# Is "bum" offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 11, 2004, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794 "2004-06-11T10:56:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/21 "2004-06-12T15:15:43Z")
> [@stately plump buck mulligan](#): > > (Side note: I can’t be the only person to see the thread title and instantly assume it to be about hobos… I mean, indigents.) I believe that’s what **Hal Bristan** was saying in post #8 here. As for alternatives, lots of times you don’t really need any. You can just say, “You need to move back in your chair so you don’t fall . . .” etc. ---
**Author:** ![Milum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Milum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milum)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/22 "2004-06-12T15:39:03Z")
**Silentgoldfish** : Okay, bum is out I guess. However! No one’s given me any monosyllabic nonoffensive alternatives other than “ass” and “can.” \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\__ **Suggestions?** _ Hey goldfish, take a cue from the decadent french back in the late sixties . When a _haute couture_ Parisian salon of that time gave a house showing for Elizabeth Taylor and her consort Richard Burton, in order to stimulate the sales of their overpriced factions their models were instructed to… **" Shake your Bun at Burton "** I have always held the opinion that the french are affected phonies, but in the case of the term\*\* bun\*\* over **bum** I think that **bun** is more tasteful and appropriate. French rolls are nice too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/23 "2004-06-12T22:05:31Z")
Bum isn’t offensive to me. But then I’m 25. My grandma would be horrified, however. But she’s a woman that won’t let anybody under 60 call her anything except Mrs c308 and never by her first name. I reckon you’re fine with bum unless they’re old and then it’s bottom. That’s just me though. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/24 "2004-06-13T00:10:54Z")
Yes, I too assumed you were talking about referring to a homeless person as a “bum” because THAT use of the term could be offensive. I would never perceive bum as being an offensive word in the context of talking about the rear end. But, then, I’m a 20 something American (and it does seem like terms like “bloody”, “wanker”, etc. are treated more likely here than in the UK at least)…to be on the safe side, you might want to try use “bottom” from now on. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/25 "2004-06-13T04:53:36Z")
Use ‘blot’ or ‘freckle’. Hope this helps. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/26 "2004-06-13T18:49:30Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Can’t remember if this was Monty Python or not: > > _There’s nobody loves you like your Mum, > even when she spanks you on your bum…_ That’s from the _Outback Steakhouse_ Mother’s Day commercials. There are some things I’m a bit sad at myself for knowing… ---
**Author:** ![woodstock989](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@woodstock989](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstock989)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/27 "2004-06-13T18:55:13Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Can’t remember if this was Monty Python or not: > > _There’s nobody loves you like your Mum, > even when she spanks you on your bum…_ > > Bum deal > Bum steer > Bum a smoke? > Bum’s rush > Bummer, man 🆒 > Bumstead, Dagwood > > Bum strikes me as a very inoffensive word. Be proud of your bum! 😃 You forgot “Please fondle my bum” from Monty Python. 😃 Try listening to that nurse and see if she refers to her patients as “honey” or “sweetie” or something like that, then tell her that’s far more offensive than “bum”. A lot of nurses have a very bad habit of using “honey”, “sweetie”, etc when speaking to elderly patients; it’s very condescending and one of the first things they teach you in nursing school NOT to do. (But as anyone who’s ever been in the hospital knows, is commonplace.) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/28 "2004-06-13T20:20:35Z")
Isn’t the proper medical term “badonka-donk”? ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/29 "2004-06-14T00:59:10Z")
> [@woodstock989](#): > > You forgot “Please fondle my bum” from Monty Python. 😃 > > Try listening to that nurse and see if she refers to her patients as “honey” or “sweetie” or something like that, then tell her that’s far more offensive than “bum”. A lot of nurses have a very bad habit of using “honey”, “sweetie”, etc when speaking to elderly patients; it’s very condescending and one of the first things they teach you in nursing school NOT to do. (But as anyone who’s ever been in the hospital knows, is commonplace.) Actually the nurse was pretty nice about it, she didn’t actually tell me to stop, just that she was getting the giggles imagining all the old ladies getting indignant over what was probably a cultural difference - I use half Canadian half Australian slang and as people have pointed out different word are offensive to different countries. There’s no way I could get away with calling a patient a wanker to their face here! I did tell her that she sounded Jamaican when she kept calling a lady named Monica Mon, however. ---
**Author:** ![ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZombiesAteMyBrain)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/30 "2004-06-14T01:20:08Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > Long story short, I’ve been calling patient’s rear-ends their bum’s at work (“you need to move your bum back in your chair more so you don’t fall out, Mrs so-and-so”) and a Nurse brought up today that I might be offending some of the more delicate elderly ladies by calling a bum a bum. > > I can’t really see anything offensive about it: in my book “bum” ranks down there with “bottom” or “posterior” as being completely _in_offensive. > > So, who’s right? Me or the Nurse? There’s a frequently shown TV ad. for toilet paper here at the moment - and the slogan is “Love your bum”. As for the OP “is bum offensive?” though - it depends who the bum is attached to - some bums are very sexy! ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/31 "2004-06-14T11:15:44Z")
I don’t think ‘bum’ is offensive. But I can’t speak for the elderly folk. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/32 "2004-06-16T23:23:46Z")
> [@robinc308](#): > > Bum isn’t offensive to me. But then I’m 25. My grandma would be horrified, however. But she’s a woman that won’t let anybody under 60 call her anything except Mrs c308 and never by her first name. > > I reckon you’re fine with bum unless they’re old and then it’s bottom. That’s just me though. **Robin** , be a dear, would you, and ask your sweet grannie what she would consider the proper term. ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/33 "2004-06-17T04:12:46Z")
Hmmm. Reading the SDMB at work is always a hit and miss affair because the content filter at the school where I work is permanently set to _ruthless_. I can very seldom see the opening page for the pit, about 50:50 on the MPSIMS opening page. Threadspotting scores maybe 40%. That said, I am reading this thread at work, so I guess all the “bums” are passing through the filter ok. ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/34 "2004-06-17T04:20:19Z")
Update. Right now I can’t even get to the page where the forums are listed. It seems that I can talk about bums all I like (bum tiddly bum bum), but because the most recent poster to one of the forums was to a thread with a suspect title, I can’t even see the table of contents. Only one thing to say. **Bummer!!** ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/35 "2004-06-17T13:00:49Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > Okay, bum is out I guess. > > However! No one’s given me any monosyllabic nonoffensive alternatives other than “ass” and “can.” > > Suggestions? How about the good old Aussie expression, “Shift yer arse”? ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/36 "2004-06-17T13:29:45Z")
Why, surely the perfect term to use would be “fanny”. 😃😛😃😛 ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/37 "2004-06-17T13:45:26Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Why, surely the perfect term to use would be “fanny”. 😃😛😃😛 Just not for anyone British. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/38 "2004-06-17T14:11:19Z")
> [@AngelicGemma](#): > > Just not for anyone British. 🙂 That kinda was the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/39 "2004-06-17T17:58:39Z")
> [@Kymodoce](#): > > Well, for myself I find it rather childish and… oh I dunno… vulgar? Mind you, I am a prig, so don’t mind me. It’s not a word I use often, though I do with my kids sometimes. I think, for what it’s worth, that it could offend some people. But hardly ever fatally. Meanings aside, the word “prig” falls more harshly on my ear than “bum”. I seem to recall an ad on BBC (for what, exactly, I can’t recall) that had singers “bumming” _Pomp and Circumstance_. You know…“bummm-bumbumbum-bummm-bummm”. Musta been for toilet paper or sumpin. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794/40 "2004-06-17T18:05:27Z")
> [@grimpixie](#): > > According to [Flanders and Swann](http://www.nyanko.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/fas/tried_pee.html) it is:😃 > > Grim slight hijack… OMG, can’t believe there’s another F&S fan here! 😉 Though that number is not a good example of their funniest work, of course. (sigh.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bum-offensive/249794.md?page=3)