Swear words

I recall a little story from a friend of my mum.
This fairly well-to-do lady (but down to earth) was called in to the infants' school. Her son had been misbehaving and to cap it all, said to the teacher, "Bosoms to you!"
She had no idea where he could have heard this phrase and had to purse her lips very tightly to keep a straight face. Teacher was not amused.

I try to imagine how it would sound if a five year old said these words. Cringeworthy, I think. I can't stand the word 'boob' as to me it sounds childish and I also dislike the phrase, 'it sucks'. I sometimes say shite.
If I'm annoyed (I'm short tempered when things misbehave, or I lose my phone) and can't be overheard I regularly use much, much worse language.

Rascal......Hats off to you. You have my profound admiration and respect. The swearing practice has certainly been well aired today and not particularly commendably. Who needs it really? My Mum used to say it was either for the inarticulate (of which there are very few here) or the uncontrolled. Who knows. Not particularly nice methinks. 'Nuff sed'

Funny, I thought 'shite' was a disguised version of shit?

Don't like "shite" but I do say "shit", boobs - wouldn't say that's a swear word, never use sucks though. I do use "bloody" & bugger".

Living on my own I do let rip at times, relieves the stress when things go wrong.

I do have to be careful around DGS though. When DD was about 4 I was driving & some idiot motorist did something stupid, I said "bloody idiot" & DD told me off saying "Mummy that's a naughty word"

I suppose Im a prude, having read other responses. I try never to swear or even think the words. I do say blimey though! Yes i would find 'excremwnt' or any word for it offensive except in correct context! I never had a problem with correct biological words though there was a sharp intake of breath when i said vagina whennteaching tge reproductve system. I very much dislike slang words like dick, prick, fanny but accept willy and poo as the GC have been taught them!

I would never use shit or shite- ifind them quite offensive. As is 'crap' which i used to hear a lot at work. The other two words arent very polite but not swearing. I have never used the f word or the c word in my life.
The worst i say is 'damn', 'god' or 'for gods sake' only when very provoked. I hate hearing people say Jesus 'Christ in that way.
I tend to use words like flipping heck, knickers etc! DH says bloody hell when very provoked but i tell him off as i dont like it!!

The funny thing is that most of these words are acceptable in Scrabble, and our group do not hesitate to use them (even the "c" word!)

Funny you should say that Bella because I was with a friend of mine recently when a woman in our group referred to a man, who'd done something appalling apparently as "a twat". My friend stepped in and said that she had no problem with calling the man with whatever name was required, but she took serious umbrage with using female genitalia to insult someone and, in those circumstances, referring to the male genitalia would be more appropriate. I was ! But she's right!

Bellanonna. I was thinking that, somehow 'prick' seems to have some humour whereas the C word is just nasty and violent.

I too say "oh sugar" to avoid saying shit. I try never to swear even under my breath anywhere near the GC. I wouldn't ever use shite, though when we lived in Liverpool I heard people referred to as gobshites and gulls referred to as shite hawks. I inadvertently referred to a newspaper article as a load of crap, only to hear my GD tell her mum "Grandma said a swear word, she said rap with a c at the front."

I have never used, and hate to hear, the C word. However, aren't the words prick and dick identical except for being male? Men can be referred to as pricks but it doesn't have the same derogatory value as the female equivalent. I wonder why this is?

I hate the word shite but it is quite common (no pun intended!) in Ireland (my homeland). The other two aren't swear words I don't think. Like "posh French ladies" i favour merde but do resort to shit in private! I object very strongly to blasphemy.

None are swearing as far as I can see.
Personally I don't say shite as it would feel as if I'm claiming to be Celtic, as would feck. They need the right accent. Disappointingly my DNA (done for the family tree) showed zero Irish! Shite is very common on Mumsnet.
So is suck it up which I don't particularly like although I sometimes say 'that sucks'.

BOOBS?? Swearing??? Someone is having a laugh, surely? I can't see what's wrong with 'breasts', if you can't manage it there's 'bosom' or even 'embonpoint'! 'Tits' sounds like a male Sun reader, 'jugs' Elizabethan, and 'girls' and 'puppies' just sooo twee.
Has anyone, ever, heard boobs as a swear word except maybe from a confused 3 year old?

F word is swearing to me but C word usually derogatory to women so unpleasant to hear.

I never swore until I met very posh girls at nursing school in London in the 60s
My kids call me potty mouth and as 2 live in the US, I have to be very pc when visiting;

I'm really surprised that so many people don't like shite and wonder if they feel as strongly about shit in particular but also crap, dung, poo, excrement, etc. So, if I were annoyed about something and said "Oh, shite excrement!" would you dislike it as much?

A German friend of mine was amazed when she discovered how much people dislike the word shit/e in Britain. She says Germans say Scheisse all the time and it's a 'nothing' word as far as offensiveness is concerned.

to swear or not to swear? Is that the question? I can remember my father's horror when I first used the f word. He being the avid user of "bugger" which apparently was fine as he was a man, but as women we were not allowed to swear - but I admit to just LOVING to shock on the odd occassion. Now, however, I'm totally forbidden to swear because I take care of my grandaughter twice a week! I can remember inventing swear words when at school (catholic convent grammar!0 with my best friend. I remember that "hairs on men's legs" had been our favourite!

Respectable French ladies say "merde".

I don't take offence when I hear my son refer to something as being a load of shite, but I would be offended if he said it was a load of shit?
The C word is altogether different and I hate to hear it used.
Last weekend my 5 year DG pulled down the top of her shirt and showed me her boobies, she did it a few times in quick succession and we both collapsed in giggles.
Sucks is not a swear word.

Well they might sweat but not swear!!

While my husband can swear with his male friends (the f word etc) he never swears in front of our sons who are in their 30's or ladies - old school in some respects. They roar laughing when in front of them he says whoops a daisy instead of swearing! By the same token they don't sweat in front of us either. Guilty of using bugger when something goes wrong. Do not like the C word at all..

I think this might be a regional thing - my Scottish and Irish friends say 'shite' is quite acceptable, English friends think it's much ruder than 'shit'.

I am known for saying "pigs" instead of swearing. Works for me ?
Don't like "shite"

I love our language in all its forms. Swearing is part of my dialog, it doesn't define me as a bad person.
Each to their own though...... I think shite is used quite heavily in Scotland ☺

How times change. In the late sixties my brother moved to London. When he came home for a visit he used the word "pregnant". There were blushes all round. In our house we said "expecting"! Another example, my very religious aunt used to say she'd done "duck all" that day. She had no idea that "duck" for a substitute for the "f" word.