# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![SomeBodyUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SomeBodyUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeBodyUK)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/101 "2009-03-04T05:10:45Z")
> [@](#): > > British guy in Atlanta and contrary to your statement, I cannot think of a worse swear word in England and so I would vehemently disagree with yur statement that it is “very minor”. Even then, though, I would agree that it is viewed as much worse in the US. I guess we Brits are more used to bad language. Do you think that there may be a class/region thing here too? I grew up in a very working class environment, full of minorities, and everybody used it. > [@](#): > > And there are others that are less serious in America: piss (as in pissed) - it seems strange to me that network TV will bleep out ass(hole) yet allow pissed. And any TV show with British characters must include “bloody” to show that they are British. It’s a pretty mild word in Britain, but a non-swear word in the US I had a teacher at school, who probaby grew up in the 40s/early 50s, and he got really upset if I said “bloody” ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/102 "2009-03-04T11:25:26Z")
> [@SomeBodyUK](#): > > Do you think that there may be a class/region thing here too? I grew up in a very working class environment, full of minorities, and everybody used it. Possibly. I grew up in rural middle-class Yorkshire. Very white. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/103 "2009-03-04T11:43:32Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > So, Dopers from the UK, Oz, or NZ, what word would you all consider to be the conversational atomic bomb? What do you say when you really mean it? I’d be taken aback to hear it used casually in conversation. It’s the worst word I could use to describe someone; it’s entirely disrespectful and has the worst of connotations when applied to people. (But, as most posters have noted, sometimes it is warranted. 😃 ) However, only the most detestable person would seriously apply the word to female anatomy. It is never appropriate in that use - no matter how ‘technically/historically correct’ it may be - because it IS entirely disrespectful. However, I think the word might be accurately applied - in the first context - to someone who would use it in the latter. _\And isn’t that ironic? Don’tcha think?\_ ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/104 "2009-03-04T11:59:55Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > … > There are other words that are viewed more seriously here: nigger (no doubt because of past racist roots in America), **damn** (never even thought of that as profanity until I moved to the deep south), ass, asshole… I don’t know about more or less seriously than in Britain, but I could say damn in a business meeting and no one would blink an eye. Same with ass, so long as I didn’t offer a personal insult by claiming a specific individual is an ass. Those aren’t serious swaer words here. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/105 "2009-03-04T12:04:40Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Those aren’t serious \*\*swaer \*\*words here. (Bolding mine) My, that’s an adorable drawl you have there! ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/106 "2009-03-04T12:11:54Z")
I’d say it was fairly common here in all-male company, especially in the Army, where swearing is constant, monotonous, and, in the end, meaningless. The sole woman in our office let it be known that she was unworried by ‘fuck’, which passed frequently, but she would draw the line at ‘cunt’, and so we modified our language accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Kappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/50afbb/32.png) [@Kappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kappa)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/107 "2009-03-04T19:24:36Z")
I lived in Scotland for a number of years (I’m Canadian) and the word “cunt” is thrown around as often there as the word “the”. I would often hear the word used in friendly context: Me- I’ll get the next round of drinks. Scottish Friend- Dinnae be daft ya wee cunt. > [@Ximenean](#): > > You could always call somebody a “paedophile” or “racist”. I thought it was (strangely) endearing and would definitely prefer it to: Dinnae be daft ya wee pedophile. Not quite as endearing. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/108 "2009-03-04T19:45:44Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > However, only the most detestable person would seriously apply the word to female anatomy. It is never appropriate in that use - no matter how ‘technically/historically correct’ it may be - because it IS entirely disrespectful. I must respectfully disagree, based both on the girlfriend I mentioned earlier and a number of conversations I’ve had with women over the years. This girfriend was smart, educated, well-read and articulate, and her attitude to the word “cunt” was that it was about the only term which wasn’t either a eumphemism or overly clinical. I believe she was not alone among women in wanting to reclaim the word: after all, why should referring to a man’s penis as a dick be merely slightly vulgar, but referring to a woman’s vulva as a cunt be beyond the pale? What sort of negative ideas about a woman’s sexuality - and by extension, women in general - as being a filthy, unclean and unmentionable receptacle - does the taboo perpetuate? ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/109 "2009-03-05T00:17:08Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > I believe she was not alone among women in wanting to reclaim the word: after all, why should referring to a man’s penis as a dick be merely slightly vulgar, but referring to a woman’s vulva as a cunt be beyond the pale? What sort of negative ideas about a woman’s sexuality - and by extension, women in general - as being a filthy, unclean and unmentionable receptacle - does the taboo perpetuate? Why do we \*need \*to reclaim the word? There’s any number of perfectly serviceable words which do the job, and none of them have the ugly mouth-sound of ‘cunt’. It’s a hard-sounding word, almost barked out, and no matter of ‘reclaiming’ will change the sound of it. I have no negative feelings towards my own sexuality or my own genitalia (well, except when it’s That Time, but even then I’m more pissed at my uterus than anything else), which is precisely why I don’t feel the urge to apply ugly-sounding words to it. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/110 "2009-03-05T00:39:13Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > Why do we need to reclaim the word? Why does anything need to be reclaimed? It erodes the power of the word for someone else to use against you. > [@](#): > > It’s a hard-sounding word, almost barked out, and no matter of ‘reclaiming’ will change the sound of it. Actually, changing how words sound is one of the things reclamation does. Consider a woman describing herself as a tough bitch. Or a someone gay saying they’re queer. Homer: Yeah, and that’s another thing! I resent you people using that word. That’s our word for making fun of you! We need it! How about all the rap songs with nigger in them? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/111 "2009-03-05T01:11:50Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > It’s a hard-sounding word, almost barked out This is an entirely arbitrary and subjective characterization based on your personal experience of the use of the word. Such perceptions change over time and can change very quickly. The very fact that “cunt” and “cock” were originally the ordinary, everyday English words for the female and male genitalia and now they both are considered taboo shows you that such perceptions are quite malleable. Things like this can change very quickly, from one generation to the next. Look at the quickly changing taboo status of works like chicken breast and chicken leg. Not too many generations ago, these words went through phases of taboo. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/112 "2009-03-05T01:33:42Z")
I uttered that word one time, in my life. I was a young lawyer giving my closing argument to a jury in a sexual harassment case, my client had been called that name (and others) at work, and we were suing her employer. So, I figured I had to say the word. It was one of the best facts of the case. I worked up to it, outlining the other abuse she had suffered. And then I listed the insults she had to endure. The jury could tell I was uncomfortable, I think my voice cracked as I said it, and I think I accurately showed how outraged and offended I was for having to tell the jury this sad story. I don’t know another word like it, as far as how people react. (we won the trial by the way) ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/113 "2009-03-05T02:06:46Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > Why do we \*need \*to reclaim the word? There’s any number of perfectly serviceable words which do the job, and none of them have the ugly mouth-sound of ‘cunt’. It’s a hard-sounding word, almost barked out, and no matter of ‘reclaiming’ will change the sound of it. > > I have no negative feelings towards my own sexuality or my own genitalia (well, except when it’s That Time, but even then I’m more pissed at my uterus than anything else), which is precisely why I don’t feel the urge to apply ugly-sounding words to it. I find it interesting that you refer to “That Time”, another coy euphemism. Please don’t take this as a personal criticism, but why not call it what it is, menstruating? A little clinical perhaps, but unambiguous. Of course “period”, pehaps the commonest term, is yet another euphemism, which I think highlights the problem: there aren’t many words which refer to the female reproductive anatomy and its various functions that aren’t either bluntly clinical or {ahem} pussyfooting euphemisms. Guys don’t have that problem: it’s a penis, it’s a dick, it’s a cock, it’s a willy, it’s a dong, it’s a johnson, and none of them are particularly offensive terms. The double standard - that male genitals can be openly referred to without causing offense, but female genitals are somehow taboo - seems a degrading double standard to me, only serving to reinforce the idea that sexuality for women is somehow inherently unclean. Out of curiosity, and I’m not trying to be prurient or insulting here, what _do_ you call your genitals and/or urinary apparatus? Mine is either a penis, a dick or a cock, depending on the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/114 "2009-03-05T04:33:53Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > I find it interesting that you refer to “That Time”, another coy euphemism. Please don’t take this as a personal criticism, but why not call it what it is, menstruating? Because I have no problem at all with menstruating. It’s the lead-in where I cramp and bloat get emotional and crave sugar and hate the world that’s the problem. The actual act of menstruating? Piece of cake. I’m perfectly content with the world during the bleeding process. (And as a plus, my eyes go very green - where they’re usually boring blueish-greenish - and I’m strangely attractive to the opposite sex. Yup, not much to hate about the bleeding time. I apparently become Pheremone Central at that time, so it’s generally good for my ego.) I could have said ‘pre-menstrual tension’ but then someone would have jumped in and said ‘actually, it’s pre-menstrual _syndrome_’, and then someone else would have linked to a new study (that I’ve just made up) that calls it ‘pregnancy-negative syndrome’ or something like that and…well, you know how it goes. “That Time”, for all that it may be a ‘coy euphemism’ is pretty unambiguous when taken in context with the rest of the sentence: obviously I’m referring to the part of the menstrual cycle _where my moods are negative_. This particular time varies from woman to woman (some are nutty during the bleeding phase) but most (not all; lucky gals!) have a mood-related ‘That Time’ during their cycle. > [@Scissorjack](#): > > Guys don’t have that problem: it’s a penis, it’s a dick, it’s a cock, it’s a willy, it’s a dong, it’s a johnson, and none of them are particularly offensive terms. The double standard - that male genitals can be openly referred to without causing offense, but female genitals are somehow taboo - seems a degrading double standard to me, only serving to reinforce the idea that sexuality for women is somehow inherently unclean. > > Out of curiosity, and I’m not trying to be prurient or insulting here, what _do_ you call your genitals and/or urinary apparatus? Mine is either a penis, a dick or a cock, depending on the circumstances. You’d probably be surprised at how often I \*don’t \*have to refer to my genital area. When I do, I find that ‘vagina’ and ‘vulva’ and other specific words work just fine to refer to the bits I’m talking about. If I was talking to my grandmother, I’d probably say ‘fanny’ (reminder: we Aussies and Brits use the word differently to the Americans)… though having said that, I can’t really envisage a context in which I’d need to talk about my genital area with her. Especially since she’s dead. I wouldn’t use ‘pussy’ since it seems like a very silly word, but perhaps that’s just because I caught too much _Are You Being Served?_ on TV during my childhood. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jelymag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jelymag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelymag)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/115 "2009-03-05T04:59:49Z")
Words like jackass, dickhead, and bastard, while certainly capable of being insults, are frequently used in the US (mostly between males) as jokes. But I’ve never heard one guy call another a cunt, and I’ve never heard anybody use it in any way other than out of pure anger and desire to insult/degrade another person. Even among very close friends I’ve never heard it as a joke. I would probably say it is more deragatory to me than the N word, but I may have a skewed view on this, not being of African-American ethicity. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/116 "2009-03-05T05:02:59Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > Why do we \*need \*to reclaim the word? There’s any number of perfectly serviceable words which do the job, and none of them have the ugly mouth-sound of ‘cunt’. It’s a hard-sounding word, almost barked out, and no matter of ‘reclaiming’ will change the sound of it. > [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > Why does anything need to be reclaimed? It erodes the power of the word for someone else to use against you. I think our disagreement is that I have no problem with it being changed to an insult. My issue is why it needs to be taken back as a word for genitalia; I really don’t see it as one that’s \*worth \*reclaiming. Let it go; let it be an insult. We have better words for the vaginal area - words that don’t come pre-burdened with negative connotations. And besides - frankly, there’s a lot of cunts out there, and if you go reclaiming that word for genitalia, then we’re left with ‘fuckhead’, and sometimes that’s just not sufficient. 😃 Much as I don’t like hearing ‘cunt’ used, the very rarity of its use and the vehemence behind it is what makes it such an utterly effective - and rather devastating - descriptor. You know that when someone’s referred to in that way, they are really, _really_, \*\*really \*\*low individuals. > [@acsenray](#): > > This is an entirely arbitrary and subjective characterization based on your personal experience of the use of the word. \*\*I’ve quoted ascenray, but this is actually an open challenge to anyone who thinks it’s a perfectly nice word that we should bring back into the fold: produce an audio file. Say the word, and make it sound pretty. \*\* It’s a short, sharp, blunt little word and I can’t imagine there’s any way it’s going to sound like something I want to own. ‘Vulva’, sure. ‘Vagina’, yep. ‘Cunt’…no. But hey, I’m open to being proved wrong, and here’s your chance: [ol] [li]Make it pretty, and I’ll freely admit that I’m mistaken and that it might be worth keeping. Just the word. Not a poem, not a song… just the word, on its own. Show me how it’s lovely enough to want to reclaim.[/li][li]For bonus points, provide me with an alternative word for that worst-of-the-worst insult, when words can only barely describe how dreadful a person is.[/li][/ol] (Irish Dopers, the first point in this contest does not apply to you. You could make ‘vomit-drinking piss-head scumbag’ sound like the opening to a love sonnet. You’re evil that way.) ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/117 "2009-03-05T06:53:17Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > If I was talking to my grandmother, I’d probably say ‘fanny’ (reminder: we Aussies and Brits use the word differently to the Americans)… though having said that, I can’t really envisage a context in which I’d need to talk about my genital area with her. Especially since she’s dead. Thanks for the clarification. And apropos of nothing, I’m now picturing a seance where you summon up the spirits of long departed relatives and then shock them with bad language. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/118 "2009-03-05T10:00:30Z")
_snicker_ I said to my hubby after I posted that, “Good thing I’m not inclined to go visiting gravesides, or I’d almost feel obligated to raise the topic now!”. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/119 "2009-03-06T13:21:47Z")
I used to work with two people (in London) that would greet each other in the morning by one saying “Bitch” to the other and him replying with “Cunt”. No-one gave a shit. MY girlfriend reacts more to the phrase “hairy axe wound” than “cunt”. Bizarrely she has a hatred for “front bottom” as well, which is weird because I think the whole idea of a “front bottom” is hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060/120 "2009-03-06T13:26:26Z")
Can let this thread die without quoting James Joyce: If you see Kay, Tell him he may. See you in tea, Tell him from me. For those who don’t get it Phonetically, the first line is F-U-C-K, the third C-U-N-T [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-offensive-is-the-word-c-t-in-the-us/488060.md?page=7)