# Brit Dopers: Is "bugger" still profanity nowadays? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464 "2009-05-05T21:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/21 "2009-05-06T07:12:07Z")
Well I’ll be savagely rogered, or buggered. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/22 "2009-05-06T07:24:06Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Isn’t it also a verb, approximating ‘fuck’ in meaning (if not ‘offensiveness’)? As a verb, it refers to anal sex. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/23 "2009-05-06T07:56:40Z")
> [@Kal](#): > > As a verb, it refers to anal sex. And as a noun (“buggery”) it isn’t slang but has a particular legal meaning, which may also extend to bestiality. There was actually a Buggery Act in British law several centuries ago, and the term still appears in modern British and Irish legislation, although it’s no longer illegal between consenting human adults. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/24 "2009-05-06T11:58:17Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > although it’s no longer illegal between consenting human adults. That’s just rampant animalism. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/25 "2009-05-06T14:15:27Z")
“Oh, the hedgehog can never be buggered at all…” ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/26 "2009-05-06T16:00:26Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > “Oh, the hedgehog can never be buggered at all…” Not even with a very long “prick”? ---
**Author:** ![jujuju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@jujuju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jujuju)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/27 "2009-05-06T16:57:07Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > … I was surprised and a bit shocked once to hear Spongebob saying “Oh hell!” repeatedly in a cartoon. But then, Spongebob has a lot of slightly risque humor, too, albeit the kind that usually goes over kids’ heads. Really? I’ve watched many, many, many episodes of SpongeBob and never heard “hell”. There is an episode where he and Patrick read dirty words off the back of the dumpster behind the Kusty Krab, but the words come out as dophin sounds or horn sounds, not the actual words. Do you remember the plot of the episode you heard that in? Just curious, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/28 "2009-05-06T18:53:04Z")
> [@acetylene](#): > > Ofcom, the UK equivalent to the FCC is as vague as the FCC [on this issue](http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/ifi/codes/bcode/protectingu18/): > > The BBC, however, has indeed given a very amusing list of offensive words and has even categorize them. To avoid offending anyone I will not quote. Insead you can [read the list here](http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/advice/offensivelanguage/index.shtml). Unfortunately bugger is absent from the list. I love this bit: “Mildly offensive language includes crap, Jesus, Christ, knob etc. Terms such as bloody, God, prat, tart etc are all very mildly offensive terms - nonetheless they should not be used indiscriminately.” Slightly jarring how they slip ‘Jesus’ and ‘God’ in the middle of the list, between prat and tart. Makes it look like an atheist hacker has got to it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/29 "2009-05-06T19:21:45Z")
In S Asia, its a mild compliment; as in "\*you sure surprised me, you bloody bugger, \* ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/30 "2009-05-06T22:04:46Z")
**The Great Philosopher** , when used as an exclamation or explative (“Jesus Christ!”, “oh, God”), those terms are considered offensive to Christians for taking the lord’s name in vain. But the usage is context sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/31 "2009-05-07T01:42:34Z")
> [@jujuju](#): > > Really? I’ve watched many, many, many episodes of SpongeBob and never heard “hell”. There is an episode where he and Patrick read dirty words off the back of the dumpster behind the Kusty Krab, but the words come out as dophin sounds or horn sounds, not the actual words. > > Do you remember the plot of the episode you heard that in? Just curious, thanks. Now that I think about it, it might have been “Oh God,” which, depending on who you ask, might be more or less offensive than “Oh hell.” I remember he was lying in bed saying it repeatedly. It was something barely offensive but still likely to get complaints from certain people. It was definitely blasphemy, not vulgarity. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464/32 "2009-05-07T02:20:10Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > It’s a New Zealand [ad](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-Y3AsZ19Hc) actually. The ad campaign was run both in Oz and NZ. I’m almost certain the ads started in Oz and were later adapted for our friends across the Ditch, but I haven’t been able to find a reliable cite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-is-bugger-still-profanity-nowadays/495464.md?page=1)