UK/New Zealand/Australia folks: Language question! in one day i will organize my books good
- Dec. 4, 2020, 8:16 p.m.
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- Public
I’m gonna go ahead and NOT type this word in a public entry, but here’s my question:
The C word. Is it generally aimed at men? Women? Both genders equally?
Do you feel the insult itself has anything to do with femininity? in the way the word “p*ssy” is meant to imply a man is acting like a woman, does the C-bomb have the same vibe?
I have never asterisked a curse word before in my life, does this mean I’m an adult or that I’m old?
I GUESS I CAN BE BOTH, LOL.
Anyhoo, thank you for your insights!
OH ALSO: If you respond and I don’t know you, can you tell me what country you’re from/in? (Only if you want!) I’m interested to see if there are different connotations in different locations.
THANKS!
I guess I should also say that this is a linguistics question, not a political one! I just think language is super interesting, particularly slang.
Okay that’s enough caveats thank you and goodnight
Last updated December 04, 2020
Espoir Trouvé ⋅ December 04, 2020
C word in my view is both genders and prob more offensive to others than bitch, but less gendered in use in my view.
Espoir Trouvé ⋅ December 04, 2020 (edited December 04, 2020)
Edited
Also where are you based btw? I'm in Sydney.
Timmy™ ⋅ December 05, 2020
Language. Never thought cookie could be a term of endearment.
Serilen ⋅ December 05, 2020
I had a bit of a shock when I moved to the UK regarding the c-word. Had to adjust to the fact that it gets used at all! I think it depends on the context -- mostly when I hear it it doesn't come off as gendered (which I'm very sensitive to), more like "calling you the biggest fucking asshole there ever was just doesn't capture it, you absolute cunt". Then again, it doesn't get used much in my circle at all so perhaps we all save it for the extremes, and then I don't hear it used about a woman very often (likely because I don't see how that wouldn't be like "bitch but worse" so very gendered).
I do have friends who are Scottish and who occasionally say things like "ya wee cunt" as a term of endearment. Though actually mostly I don't hear that directly, I hear them brag about how they use the term as a positive. So, kind of meta.
Several years ago we had a distinguished American guest visiting my UK department and my boss invited her over to a dinner party at his house with his group (a common occurrence). Many cocktails were consumed, and at one point a British PhD student was telling a joke that ended on the c-word for emphasis. The guest looked pretty shocked so I immediately explained that the word wasn't quite as taboo in the UK as it is in the US. Several of my British friends air-quotes helpfully chimed in with "yes it is! It's very bad!" and I had to emphasize that in fact no it is not as bad because it is not completely forbidden in a socialise-with-coworkers setting.
Deleted user ⋅ December 05, 2020 (edited December 05, 2020)
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I'd say c-nt at least where I am is used more towards women, kind of like the word b-tch. I rarely if ever hear it used for men, usually I hear the word d-oche or a--hole or d-ck. I don't know that it's a genderized word, but I do know it's used a lot to refer to women who are b*tches. I'm in New England.
Gangleri ⋅ December 06, 2020
This just makes me think of Hamlet.