Is hell a swear word in America?

[Tuco]

I saw a Dilbert cartoon a while ago and Dilbert woke up saying - 'Am I in heck?', when he clearly meant 'Am I in hell?'. I've seen heck substituted for hell a few times in various American TV shows, so is hell a swear (cuss?) word?
Just curious.

[Ross]

iirc... "Heck" is a peculiarly Dilbertian term, though, because it's, like, the secondclass underworld. For those not really good (bad?) enough for hell, I think. It's governed by Phil, the god of insufficient light (ie. not darkness). I think he carries a spork or spoon rather than a pitchfork.

Bart Simpson was delighted with the opportunity to say "Hell" after his Sunday School class, so much so that Homer had to order him, "Stop swearing! You're not in church any more!" All of which implies that it is a naughty word in some contexts.

[citrus x paradisi]

The heck storylines in Dilbert were always among my favorites. :)

It's one of the words that parents discourage children from saying, but that kids often take up-- if only because of the frequency with which some adults use "to hell with ______" or label something as a "hell of a _______."

Thanks!

[Otto]

It can be, depending on the context in which it is used.

[Early Out]

It can be, depending on the context in which it is used.And also depending on the location. There are parts of the U.S. in which "hell" would never be used in idle conversation in polite company (other than in a specific discussion of where Satan dwells), places where fundamentalist religious beliefs run deep (the so-called Bible Belt).

[Diceman]

You might call it a very minor swear word. About on par with "damn." Not offensive, but still not something you would say in front of your mother :)

[panache45]

...not something you would say in front of your mother :)
You've obviously never met my mother!

[Mr. Moto]

Nor mine.

She'd call my two brothers or me "you son of a bitch" completely unaware of the irony.

[Jenaroph]

Please. My mother works in a junior high school. You might be surprised at what comes out of her own mouth. (Though, interestingly, not in front of the kids at school.)

[Ross]

If my junior school was anything to go by, it's the kids she's picking it up from.

[critter42]

First to the OP:
Hell can be considered a swear word - mainly when used by children who aren't aware of it's status as a cuss word, and only slightly less offensive when spelled out like "aych ee double-hockey sticks" by parents of children trying not to teach their children to have potty mouths :)

Dilbert junkie reporting for duty:
Scott Adams initially intended to have Satan make an appearance, but IIRC his editor advised that he might have issues with newspapers printing the comic if he did (especially in the bible belt), so instead of "hell", he toned it down to "heck", and as another poster mentioned, it's ruled by Phil, Prince of Insufficient Light who wields a spoon rather than a pitchfork. Phil also happens to be the brother of PHB - which actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
"7 Habits of Highly Defective People" is a great book to read to see the evolution of the main Dilbert characters (as well as a number of the supporting cast) and see Scott's comments about some of the various strips - it's kinda like listening to the audio commentary track on a DVD, but without all the annoying mousy voices.

critter42

[RiverRunner]

And also depending on the location. There are parts of the U.S. in which "hell" would never be used in idle conversation in polite company (other than in a specific discussion of where Satan dwells), places where fundamentalist religious beliefs run deep (the so-called Bible Belt).

All true enough to a point. Mainly, though, even down here it is as Otto said: the context is the most important thing, at least these days. Even in church, if a child used the word "hell" in the proper context it would probably be acceptable. I'm sure it would bug some people, but not many.


RR

[misstee]

You might call it a very minor swear word. About on par with "damn." Not offensive, but still not something you would say in front of your mother :)


I am a mother, and I do not mind my kids ( the older ones ) saying damn or hell.

[Lynn Bodoni]

Some conservative Christians consider hell to be a swear word, though they will use it when they're discussing the Undesirable Afterworld (as Early Out noted). When I was in grade school, saying "Hell" was guaranteed to get a kid in trouble. However, this was almost 40 years ago and in the Bible Belt. I don't know if kids still get in trouble for saying it.

In the SNES game The Secret of Mana, there were canine monsters called heckhounds. I always found this amusing. They were probably called hellhounds or something similar in the original Japanese, but Nintendo was VERY careful to keep its game offerings rated G or PG back in the early days.

[Enola Straight]

"Hell", like "damn", is cuss lite. ;)

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

In case you're interested, here's an earlier thread on a similar question:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=209930

[Spectre of Pithecanthropus]

You might call it a very minor swear word. About on par with "damn." Not offensive, but still not something you would say in front of your mother :)

Or again, if you were in one of the more socially conservative parts of the country where people tend to take offense at the word. I noticed that in The Far Side, Gary Larson always used lighter euphemisms such as heck, darn, dang and so on, rather than the words we vile folk of the Cities Of The Coast use. I always wondered if that was intentional in nationally syndicated comic strips, so as not offend folks in more conservative and religious areas.

[RiverRunner]

I noticed that in The Far Side, Gary Larson always used lighter euphemisms such as heck, darn, dang and so on, rather than the words we vile folk of the Cities Of The Coast use. I always wondered if that was intentional in nationally syndicated comic strips, so as not offend folks in more conservative and religious areas.

FWIW, I always thought it had the side effect of increasing the humor value of the strips. There's just something about a grizzled old cowboy saying "Dang!" that's funny to me.

RR

[asterion]

FWIW, I always thought it had the side effect of increasing the humor value of the strips. There's just something about a grizzled old cowboy saying "Dang!" that's funny to me.

RR

Same here for both The Far Side and Dilbert. There's something really funny about there being, as Ross puts it, a second-class underworld. I think of it as being stuck between the virtuous pagans and the real first layer of hell in the Inferno. More annoying than awful.

[CalMeacham]

Regarding the OP, I'd have to say that "hell" (and "damn") are definitely "swear words" in the US. Until relatively recently they avoided them on TV, and a lot of folks don't use them, and don't want their kids to use them.

Nevertheless, even Johnny Hart (who's gotten really religious over the past decade) floored me with the strip:

Caveman 1: As far as I'm concerned, you can go to heck!

Caveman 2: Where the Hell is Heck?

[vl_mungo]

On the Scale of Swears, where 1 would be something like "drat", and 10 would be "f*ck"... "hell" would be about a 3. You probably wouldn't think twice about saying it, unless in the company of the very young, very old, or very churchified. And even then...

[sinjin]

Hell no!! ;)

[kelly5078]

Americans are famously puritanical, having received our training from you Brits, Tuco. Thanks a lot! :) So, we have a whole host religious terms that were once considered quite strong swear words (hell, damn, damnation, God, Jesus Christ), and still are by some. We also have a corresponding array of pseudo-cusswords, mainly invented, I think, between the 1st and 2nd Great Fundie Upchucks, er, Great Awakenings (heck, darn, tarnation, gosh, jiminy cricket). "Hell" could still raise hackles even outside the Bible Belt 30 years ago: I once got in trouble in college in Pennsylvania for using the "h" word.

The Bible Belt is apparently expanding, in width at least, at an alarming rate, so who knows how long we'll be able to swear openly? Since major US corporations don't have a market in cursing, as they have in porn, it may not be long.

BTW, back in 7th grade, my classmates and I were amazed to find that "bloody" is a swear word in England, and one that was nasty enough to require "ruddy" as a surrogate. Nowadays, Americans use "bloody" on occasion. It has about the same intensity as "heck," though, so we never needed "ruddy." Where is it on the intensity scale in Britain these days?

Also BTW, the Word Detective (www.word-detective.com) has a write-up on "tarnation" in this month's column.

[Tenebras]

On the Scale of Swears, where 1 would be something like "drat", and 10 would be "f*ck"... "hell" would be about a 3. You probably wouldn't think twice about saying it, unless in the company of the very young, very old, or very churchified. And even then...


*'m s*rry, b*t f*ck *sn't * 10. *b*v* f*ck y** h*v*, c*rt**nly, m*th*rf*ck*r, c*cks*ck*r *nd c*nt.


-- T*n*br*s, w*rk*ng *nd*r th* *mpr*ss**n th*t v*w*ls *r* d*rt*.

[scr4]

You can learn a lot from the Simpsons:

Homer: "Oh I suppose you're going to mock me too."
Bart: "Well actually Dad I believe you."
Homer: "You do?"
Bart: "Yes I do. You seem so damn sure!"
Homer: "Thank you son. And do you think you could stop the casual swearing?"
Bart: "Hell yes!"
Homer: "That's my boy!"

[tagos]

Americans are famously puritanical, having received our training from you Brits, Tuco. Thanks a lot! :) So, we have a whole host religious terms that were once considered quite strong swear words (hell, damn, damnation, God, Jesus Christ), and still are by some. We also have a corresponding array of pseudo-cusswords, mainly invented, I think, between the 1st and 2nd Great Fundie Upchucks, er, Great Awakenings (heck, darn, tarnation, gosh, jiminy cricket). "Hell" could still raise hackles even outside the Bible Belt 30 years ago: I once got in trouble in college in Pennsylvania for using the "h" word.

The Bible Belt is apparently expanding, in width at least, at an alarming rate, so who knows how long we'll be able to swear openly? Since major US corporations don't have a market in cursing, as they have in porn, it may not be long.

BTW, back in 7th grade, my classmates and I were amazed to find that "bloody" is a swear word in England, and one that was nasty enough to require "ruddy" as a surrogate. Nowadays, Americans use "bloody" on occasion. It has about the same intensity as "heck," though, so we never needed "ruddy." Where is it on the intensity scale in Britain these days?

Also BTW, the Word Detective (www.word-detective.com) has a write-up on "tarnation" in this month's column.

Bloody is right there with hell and damn as not swear words at all anymore in my experience. Hell and damn never were in my experience and I'm 49 now. Bloody was at one time a minor one, but not anymore I think. Bloody hell is a common expression.

[minor7flat5]

Bloody is right there with hell and damn as not swear words at all anymore in my experience. Hell and damn never were in my experience and I'm 49 now. Bloody was at one time a minor one, but not anymore I think. Bloody hell is a common expression.What about "bugger!" and "bollocks!"
I worked with a fellow from Yorkshire who used those wherever I might use a low-level swear word such as hell or damn.

[tagos]

What about "bugger!" and "bollocks!"
I worked with a fellow from Yorkshire who used those wherever I might use a low-level swear word such as hell or damn.

Bugger and bollocks - same thing nowadays in the UK. Bugger was more serious than bloody but now it's just an expressive word in normal speech although it probably wouldn't be used on TV prior to the somebody-think-of-the-children 9pm watershed (8pm on satellite sub channels).

Fuck and Cunt are harsher but as far as I can see, swearing per-se has lost its shock value and has become part of normal discourse. The UK just doesn't take Christianity that seriously anymore, except in an anaemic sort of way so we don't have the Bible Belt influence. What's mainstream in the USA in this regard, seems like raving insanity in much of the UK - the whole Jackson nipple thing etc.

We have fundamentalist types but they are very much seen as a lunatic fringe if they try and impose their standards on the media.

Northern Ireland is an exception of course - but just illustrates the gulf between Britain and northern Ireland. 'Grow the fuck up you medieval savages' is the thought that goes through our mind when kids from one religion are being spat on by adults from another.

[Barbarian]

If TV station paranoia can be any guide, in the past two weeks I've been forced to read the lips of people saying hell, Jesus and Jeez on late night shows.