Male insults

J K Rowling's first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, was full of such expletives which, if used more sparingly, would have had more impact. What was she trying to prove? That she could write for grown-ups?

Glad I didn't read it then Anno thanks for the warning.

The Spanish use the c word fairly indiscriminately. I must admit I cringe when I see it on Mumsnet. But I quite like the odd dip into Mumsnet to see what their lives are like.

LizG you missed nothing ! in fact the copy I bought is at the bottom of the bookcase I never got past the 4th chapter total waste of money even though I got it at a reduced price.
I've always thought the "C" word very repulsive and there is no way I am a prude having worked on building site most of my working life but even those rough & ready builders would never use a word like that,how would the parents of these people react if they heard their offsprings spouting such expletives specially their mums,I know my DSs would be walking around with a ringing in their ears from where they had received a rather sharp slap from me,I'm affraid I am not politically correct when it comes to manners.

Good for you glam.

I seem to remember that J K Rowlings novel for adults sank like a lead balloon and was being remaindered with in about a month of its publication date. Possible its expletives undeleted style put people off.

She didn't get very good reviews. Her detective novel under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith was much better.

I do think the fact that people's view of the most abhorrent swear word is a slang term for the female pudenda, pudenda also meaning 'something to be ashamed of' reflects the second class status of women that some people still hang on to.

If a woman is a second class citizen then that part of her that is perceived as shameful must be the worst thing you can call someone when you want to insult them! That is why I dislike the use of c*nt as an insult.

In a way it is a word that needs reclaiming by women. I think there was a drive to do this once before but it was not very successful.

Don't you think, Penstemmon that the 'c' word is a rather ugly word in itself whereas vagina sounds quite attractive?

..

We will become desensitised surely? The more one hears a word, the less it's impact. I remember men apologising in the 60/70s if they said f..k in front of me. And I was actually quick shocked to hear it. No man would apologise now for saying f..k - Kenneth Tynan (?) opened the door to the word's acceptability. The dilution happens, I find c..t an intake of breath, offensive word, I can't imagine anyone I know using it but then again, I'd have said the same of f..k in the 60s/70s.

anno yes it is..funny how the sound of a word can be harsh or pleasing! Difficult to know how much the association impacts on the sound!
Maybe we need to think of a new and positive euphemism. I also think that male anatomy is clearer and obvious whereas female is less obvious and is more an area than an item so 'naming' is is less accurate!

Some years ago I was part of a theatre company in Cornwall and we were putting on Michael Frayn's Noises Off (The funniest play in the universe ever!) In one scene a character comes out of the audience and says "What the f**k is going on?" We had a lot of debate about whether we could use the word as it was not the sort of language our audience was accustomed to, but we kept it in and it brought the house down. The shock factor of using that one word, when the rest of the play never gets much stronger than "Oh bother" was amazing. It underlined how meaningless bad language becomes when every other word is a swear word.