# Is 'Blasted' foul language **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blasted-foul-language/169785 "2003-04-20T04:28:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blasted-foul-language/169785/1 "2003-04-20T04:28:22Z")
In one of the News groups that I hang out in a poster said something like “I can’t get this blasted thing to work.” And someone said, “Please don’t curse.” The OP responded with an apology and asked if people really thought that “blasted” was foul. I had to chime in in support of the OP. It is not a curse word. Someone else said that in his dictionary it was. [www.dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com) does not list it as a swear word, but does say that it is slang. Your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blasted-foul-language/169785/2 "2003-04-20T04:44:51Z")
It looks to me like someone misread it as ‘Bastard’ and it spiralled out of control. I seriously doubt ‘Blasted’ is foul language. ---
**Author:** ![Palve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Palve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palve)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blasted-foul-language/169785/3 "2003-04-20T04:54:03Z")
My 2¢: “Blasted” is definitely _not_ a swear word, any more than “dang” is. I wouldn’t refrain from using it around the strictest teacher I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t be surprised if **Lobsang** ’s theory turned out to be true…I could see someone taking offense at the word “bastard”, but certainly not “blasted”. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blasted-foul-language/169785/4 "2003-04-20T07:44:46Z")
Heck, “Blasted” is barely worse than “Darn,” consarnit! Blimey…The what sort of _agricola_ blows his top at “Blasted”? ---
**Author:** ![radar\_ralf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@radar\_ralf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar_ralf)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blasted-foul-language/169785/5 "2003-04-20T14:05:00Z")
crikey! i would think that “bloody” would be considered worse than “blasted”! ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blasted-foul-language/169785/6 "2003-04-20T14:57:33Z")
I thought blasted was a word used to replace “bloody” in polite company. No way is it a swear word? What is it with this sort of question this week? First “crap”, then “schmuck” and now “blasted”!?!? ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blasted-foul-language/169785/7 "2003-04-20T15:14:52Z")
Bizzarely, this is not the first time I’ve run into the “blasted” thing. A friend of mine wanted to name her antique business “The Blasted Rose.” The reference being to a hymn that’s found in the [Sacred Harp](http://fasola.org/) (and also in the Southern Harmony, I think): Youth, like the spring, will soon be gone, By fleeting time or conqu’ring death; Your morning sun may set at noon, And leave you ever in the dark. Your sparkling eyes and blooming cheeks Must wither like the blasted rose; The coffin, earth, and winding sheet Will soon your active limbs enclose. She was told by someone that the name was objectionable, because of the “blasted.” Never mind that, in context, it wasn’t that kind of “blasted,” but there you have it. Weird, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blasted-foul-language/169785/8 "2003-04-20T15:18:47Z")
The Profanity Police are in full force this month, eh? ‘Blasted’ is not profane. ---
**Author:** ![Peregrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@Peregrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peregrine)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-blasted-foul-language/169785/9 "2003-04-20T15:31:32Z")
The OED has some pertinent entries: **Blast** 10. _trans._ To strike or visit with the wrath and curse of heaven; to curse. Often in imprecations. also, **Blasted** 3. Cursed, damned. In low language as an expression of reprobation and hatred.