The League Of Sweariest Nations

Very Bored · 10-09-2015 5:18pm #1

In a chat with an Englishwoman today the topic of nations that swear a lot came up. Now I said that in Ireland we tend to curse a lot more than people in the UK and that it sounds a lot less aggressive when we do. She was shocked and could only hazard a guess that it was because of Father Ted whereas I would think its because, in Ireland, we tend to curse about things whilst in the UK they tend to direct their swearing at people. I understand that this is a gross generalisation before someone points it out because there are lots of Irish people who object to cursing and plenty of Brits who swear gratuitously. But it got me thinking, which nationalities swear a lot? I know, for example, that Italians tend to and that they tend to curse a lot and that they do it in the way I suggested Irish people do, about things rather than at people. In fact its perhaps harder to swear directly at someone in Italian as there are fewer ways to do it whilst there are innumerate ways to swear about things. I also get a feeling that the Polish tend to curse a lot but I'm not as sure as I am with Italians. I also wonder whether there is a reason why some nationalities tend to do so more than others.

osarusan · 10-09-2015 5:21pm

I worked with a New Zealand girl who said she's never heard anybody swear as much as me and the other Irish lad.

It made us proud.

Very Bored · 10-09-2015 5:28pm

Dead on osarusan, f**ky ar la!!!

MadMardegan · 10-09-2015 5:32pm

I'm Irish and would consider us a nation who swears a lot.

Having said that, I'm living in rural Australia at the moment and the lads I work with swear an extraordinary amount. Didn't notice it so much when I was living in Sydney but the difference out here is huge.

10-09-2015 5:34pm

Its one of my pet hates, cant stand listing to anyone for whom every second word is f**k.

The_Valeyard · 10-09-2015 5:39pm

People who do not curse are robot zombies

kfallon · 10-09-2015 5:42pm

I curse like a sailor

I prob bring up the national average on the use of the word cúnt!

Tarzana2 · 10-09-2015 5:47pm

A well-placed swear word is a beautiful thing.

Very Bored · 10-09-2015 5:50pm

I have to side with mariaalice on this. I would consider myself someone who swears quite frequently but I don't like it either when its completely gratuitous. I think the way Billy Connolly swears, for example, is fine whereas I switched Ted off when I watched it because I found it off-putting. That f**k you thunder song was just unnecessary and unfunny in my opinion. That said, I find it parsimonious when people have a complete aversion to cursing, particularly when they act like nazis by putting their desire to not hear any bad words over someone's desire to use it. I mean do they think they will turn into dust in a big puff if they hear the word f**k?

Sudance · 10-09-2015 5:53pm

I had similar conversations with lots and lots of english people. It was usually prompted by the fact that I never swore at all, and they were always amazed because every irish person they knew swore like a trooper. I would point out it rarely if ever did. The exception being that I would have to be extremely angry, and as you said about typical irish style of swearing, it would be targeted at some inanimate target. Nor did my kids swear ever.

We moved home! Sweet Jesus! My kids now swear like troopers and they've even infected me with it. I swear to God it's like an infectious airborne disease. Nobody has a bad influence on me the way my own kids seem to have done lol....

Annasopra · 10-09-2015 6:00pm

Where I work we have an appropriate language policy. I find it very very difficult to abide by the policy.

Arsemageddon · 10-09-2015 6:03pm

Germans use the word scheisse so much it can become painful to listen to. Scheisse this and scheisse that.

Anthropologist Alan Dundes wrote a book in the 80s called Life is Like a Chicken Coop Ladder the basic thrust of which is that ze Germans are so clean and orderly in there everyday life that they are all have anal fixations and are secretly fascinated by poop.

Make of that what you will.

Mesrine65 · 10-09-2015 6:04pm

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Where I work we have an appropriate language policy.

We do too...fuck that

Very Bored · 10-09-2015 6:06pm

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Where I work we have an appropriate language policy. I find it very very difficult to abide by the policy.

I worked in a place that had that too... the fact I speak Italian and am equally sweary in Italian came in useful... if I said "who the f**k did this" I was liable to getting scolded, if I said "chi c*zzo ha fatto questo" not so much

Very Bored · 10-09-2015 6:11pm

Arsemageddon wrote: »

Germans use the word scheisse so much it can become painful to listen to. Scheisse this and scheisse that.

Anthropologist Alan Dundes wrote a book in the 80s called Life is Like a Chicken Coop Ladder the basic thrust of which is that ze Germans are so clean and orderly in there everyday life that they are all have anal fixations and are secretly fascinated by poop.

Make of that what you will.

I wonder if that's why schwein is also used as a swear word in Germany, with a schwein being a typically messy animal... I was in Germany a few years ago and it was f**king freezing, all the Germans were saying "es ist schweinkalt"... interestingly though the Italians would tend to say "fa un freddo bestiale" (its bestially cold) so perhaps the Germans aren't the only ones with a fixation on temperatures and animals.

Eugene Norman · 10-09-2015 6:16pm

Very Bored wrote: »

In a chat with an Englishwoman today the topic of nations that swear a lot came up. Now I said that in Ireland we tend to curse a lot more than people in the UK and that it sounds a lot less aggressive when we do. She was shocked and could only hazard a guess that it was because of Father Ted whereas I would think its because, in Ireland, we tend to curse about things whilst in the UK they tend to direct their swearing at people. I understand that this is a gross generalisation before someone points it out because there are lots of Irish people who object to cursing and plenty of Brits who swear gratuitously. But it got me thinking, which nationalities swear a lot? I know, for example, that Italians tend to and that they tend to curse a lot and that they do it in the way I suggested Irish people do, about things rather than at people. In fact its perhaps harder to swear directly at someone in Italian as there are fewer ways to do it whilst there are innumerate ways to swear about things. I also get a feeling that the Polish tend to curse a lot but I'm not as sure as I am with Italians. I also wonder whether there is a reason why some nationalities tend to do so more than others.

That's fairly astute I think. I don't like the Irish sweary culture but the English can, because of its relative rarity, use it to greater effect.

I use the f word more than the English but it's generally with reason as something I dislike ( this f**ing weather) but there's a class of Irishman to which it is an adverb or adjective in all sentences.

I f**ing walked into this f**ing restaurant and f**ing ate the the most f**ing amazing breakfast. The f**ing sausages and rashers were f**ing amazing.

Very Bored · 10-09-2015 6:36pm

Eugene Norman wrote: »

That's fairly astute I think. I don't like the Irish sweary culture but the English can, because of its relative rarity, use it to greater effect.

I use the f word more than the English but it's generally with reason as something I dislike ( this f**ing weather) but there's a class of Irishman to which it is an adverb or adjective in all sentences.

I f**ing walked into this f**ing restaurant and f**ing ate the the most f**ing amazing breakfast. The f**ing sausages and rashers were f**ing amazing.

In fairness you get guttermouths both in Ireland and in the UK and generally in both cases they are doing it for effect but end up looking stupid.

However, using it appropriately is no bad thing. In fact, both my parents can be a bit parsimonious about it, my father more so who often tells me its unnecessary and a sign of a weak vocabularly. I usually respond by saying both Stephen Fry and John Cleese use it and I wouldn't feel particularly upset if someone considered that I had a similar level of vocabulary to either of them.

In fact there is a great video with Stephen Fry, which I won't link to here because it does contain bad language which can be found by googling youtube stephen fry swearing. Equally Billy Connolly on swearing is worth a watch.

Mint Aero · 10-09-2015 7:57pm

F*ckin f*ckin d'ya nah? F*ckin basterin thing of a yoke.

DEFTLEFTHAND · 10-09-2015 7:57pm

osarusan wrote: »

I worked with a New Zealand girl who said she's never heard anybody swear as much as me and the other Irish lad.

It made us proud.

Why would that make you proud?

Sunnyisland · 10-09-2015 8:01pm

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Why would that make you proud?

Feck of you.

Summer wind · 10-09-2015 8:04pm

It's great stress relief to shout f*ck now and then.

Reiver · 10-09-2015 8:13pm

Kurwa.

RayM · 10-09-2015 8:21pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJMqdTr7IQM

Very Bored · 10-09-2015 8:22pm

Reiver wrote: »

Kurwa.

Reminds me of a time in a café in Dublin, I was with an Italian friend and was talking to him about a recent match I'd been to and how I had been in Curva Nord (Inter's diehard end) and there were these two dear old Polish ladies who every time I said Curva looked at me shocked... was it wicked of me that I deliberately kept saying it to get a reaction

?

whupdedo · 10-09-2015 8:24pm

Theirs nothing funnier than hearing a child curse

Very Bored · 10-09-2015 8:27pm

whupdedo wrote: »

Theirs nothing funnier than hearing a child curse

Especially when they don't know how to... my neighbours and I were having a water fight a few weeks ago, adults and children included, and I soaked, now I mean drenched, my nextdoor neighbour's seven year old from my upstairs window (I was leaning out of the window throwing water out of it)... he looked up at me and shouted "aaaaarggggghhhh, you basthead"... I nearly ate the carpet.

10-09-2015 8:41pm

Tarzana2 wrote: »

A well-placed swear word is a beautiful thing.

And that's the key to full-impact swearing imo.

Using a curse as every other word in everyday conversation ruins the impact of swearing, it's meaningless when all language is machine-gun pocked with profanity.

When it's reserved for the occasions that really call for the big guns, it can be used to devastating effect.

People who are very precious about it are irritating in the opposite extreme.

Very Bored · 10-09-2015 9:03pm

I think the award for most schizophrenic swearing nation has to go to America though. The Americans swear so much I thought the first words to Star Spangled Banner were "Oh, goddamn you see, by the motherf*cking light..." Yet if you say boob on American TV, the censors go insane.

Son Of A Vidic · 10-09-2015 9:16pm

When I worked in London I was once complimented on my swearing by my colleagues. The general view was, my English colleagues tended to swear in an aggressive & confrontational manner. I was told that I had a poetic & artistic quality to my swearing. Which almost had a musical lilt to it and was regarded as being very entertaining and completely non-threatening.

Eugene Norman · 10-09-2015 10:57pm

Very Bored wrote: »

I think the award for most schizophrenic swearing nation has to go to America though. The Americans swear so much I thought the first words to Star Spangled Banner were "Oh, goddamn you see, by the motherf*cking light..." Yet if you say boob on American TV, the censors go insane.

They don't really swear in real life either. Maybe certain sub cultures.

TomBtheGoat · 10-09-2015 11:01pm

Eugene Norman wrote: »

They don't really swear in real life either. Maybe certain sub cultures.

Live in America for a few year and you will be enlightened.

Tarzana2 · 10-09-2015 11:31pm

Candie wrote: »

People who are very precious about it are irritating in the opposite extreme.

And I hate when swearing is equated with a lack of intelligence.

Eugene Norman · 10-09-2015 11:37pm

TomBtheGoat wrote: »

Live in America for a few year and you will be enlightened.

I have. They didn't swear.

Dick phelan · 10-09-2015 11:47pm

Swear words when used in a good context are very fun to use, i think when someone uses them in every second sentence they loose meaning.

Very Bored · 11-09-2015 7:57am

Eugene Norman wrote: »

They don't really swear in real life either. Maybe certain sub cultures.

There seems to be a big divide between those I've met... there's those who think saying "oh, shoot" is risque and then there are those who literally communicate to each other through use of obscenities.

whisky_galore · 11-09-2015 8:05am

In Australia the ladyfolk have no probs letting rip with the C-word, something you don't witness much here.

vandriver · 11-09-2015 8:05am

Dick phelan wrote: »

Swear words when used in a good context are very fun to use, i think when someone uses them in every second sentence they loose meaning.

It f@#king grinds my f@#king gears when someone can't f@#king spell lose.
Aah,glad that's off my chest.

BattleCorp · 11-09-2015 8:11am

whupdedo wrote: »

Theirs nothing funnier than hearing a child curse

Dunno about that. The guy slipping on the ice a few years ago while RTE news was filming is hard to beat.

Very Bored · 11-09-2015 9:25am

Whisky galore, that's interesting. To be honest I've never understood why so many people get so hung up about the word c**t. I think it was Stephen Fry, though it could have been Billy Connolly, who pointed out that all the words which describe truly horrific and offensive things in English are not viewed as obscene whereas many of the words which mean things which give pleasure are. I have never understood the categorising of c**t as worse than f**k or c**k for example. I have heard people say that women don't like it because it doesn't sound nice but then neither do the other two I cited, they are all tonally harsh. If they have an aversion to it because of what it means then they shouldn't use c**k or d**k either because were a man to behave in the opposite way he would very quickly be accused of being chauvinistic. Its beyond me why it is so offensive. Though, all that said, it is useful in its offensivity in that its useful as a f-bomb if used effectively. For example, if I find someone an irritant I'll describe them as a d**k or a p***k, whereas if there is someone I find absolutely despicable I will use the word c**t which leaves no-one under any illusions what I think about that person.

11-09-2015 9:36am

whisky_galore wrote: »

In Australia the ladyfolk have no probs letting rip with the C-word, something you don't witness much here.

I never understood the hate for cunt. To me it's no different to any other swearword.

Aglomerado · 11-09-2015 9:57am

Very Bored wrote: »

Reminds me of a time in a café in Dublin, I was with an Italian friend and was talking to him about a recent match I'd been to and how I had been in Curva Nord (Inter's diehard end) and there were these two dear old Polish ladies who every time I said Curva looked at me shocked... was it wicked of me that I deliberately kept saying it to get a reaction ?

I shared a house with a few other girls about 10 years ago. One of them was Polish. Another housemate used to go to the ladies' gym "Curves" a couple of times a week, hysterical laughter from the Polish girl every time this was mentioned!

I LOVE swearing. And because I'm so quiet and reserved normally, it really shocks some people when I come out with a loud "FÚCK".

Part of the pleasure of swearing is seeing others' reactions.

Kermit.de.frog · 11-09-2015 10:00am

"Have you got a fuc!in smoke on yeh, have yeh?"

Randomer making a request on O'Connell St yesterday, 2:15 pm. Lovely. The smoke was not forthcoming.

whisky_galore · 11-09-2015 10:01am

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

"Have you got a fuc!in smoke on yeh, have yeh?"

Randomer making a request on O'Connell St yesterday, 2:15 pm. Lovely. The smoke was not forthcoming.

Well that's just rude..."May I have a fcuking smoke, please?" would be better.

x43r0 · 11-09-2015 10:05am

When I moved over to London I noticed quickly that I needed to tone down my swearing in the workplace quite a bit. I didn't really mind for the most part but was surprised how much the word cúnt is frowned upon

Recently I've gotten a new manager who happens to be Scottish and is much looser with this kind of thing.

Between the two of us we have been cúnting the whole office out over the past few weeks

Great craic

Very Bored · 11-09-2015 10:29am

Was it a woman who asked you kermit and if so was she good looking? I suspect the answer to both is a firm negative but if by chance it was you could have responded you can have a f**kin schmoke if I can have a schmokin f**k.

Badly Drunk Boy · 11-09-2015 10:37am

The_Valeyard wrote: »

People who do not curse are robot zombies

I'm a robot zombie (but that's been known since I entered this world). I don't curse but have no problem with others doing in so long as it isn't inappropriate to the situation, isn't excessive, and isn't being used to hurt somebody in a nasty way.

whisky_galore · 11-09-2015 10:47am

Very Bored wrote: »

Whisky galore, that's interesting. To be honest I've never understood why so many people get so hung up about the word c**t.

There was places called Gropec*nt Lane etc in England at one time, but they got renamed when the C-word fell from favour.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/01/26/someones-launched-a-petition-to-bring-back-gropecnt-lane-to-uk-streets-5036895/

Arsemageddon · 11-09-2015 3:38pm

whisky_galore wrote: »

There was places called Gropec*nt Lane etc in England at one time, but they got renamed when the C-word fell from favour.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/01/26/someones-launched-a-petition-to-bring-back-gropecnt-lane-to-uk-streets-5036895/

Gropecvnt Lane was a fairly common name for a red light district back in ye olde medieval times.

There was once a street called Gropecvnt Lane just off O'Connell Street.

Very Bored · 11-09-2015 4:59pm

Yeah, Gropec**t Lane used to be used when streets took their names from the type of trade which took place there. Still to this day there are a lot of streets in the City of London which have names based on that system. Pity they changed the obscene ones, would be funny to see a royal procession on BBC TV with David Dimbleby voicing the route, "now, as her majesty's carriage makes its way through the crowded City of London streets they turn up Gropec**t Lane before making their final journey back to the palace".

toptom · 11-09-2015 5:08pm

Eugene Norman wrote: »

They don't really swear in real life either. Maybe certain sub cultures.

The blacks and their c/rap music. people who can't stop with the auld cursing want to see a doctor for themselves or go to Ballinasloe and get the nerves checked out.

Royale with Cheese · 11-09-2015 5:26pm

The only thing that irritates me more than people who are overly precious about swearing are people who swear as much as they want but think hearing the word cúnt is one of the worst atrocities a person can go through.

Someone tried telling me once it's because they hate vulgarity (despite fúck being an integral part of their vocabulary). It's a word, four letters. It's as vulgar as you want it to be, you are choosing to be offended.

The League Of Sweariest Nations

Comments