Discriminatory and offensive language, taboo words and swear words

The words and expressions described in this entry are generally offensive: their use can upset or insult people. They are included here because they are elements of English, and it is not the job of a usage guide to conceal aspects of the language. However, students should realise that if they use language of this kind, they are liable to offend and upset the people they are talking to. They are also likely to give their listeners or readers the impression that they are insensitive, prejudiced, intolerant, uneducated or worse.

False generics

One kind of discriminatory language involves ‘false generics’ – words that suggest that all people in a certain category, are, for example, exclusively male or female. Talking in general about ‘firemen’, for instance, implies that all firefighters are men, which is clearly not the case. Some examples:

false generics	inclusive language
ambulance men	ambulance staff, paramedics
chairman	chair, chairperson
cleaning lady	cleaner
fireman	firefighter
foreman	supervisor
mailman (AmE)	mail carrier (AmE)
male/female (on a form)	male / female / prefer not to say
man-hours	staff hours
man-made	synthetic, manufactured
man, mankind	humanity, the human race
manning	staffing
manpower	human resources, employees
policeman/men	police officer(s)
postman/men (BrE)	postal worker(s) (BrE)
steward/stewardess	flight attendant
waiters/waitresses	restaurant staff, servers

False generics are falling out of use in English, even to speak about individuals – so an individual fireman might well be described in a news report as a ‘firefighter’.

A similar way of discriminating is to use a word or expression that is acceptable in one context, but that makes a person or an experience sound less serious or important. For example, a man’s calling women he works with ‘the girls in the office’ is different from calling female children ‘girls’. Talking about a ’salesgirl’ instead of a shop assistant (BrE) or salesperson (AmE) is thus discriminatory in two ways at once.

Offensive language

Other words and expressions are used to discriminate against particular groups – to present them as inferior or undesirable in one way or another. Common targets of discriminatory language are disability status, gender, sexual orientation, nationality and ethnicity. In some cases the offensive use of a term may be accidental – a speaker may not realise, for example, that disabled people prefer not to be called ‘handicapped’. (Preferred words and expressions can change over time; to find out what term a group itself prefers, check on the internet.) At the other extreme, words like dyke or nigger are clearly only normally used to be deliberately offensive. Some examples:

offensive term	preferred alternative
cripple, handicapped person	disabled person, person with a disability
mental handicap	mental/learning disability
retarded, mentally handicapped	having learning difficulties / a mental/learning disability
disturbed, mad, crazy, nuts	having a mental illness / health problem / health condition
homo, queer	gay
dyke, lezzie, lezzo	lesbian, gay woman
fag, faggot (AmE)	gay man
sex change	gender reassignment
transsexual, trannie	transgender person, trans person
Chink	Chinese person
dago	Spanish, Italian Portuguese person
Frog	Frenchman/woman
gyppo, pikey	Roma, traveller (or Gypsy)
Jap	Japanese
Kraut	German
nigger	black person (BrE), African-American (AmE)
Paki	Pakistani
Polack (AmE)	Pole
spic (AmE)	Latin-American
wog	Middle-Eastern person
wop	Italian
yid (AmE), kike (AmE)	Jew

When a neutral term is widely used to discriminate, it may come to be felt as offensive, leading to its rejection. This has happened with Negro (replaced by black or African-American), Eskimo (replaced by Inuit), handicapped (replaced by disabled) and Mongol/Mongoloid/Mongolism (replaced by (having) Down’s syndrome). Some Roma people now also regard Gypsy as offensive.

Note that it may sometimes be acceptable for members of a group to call one another, for example, ‘dyke’ or ‘nigger’. But of course it is not at all acceptable for people outside the group to use the word.

Taboo words

Many languages have words which are considered dangerous, holy, magic or shocking, and which are only used in certain situations or by certain people. For instance, in some African tribes the names of dead chiefs must not be said; in many cultures, words associated with religious beliefs are used only on religious occasions, or only by priests. Words of this kind can be called ‘taboo words’.

English has three main groups of taboo words and expressions:

1. A number of words connected with the Christian religion (e.g. the names Christ, God) are considered holy by some people. These people prefer to use such words only in formal and respectful contexts, and they may be upset or shocked by their ‘careless’ use.
2. Certain words relating to sexual activity and the associated parts of the body (e.g. fuck, balls) are regarded as shocking by many people. Half a century or so ago some of these words could not be printed or broadcast, and they are still comparatively unusual in public speech and writing. In polite or formal language these words are generally avoided, or replaced by other words and expressions (e.g. make love or have sexual intercourse, testicles).
3. Some words referring to the elimination of bodily wastes (what one does in the toilet), and the associated parts of the body, are also regarded as ‘dirty’ or shocking (e.g. piss, shit). They are often replaced by more ‘polite’ words and expressions with the same meaning (e.g. urinate, defecate) or by substitutes (e.g. go to the toilet, go to the bathroom (especially AmE), wash one’s hands).

Linguistic taboos in English-speaking countries are much less strong than they used to be. Most taboo words shock less than they did, say, twenty years ago. And increasingly, people are using informal taboo words which are felt to be amusingly ‘naughty’ rather than shocking, such as shag, screw or bonk instead of fuck, or willy instead of prick (= ‘penis’).

Nonetheless, students should be very careful about using taboo words. There are two reasons for this. First of all, it is not easy to know the exact strength of these expressions in a foreign language, or to know what kind of people are shocked by them, and in what circumstances. One may easily say something that is meant as a joke, but which seriously upsets the people one is talking to. And secondly, using this sort of language generally indicates membership of a group: one most often uses it in the company of people one knows well, who belong to one’s own social circle, age group, etc. (Children usually avoid using taboo language in front of adults so as not to annoy or shock them, and adults act similarly in front of children for similar reasons.) So a foreigner who uses swear words may give the impression of claiming membership of a group that he or she does not belong to.

Examples of taboo words

The following are some of the most common English taboo words, with explanations of their literal meanings where necessary. Their approximate ‘strength’ is shown by stars: one-star words like hell, damn or blast (which are scarcely taboo in modern English) will not upset many people, while a three-star word may be very shocking if it is used in the wrong situation. Note, however, that individual reactions to particular words (and to swearing in general) vary enormously, and that attitudes are changing rapidly (and generally becoming more tolerant of this kind of language). So people of different ages and backgrounds are likely to disagree a good deal about the strength of the words listed.

The words associated with religion are not considered shocking when used with their literal meaning, and the stars show their strength when used as swear words. The strength of the other words is mostly the same whether they are used literally or for swearing.

Religion

taboo word	meaning
damn	condemn to hell (rare in literal sense; mainly used as swear word)
blast (BrE)	strike with divine punishment (rare in literal sense; mainly used as swear word)
hell
God
Jesus *
Christ *

(Damn, blast and hell have lost most of their strength, and are scarcely regarded as swear words by most people in modern English. Hell and blast are no longer very common.)

Parts of the body

taboo word	meaning
arse ** (AmE ass **)	bottom, buttocks, anus
arsehole ** (AmE asshole *)	anus
balls **	testicles
bollocks ** (BrE)	testicles
cock **	penis
dick **	penis
prick **	penis
tits **	breasts
cunt ***	woman’s sex organs
twat **	woman’s sex organs (rare)

Sexual activity

taboo word	meaning
fuck **	have sex (with)
wank ** (AmE jerk off **)	masturbate (have sex with oneself)
bugger ** (BrE)	have anal intercourse with a person or animal; person who does so (rare in literal sense)
come *	reach a sexual climax (orgasm)
sod * (BrE)	homosexual (abbreviation of sodomite; rare in literal sense)
bitch *	female dog; earlier used for ‘immoral’ woman
whore **	prostitute
bastard *	child of unmarried parents

Toilet

taboo word	meaning
piss **	urine; urinate
shit **	excrement; defecate
crap *	excrement; defecate
fart *	(let out) digestive gas out from the anus

Swear words

Because taboo words are shocking, they are common in situations where people wish to express powerful emotions by using ‘strong’ language. This is called ‘swearing’. When people swear, taboo words usually change their meaning completely. For example, fuck off and piss off have nothing to do with sex or urinating; they are simply violently rude ways of saying ‘go away’. The strength of the original taboo word is borrowed for a different purpose. Compare:

• What are you doing fucking in my bed? (= Why are you making love in my bed? – literal meaning of fucking)
• What are you fucking doing in my bed? (= Why on earth are you in my bed? – fucking used as a swear word)

The meaning of a swear word can also change with its grammatical form. For instance, piss off is an aggressive way of saying go away; pissed is British slang for drunk (and American for angry); pissed off is British slang for fed up. Many swear words are grammatically very flexible. Fucking, for example, can act both as an adjective (e.g. fucking idiot) and as an intensifying adverb (e.g. fucking good, fucking soon, it’s fucking raining, fucking well shut up). It is even sometimes put into the middle of another word (abso-fucking-lutely). Swear words are the only words in the language that have this grammatical range.

The following list shows some of the most common expressions used in swearing; they are grouped according to meaning.

Exclamation of annoyance

• Damn (it)!
• Blast (it)! (BrE)
• God damn it!
• God damn! (especially AmE)
• Hell!
• (My) God!
• Jesus!
• Christ!
• Jesus Christ!
• Bugger (it)! (BrE)
• Sod (it)! (BrE)
• Shit!
• Fuck (it)!

Examples of use:

• Damn it! Can’t you hurry up?
• Christ! It’s raining again!
• Oh, fuck! I’ve lost the address!

Exclamation of surprise

• (Oh) (My) God!
• Jesus!
• Christ!
• Jesus Christ!
• God damn! (especially AmE)
• Well, I’ll be damned!
• Son of a bitch! (especially AmE)
• Damn me!
• Bugger/Fuck me! (BrE)
• Well, I’m damned/buggered! (BrE)
• Holy shit! (AmE)
• What the fuck!

Examples of use:

• My God! Look at that!
• Well, I’m damned! What are you doing here?
• Bugger me! There’s Mrs Smith. I thought she was in Dublin.

Surprised question

Who/What/Why, etc the hell …? (AmE also … in hell …?)

Who/What/Why, etc the fuck …?

Examples of use:

• What the hell do you think you’re doing?
• Where the fuck are the car keys?

Insult (noun)

Note that these nouns generally have no real meaning. They simply express a strong emotion such as hatred, anger, envy or contempt.

• bastard
• fart
• prick
• fucker
• cunt
• shit
• sod (BrE)
• bugger (BrE)
• wanker (BrE)
• twat (= idiot)
• bitch (applied to women)
• son of a bitch (AmE)
• arsehole (AmE asshole)
• motherfucker (AmE)
• cocksucker (AmE)
• (stupid) fuck (especially AmE)
• dickhead (= idiot)

Examples of use:

• You bastard!
• Stupid old fart!
• He’s a real prick!
• Stupid fucker!
• Lucky sod!
• She’s such a bitch!
• That guy’s a real asshole!
• Stupid twat!

Insult (imperative verb + object)

• Damn …!
• Bugger …! (BrE)
• Blast …! (BrE)
• Fuck …!
• Sod …! (BrE)
• Screw …!

Examples of use:

• Damn that child!
• Fuck you!
• Screw the government!

Insulting request to go away

• Fuck off!
• Piss off!
• Bugger off! (BrE)
• Sod off! (BrE)

Examples of use:

• ‘Can I have a word with you?’ ‘Fuck off!’
• If Andy comes asking for money, tell him to piss off.

Expression of unconcern (= ‘I don’t care’)

I don’t/couldn’t give a damn/shit/fuck.

Examples of use:

• They can come and arrest me if they want to. I don’t give a damn.
• ‘Emily’s very angry with you.’ ‘I don’t give a flying fuck.’

Violent refusal/rejection/defiance

• (I’ll be) damned/fucked if I will!
• … buggered if I will! (BrE)
• Stuff it (up your arse/ass)!
• Get stuffed! (BrE)
• Balls!
• Balls to …! (BrE)
• Bollocks! (BrE)
• Kiss my arse/ass!

Examples of use:

• ‘Mr Parsons wants you to clean out the lavatories.’ ‘Fucked if I will!’
• ‘Management are offering another £8 a week.’ ‘They can stuff it.’
• ‘Give me a kiss.’ ‘Get stuffed!’
• ‘You’re afraid to fight.’ ‘Balls!’
• Bollocks to the lot of you! I’m going home.

Intensifying adjective/adverb (used to emphasise an emotion)

• damn(ed)
• bloody (BrE)
• goddam (AmE)
• sodding (BrE)
• fucking
• motherfucking (AmE)

Bloody has no literal taboo equivalent in modern English. It is derived from the old religious exclamation By Our Lady!

Examples of use:

• That car’s going damn(ed) fast.
• Where’s the bloody switch?
• She’s a fucking marvellous singer.
• Put the fucking cat out!
• It’s bloody raining again.

When these words are used before verbs, the word well is often added in British English.

• I damn well hope you never come back.
• I’m not fucking well paying this time.
• It’s bloody well raining again.

Miscellaneous

Fuck (up), screw (up) and bugger (up) (BrE) can mean ‘ruin’, ‘spoil’ or ‘destroy’.

• Somebody’s fucked up the TV.
• You’ve buggered my watch.

Fucked and buggered can mean ‘exhausted’ (BrE).

• ‘Want another game of tennis?’ ‘No, I’m fucked.’

Screw (especially AmE) can mean ‘cheat’.

• Don’t buy a car from that garage – they’ll screw you.

Cock up (BrE), balls up (BrE), fuck up and screw up can be used as verbs or nouns to refer to mistakes of organisation. (When used as nouns, they are often written with hyphens.)

• That bloody secretary’s cocked up my travel arrangements.
• Sorry you didn’t get your invitation – Emily made a balls-up.
• The conference was a complete fuck-up.
• Well, we really screwed up this time, didn’t we?

Balls (BrE), bullshit, horseshit (AmE), cock and crap are used to mean ‘nonsense’.

• ‘What’s his new book like?’ ‘A load of balls.’
• Don’t talk crap!

In American English, shit can mean ‘lies’ or ‘nothing’.

• ‘Janie’s getting married.’ ‘No shit?’
• He don’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. He don’t know shit.

Bugger/fuck/damn/sod all are used in British English to mean ‘nothing’.

• There’s fuck all in the fridge. We’ll have to eat out.

In British English, pissed means ‘drunk’ and pissed off means ‘fed up’.

• Josh was pissed out of his mind again last night.
• I’m getting pissed off with London.

In American English, pissed (off) is ‘annoyed’, ‘angry’.

• I’m pissed at him because of what he’s been saying about me.

A sod of a … (BrE) means ‘a very bad …’

• It was a sod of an exam.
• It’s a sod of a place to get to.

note

For information about slang, (see here).