Cunt doesn’t bother me at all. I actually like the word and have no problems using it. cunt, cunt, cunt. It’s a short word describing a pleasurable place, that is all. Works for me.
“Gash” on the other hand, really bugs me. YMMV
Chumpski!
It all depends on how and where it’s used.
>> It all depends on how and where it’s used.
Yeah, I know this woman who could really use it. 
I believe the word derives from the Latin word meanning wedge so it has a long and distinguished etymology. It is a word suited for the better educated classes.
Reminds me of the joke:
Q. What’s the difference between a circus and a sorority?
A. Well, a circus is a cunning array of stunts. . .
Er, theres a little button to the right of my post. It’s called quote.
** c **an’t ** u **nderstand ** n **ormal ** t **hinking
The first, last, and only time my sister hit me in anger was when I called her that. I do not use that word. Often.
We kinda did this one before http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102280&highlight=cunt+etymology
Also, in the “tit” thread http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=66622&highlight=cunt+etymology
After reading samclem’s links it seems I was totally wrong about the origin of the word although it still does have a respectable lineage, just not Latin. I have no idea what mixup in my brain got the Latin origin. I think someone once told me it was related to cunneiform writing which means in the form of a wedge. Or is it in the form of a cunt? Never mind.
I would guess that the offensiveness of the word comes from the fact that it’s reducing a woman to just a sexual object. Not even partner, but object.
And as Qadgop humorously pointed out, many men wouldn’t much mind that role. But I wonder if there might be some distillation of stereotypical men’s role that would be as offensive. Drone? Draft fodder?
Then again, maybe it’s impossible to insult a man for his maleness in this society.
Oh there’s lots of insults you can beat a man over the head with, but most are centered more on his performance in the game of life as an effective male relative to being a resource producer, breadwinner, protector, father etc.
Calling a man unreliable, lazy, a loser, a coward, a deadbeat, a poor provider and/or father are mortal and devastating insults to many men.
Then, of course, you can always tell a man his mother was a cunt.
It’s a horrible sounding, unpleasant word, regardless of it’s meaning.
Which, I suppose, is the point of it.
Absolutely the dumbest thread I’ve ever seen on the internet!
Oh well, Happy Holidays!
Short answer to the OP: “cunt” is to “female person” as “nigger” is to “black person”.
It objectifies–“this person is not a human being but is only a generic vagina.” Similarly, “this person is not a human being but is only a generic black skin.”
It insults by focusing in a negative way on a physical characteristic that the person in question was born with and can’t do anything to change.
I am amazed at the people who would never dream of using “nigger” in a Pit rant who don’t have any problem with using “cunt”.
Sideline: In Castilian Spanish, the cognate word is coño ( from the Latin cunnus and cognate with the Catalan “cony” and the French “con”) and in much of Latin America it has been desexualized and transformed into the “generic all-purpose obscenity”, much as “fuck” is in English.
Absolutely. It doesn’t matter how it’s used, when, where, or what started it. If someone finds it offensive, that’s reason enough not to use it. It’s called respect.
Are you a white person or a black person proclaiming this? Do the words have equal history? The “n” word is more than skin deep, which why it’s so offensive and why I have reduced to “n” in your original post, because I find it offensive that you have even used it in your post, something I as a Black man would never do. I also find it insulting that you even attempt to equate “cunt” with the “n” word.
I have said the word 3 times in my life. Once I used on this board to refer to the leukemia woman (which I put inside spoiler tags). It’s on a completely different level than any other word in the English lanauge; the ‘N’ word included sometimes.
It seems to be like saying “fuck you” to the Virgin Mary.
Why? I dunno.
Mostly for sailor:
What’s the difference between a clever pygmy and a woman jogger?
Well, one’s a cunning runt…
[apologies to everyone else - :: d&r ::]
Why? Even if we grant that pound for pound of pejorative power “N” is more powerful than “cunt” and has a deeper history, both are words meant to reduce a person to the status of a non-human object. Why is equating one pejorative, dehumanizing and objectifyng word with another in the context of both words being the vilest insults imaginable to blacks and women respectively, insulting? Please explain your reasoning.