of humour in that situation. It's up to her host to simply not do something. Make pasta vaginas if you must, but don't serve them with sausages and fish because that's just crass.

Ophiopogon

Kimia wrote: »

It's really a personal choice. Know your audience. If you know that they are offended by your use of a swear word, make your decision based on that.

Well yeah I get this, and it's not as if I go around shouting swear words saying it's not my fault if your offended. I swear to myself if frustrated or hurt and I was once told off as I said cvnt after stubbing my toe on a table end, the person(my friend) giving out found it offensive, it was not use against anyone and yet it still offended.

It annoys me that if I use a word in certain way that it offends someone else as they use it in a different way but as I said that's the problem with words.

krudler

Louis CK does a brilliant bit on offensive words, and makes it fcuking hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuLrBLxbLxw

(also probably the only video on youtube that has both the C and N word in the title :pac: )

Millicent

Kimia wrote: »

Everytime I see one of these threads pop up my heart sinks. This really reminds me of the thread NP did before she quit boards for good. I know my opinion will be unpopular but here goes.

Calling someone a c*nt is comparing them to a vagina, and by doing this, conveys the idea that a vagina is something bad, offensive, and distasteful. This, I think, is what the OP and the author felt was worthy of discussion.

[Snip for brevity]

Someone pointed out that calling someone a d*ck doesn't even offend anyone anymore, that it's totally lost all meaning. The author may argue that calling someone a d*ck doesn't get taken seriously because the masculine connotation is not as negative. It's not as bad to be referred to as something male.

[Snip for brevity]

My question though would be why do you give it that power? I am one of those people who do not dislike the word. I outlined the reasons why I like it. That has nothing to do with going with the flow of the conversation (not my style! ) and all to do with the fact that I will not allow someone to make me feel ashamed of my bits.

I sincerely don't see any difference in insult between c-word for a lady and c-word for a man. To me, they're both sexual organs, which we all possess in some form or other, with no inherent insult to them. I honestly don't get the level of ire the word draws from some. And yet, when I hear girls greet each other as "slut" or use it pejoratively, I balk because that to me is offensive. The c-word just doesn't have the same effect on me. So someone compared me to a vagina? So what is my reaction. I find that far less offensive than comparing me to a female dog or calling me a slapper.

I simply do not understand why people will take less offence to what, I feel, are far more derogatory words than to an old word for a vagina.

Stheno

I have pretty much always worked in very male dominated environments, and the **** word was tended to be used sparingly

In my experience it was rarely used.

It's used to express frustration wiith an individual, but no less so than damned prick, **** does have that forecefull ness though

I freely admit to using it but rarely to be honest it's gone beyond being female gentialia, more an expression of an utterly unreasonable person for me.

I'd not think of it in the context of female genitalia at all, more a complete wanker.