# How Offensive Is The Word "C\*\*T" In The US? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 2, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060 "2009-03-02T21:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/41 "2009-03-03T01:55:34Z")
As a man, I definitely wouldn’t use it unless I was clearly joking and with people I knew very, very well. The women I know say it all the time though. That doesn’t seem to be the norm however. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/42 "2009-03-03T01:56:18Z")
Between guys it’s not really offensive. Women will freak out unless they’re the type to do tricks for $2. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/43 "2009-03-03T02:04:37Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > Yeah, when it comes to referring to female genitalia, “cunt” is somewhat on the coarse side, but by no means beyond the pale: I had a girlfriend once who routinely referred to it her cunt. But for most it depends on the context. When shes all juiced up and ready to quake calling it that may even be an exciter as it’s otherwise taboo. Meeting her in the clinic waiting room and saying “what did the doctor say was wrong with your cunt” usually will have a different affect. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/44 "2009-03-03T02:11:27Z")
This is more of a poll than a factual question, so I’ll move it from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. **Gfactor** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/45 "2009-03-03T02:20:57Z")
I dunno, I’ve never really found it so “omg offensive” like many people seem to feel. It’s just another insult in my book. And I don’t do tricks for $2. Please. $5 is the absolute minimum. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/46 "2009-03-03T02:50:14Z")
> [@accidentalyuppie](#): > > I once - in a business meeting, mixed company- said of a female business associate “she’s a dumb cunt, pardon my French”. > > I had rehearsed the moment for weeks, I needed a way to let everyone in the room know just how deep my hatred for her was and how little respect she deserved and I didn’t want to rant as I thought it might hurt my credibility. > > It worked, too. My guess is that it took you down a notch in their eyes, rather than causing any injury to the associate you referred to. Making any blatant negative remark openly about an associate is very unprofessional, regardless of the choice of language. Rehearsing for weeks makes this sound kind of creepy. > [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I have never heard it spoken aloud.\* That’s how bad it is (or how sheltered I am). I would not say it or type it. [George Carlin]Then there’s “piss” and “cunt.” Those two kind of go together (a little accidental humor there). A long time ago, there were certain ladies that said, "Those are the two I’m not going to say. ‘Fuck’ and ‘shit’ are OK, but P and C are out! P and C are OUT!][/George Carlin] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/47 "2009-03-03T04:34:12Z")
I use it occasionally as an insult against a really awful woman - female, here - and usually prefaced with the word “stupid”, but I wouldn’t be stupid enough to use it within the hearing of anyone but my husband, pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/48 "2009-03-03T04:45:32Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > To me, c\*\*t implies that a woman is that and nothing more, like it’s her only redeeming quality and even that is so low in quality that a nicer word can’t be used to name it. Yet, calling a person an “asshole” is fairly common. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/49 "2009-03-03T04:49:46Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Not in my presence it’s not! People may want to continue to have eyelashes, eyebrows and ears. I meant among people who don’t consider it an insult, often making the “nigger/nigga” distinction. Sorry for the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/50 "2009-03-03T04:58:49Z")
I guess I’m going to go against the grain here. Excepting relatives, parents and teachers, (Or the people I don’t swear around at all.) I don’t think anyone would be any more upset then if I said pussy or bitch or whatever. It would be surprising. People don’t say cunt where I’m from but I think it’s because the word’s not on people’s radar and not because it’s a bad word. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/51 "2009-03-03T05:31:39Z")
I definitely consider it the worst thing you could call a person that doesn’t stray into racist slur territory. I’m pretty sure I’ve never said it out loud, and I am no stranger to curse words. I only remember hearing it on TV once, on Curb Your Enthusiasm (it was actually pretty funny, Larry arranged for the obituary for his friend’s aunt, and there was a typo…instead of “beloved aunt” the obituary read “beloved cunt.” This could only happen to Larry David) ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/52 "2009-03-03T05:34:12Z")
Honestly, it’s my favorite swear word. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/53 "2009-03-03T05:45:05Z")
Here in my house in Canada, it’s probably the single most offensive word. I wouldn’t use it to a woman unless I was prepared to defend myself from her physically. I would certainly qualify as a fighting word, and I really can’t think of an equally offensive word for men. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/54 "2009-03-03T06:10:37Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > I only remember hearing it on TV once, on Curb Your Enthusiasm (it was actually pretty funny, Larry arranged for the obituary for his friend’s aunt, and there was a typo…instead of “beloved aunt” the obituary read “beloved cunt.” This could only happen to Larry David) Well, even Shakespeare could work pretty blue when he wanted to, as witness this exchange between Hamlet and Ophelia: Lady, shall I lie in your lap? No, my lord. I mean my head upon your lap? Ay, my lord. Do you think I meant country matters? I think nothing, my lord. That’s a fair thought to lie between maids’ legs. _Hamlet_, Act 3, Scene 2 ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/55 "2009-03-03T06:11:39Z")
C\*\*T is not all that offensive of a word. Cunt is fairly offensive though. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/56 "2009-03-03T06:55:00Z")
I only ever hear the word on t.v., or read it, or mostly encounter it on these boards, and not that often then. I was going to ask; is this a ‘white thang’? No one in my own culture ever even uses the word at all.\* It is my new favorite word lately though. I have been raising a few eyebrows amongst my friends. There is a scene in the Vagina Monologues where a character repeats the word again and again, letting each sound draw out of her mouth slowly. Watching that makes you want to say the word aloud. \*‘by my own culture’, I mean most of the people that I know and associate and work with never seem to use the word. ETA: I see Cookingwithgas has already mentioned the Monologues. Good play. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/57 "2009-03-03T07:43:25Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Honestly, it’s my favorite swear word. Same here. I think it is a great word. Has a nice crisp jab to it. Cunt is good when fuck just doesn’t say it all. I’ll call my male friends cunts because they can take it. Most women get all cunty when you call them that though. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/58 "2009-03-03T08:08:00Z")
Funny stuff, them curse-words. My native tongue has dozens of swear words mostly centering aroung pelvic anatomy, and actually much used. The name of a genital, no matter what it is, is just that. Anatomy. Rude and lewd, at most, but nothing more. ‘Motherfucker’ is what astounds me to no end. I can’t think of a worse term, and there’s nothing like it in my native tongue. Were I to improvise a similar term on the spot, I’d surely get a swift fist to my face. A cunt? Every woman has one. But having an incestuous relationship with your mother? Damn. It baffles me that such a word can be freely used in whatever context, judging by American stand-up acts, mainstream movies etc. How can a word like that get diluted to such an extent? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/59 "2009-03-03T08:28:17Z")
It’s the worst that there is. Try any other word, you won’t get the same response. ANY other word. I know in England and Australia that word has gotten a pass somehow, but call an American woman that word, and/or let her man-friend hear you say it, and hoo-boy! I mean “Lights Out” hoo-boy! ---
**Author:** ![SomeBodyUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SomeBodyUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeBodyUK)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/60 "2009-03-03T09:50:02Z")
British guy in Los Angeles here. I used to say it all the time in UK, it’s a very minor term over there, and in my experience many women aren’t offended by me using it. It’s one of my favourite swear words and I used it all the time. It’s always used to refer to men, not women. I never say it in the US, except in front of people who know me well, British people, or Americans I know that have lived in the UK and are OK with me using it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060.md?page=4)