You know, I just can’t help it, but it still bugs me when people call other people “cocksucker” or “scrotum licker” or other such variants. How are these any different than “faggot”?
You can rationalize by saying you’re wishing something on someone that they wouldn’t enjoy (similarly you might tell me to go munch carpet), but it doesn’t wash with me.
And no, I don’t expect everyone to start PC-ifying their insults. But it does bug me, and I’ve been seeing it more and more often on this board.
hmmm . . . you’re right, 'Sprix. It is an institutional thing. I’ve been known to use expressions liek “blow me,” “bite me,” and “lick my bag” (thanks, Satan). They resound, they’re pithy . . . and they encourage the idea that actually licking my bag is a bad thing.
Seriously, though, something to think about. I can’t say I’ll stop using such expressions. But the association of fellatio with subservience is negative for straight women as well as gay men.
It had never really occurred to me that this term equated a man with being gay; I’d assumed it was equating a man with that other anaethma, a woman. Right up with calling a men girls, ladies, bitches, etc., because women are weak, pathetic things. Yuck, who wants to be compared to one of them? After all, that term does describe a fair number of women (probably not enough, in some men’s eyes). Didn’t Lenny Bruce have a routine about not liking that word used derogatorily because he hoped his hypothetical future wife would be a cocksucker?
Besides, it rhymes so well. There’s so much satisfaction in calling some one a cocksucking, motherfucking so-and-so. It’s poetry, man.
Wait, what the heck is motherfucker supposed to mean? Is that a dig at fathers?
Guess it all depends on your point of view. How it hits you depends on where you live.
[sub]Tee hee, I used bad words, I’m so naughty :D[/sub]
It is a shame though since it’s such a good sounding curse, like “Motherfucker!”
I usually have a problem with language deconstruction, and the politicizing of terms, but “cocksucker” as an insult is just basically calling someone gay, graphically as a direct insult. The implication is that being gay is worthy of scorn, in and of itself. That’s what gives the curse power. Usually, it’s not meant that way, it’s just meant as a general insult, but that’s it’s direct implications.
I try not to use “cocksucker” for the same reason I don’t use “nigger.”
I’ve made the switch to “Duckfucker!” which is equally satisfying as a curse and only serves to offend certain avian fowls which I don’t particularly esteem. Alternately I use “Rat-fuck shithead!”
I feel that we need to provide an alternative, if we wish to do away with a curse that rolls off the tongue so well
I have another question which maybe you’d care to address. This thread seems as good a place as any.
Recent history has lead me to be kenly aware of the use of the term “queer” in general discourse. I notice that it is quite often used by gay posters within public forums in an open fashion, and not just privately.
Other posters who are not gay often refer to “queer” issues, or “queer” rights.
I like to run, and I’ve received a note in my local Road Runner’s newsletter that a group in Harrisburg (near me) is planning a “Queer run 2001” 5k race, and would like our support in planning and execution. (I’m gonna do it for the Tshirt. The logo looks way cool.)
In your opinion, have the bad associations with “queer” changed? It seems to me they’ve been fading and it’s becoming a more acceptable term by the minute.
Well, if it helps, you (and the others here) have already converted me.
I never used to use such terms very much at all, only rarely, but one time when I did I started thinking… “Hey, some people actually do that, and like it.” So it kinda stopped being insulting, for the reasons that there are people like that and I really shouldnt be make fun of them as a side effect, and because it stopped being an insult in my mind.
See? Ignorance fought by the gay men of the SDMB without them even realising it!
I’ve started saying Shiteater a lot :D. I know some people do that too, but… yeah.
This is what gets me the most about these insults. [sub][sup]slowing down a bit…I almost typed “insluts” there…[/sup][/sub] I mean, when I get ticked off at someone, I want to yell unpleasant things at them. Not, “Lick my clit!” Really, if I think you’re a horrible human being, I want you as far away from that part of my body as possible.
Now that I’ve typed that…I realize that the male versions of these insults are far more prevalent than the female ones. My WAG is that, when phrased like a command (e.g., “Bite me”), these insults have a lot more to do with extering power than actual sex acts.
I’m just rambling here, right? :eek: Maybe I’ll come back when my thoughts are more sorted…
So what’s the etymology of “sucks”? (As in “Man, it took 15 minutes just for the ‘Reply to Topic’ screen to come up–this sucks!”) Does it in fact have anything to do with the topic of this thread? 'Cause if so, it would seem that the word as a slang term should mean the opposite of the way it’s used now. (“Wow! I’ve never seen the board be this fast! They must have gotten a new server or something. This really sucks!”)
OK, someone who is more of an old-timer than me has to explain about “insluted”. It’s at least as honored a tradition as the third item on every list being “Hi Opal”. You have to know about these things. Unfortunately, the complete story predates me, so we must await older, more venerable personnel.
I think the point is that these words and phrases are insults. They are meant to offend.
One of the problems today, and it isn’t just with swear words and phrases, but with alot of common sayings, is that most people do not give a second thought to the meaning behind the words they are saying.
I learned most of the swear words I know by 2nd grade, and they were cool then because they were taboo. I, and I’m sure most of us, was too young to understand what a cocksucker was exactly.
In occasional use over the years, it becomes a part of your vocabulary and you automatically think of it as an insult and use it accordingly, never giving another thought as to what exactly you are saying by calling that person such a thing.
I’d have to agree that it could be translated as another derogatory term for a homosexual male, and I can also agree that it could be a derogatory comparison to a woman. I’m sure there are many ways it can be translated as derogatory, it is an insult.
I’m inclined to agree with moi though, in that it is most likely a display of domination or superiority.
When it comes down to it though, anyone that resorts to calling someone a cocksucker, has pretty much already defeated their own argument that they are superior.
It shouldn’t be used as an insult. I mean, I don’t enjoy it myself, but if you do, and you aren’t hurting the bird in any way, what you do in private is strictly between you and the rooster.
[sub]What? What do you mean a different kind of cock? OH! :eek:[/sub]
I don’t know that there’s any natural relationship between the literal meaning of these terms and their use as insults.
How about “fucker”? Does its use as an insult suggest that engaging in sexual intercourse of any kind is to be frowned upon? What about “wanker” and “tosser”?
“insluted” is a typo made, I THINK, originally by Roshni on the old AOL board. It became a sort of catchphrase among the regs because of its inherant giggle factor.
I trust someone will come to correct me if I’m misremembering who started it…
I must say, I agree with the OP. Personally, I have nothing bad to say about it’s devotees, male or female. Nontheless, I picked up that term as a teenager and have had trouble breaking myself of it. I try for more creative profanity, rat-fuck sonovabitch is a favorite, but the occasional “cocksuker”, or 'suck my hairy white cock" still slips out.
