# Is the "C-bomb" more offensive than the "F-bomb?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807 "2014-08-28T23:13:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/21 "2014-08-29T20:06:35Z")
> [@ILikeForeignLanguages](#): > > Because people seem to be more shocked when you say “Cotton-headed ninny- muggins” than when you say “Farty pants.” Just wondering.😃 I can’t believe you said either of those outside the Pit!!! There be a whole lot of whooshing in this thread. Could be me, could be others, but SOMEBODy is being whooshed! ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/22 "2014-08-29T20:20:38Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > That’s contractor lingo, too (“red” is optional I think). And I’d expect better from them! As I learned (and used) it, a CH referred to when you had to move something _juuuust_ a tiny bit, but an RCH was when you had to move it about half that distance. Because the red ones are finer. I would never refer to a woman as the c-word, but I had a girlfriend who liked to use it for dirtytalk, specifically when referring to that part of her anatomy, and only in a sexual way. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/23 "2014-08-29T21:03:19Z")
> [@Gerald\_II](#): > > I think Mark Millar even had a comic magazine titled “CLiNT” to mean the curse word. I believe that for many years, the comic book industry was subject to a fairly strict set of self-censorship guidelines (much like the Hays code was for movies). Among the rules were proscriptions against using several innocuous words such as “flick” or the name “Clint”, because the all-caps sans serif lettering can make LI look like a U. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/24 "2014-08-30T18:36:02Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Yes, more than it is nowadays. Back then, some parents even had a problem with “butt.” LOL! Which parents were these? 😛 Certainly not mine (I knew all the swear words, and some entertaining military phrases, by age 5). And not my friends’ – and they were all the spawn of doctors and lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/25 "2014-08-30T19:36:54Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > LOL! Which parents were these? 😛 Certainly not mine (I knew all the swear words, and some entertaining military phrases, by age 5). > > And not my friends’ – and they were all the spawn of doctors and lawyers. The dreaded suburban Bay Area parents. Not mine mine either though, I got in trouble my first week of kindergarten for teaching another kid “fuck.” Lest you think it’s uptight American parents here, his mom was British. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/26 "2014-08-30T22:12:38Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > when calibrating some electronic equipment, very fine adjustments were necessary if something was even a “red cunt hair”, or RCH, off. > [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > That’s contractor lingo, too (“red” is optional I think). And I’d expect better from them! > [@corkboard](#): > > As I learned (and used) it, a CH referred to when you had to move something _juuuust_ a tiny bit, but an RCH was when you had to move it about half that distance. Because the red ones are finer. A CH is a “fine” adjustment. A RCH is an “ultra fine” adjustment. If a CH is in milliseconds, a RCH is microseconds or nanoseconds. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/27 "2014-08-30T22:18:53Z")
Missed the edit window again. For LORAN C transmitting stations, we used cesium frequency standards because their output was 5 Mhz +/- 5 femtoseconds. For LORAN A transmitting stations, we got by with rubidium frequency standards with an output of 5 Mhz +/- 50 femtoseconds. That’s a RCH difference in precision. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/28 "2014-09-01T16:58:02Z")
I find the C bomb to be the most offensive word. And yes, I am male. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/29 "2014-09-01T17:42:59Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > I believe that for many years, the comic book industry was subject to a fairly strict set of self-censorship guidelines (much like the Hays code was for movies). Among the rules were proscriptions against using several innocuous words such as “flick” or the name “Clint”, because the all-caps sans serif lettering can make LI look like a U. Considering how ridiculous the Comics Code Authority could get, I could totally buy this. But since I read the current, excellent run of Hawk[del]guy[/del]eye, I had to go check it out, as it’d give Hawkguy’s name, Clint, another layer of meaning. Turns out to be a [myth](http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2009/07/23/comic-book-legends-revealed-217/). As to the OP… well, actually, the OP seems to’ve been a joke. As to the auto-threadjack, yeah, in isolation, for this American, ‘cunt’ is a stronger naughtyword than ‘fuck’. Context is everything, though. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/30 "2014-09-01T20:41:30Z")
_Fuck_ is definitely losing some of its mojo. When I was a lad, in the far off days of the '70s, _fuck_ was The Word You Did Not Say, lest your parents hear and inflict Dire Consequences. _Cunt_ I don’t even remember us knowing, until much later. Now, it seems much less weighted. _Cunt_ is still far more offensive, at least to us 'Murikans, although the experience of the British and the Australians suggest that it, too, will lose its potency in time. But if the F-bomb is sliding down the offensive scale, other words are moving up. Again, when I was a child, racial and ethnic slurs were a lot more acceptable. _Nigger_ was taboo, but only about as much as _fuck_ is now. But we young barbarians tossed _coon, jiggaboo, jungle bunny_ and _spade_ about freely, as well as _guinea, spic_ and _wop._ We were equally cavalier with sexual orientation: _faggot_ was a common insult, and we had a game called “Smear the Queer”. We called the little loops over the plackets of our dress shirts _fag tags_. Among my child-rearing friends today, any one of those words (especially the “N-word”, which has now earned its own euphemism along the lines of “F-bomb”) would provoke more parental wrath than _fuck_, I think. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/31 "2014-09-01T21:47:17Z")
This is after all, the “Mundane Pointless Stuff” sub-forum: so there follows nonsense, kind-of about the C-bomb, from a British point of view… Background: in the 1960s, the British Typhoo tea retailing company mounted an advertising campaign with the slogan, “Typhoo puts the T [clever pun :rolleyes:] in Britain”. There are, quite a way north in England, two fairly obscure and ugly industrial towns – definitely not jewels in Britain’s tourist crown – called Scunthorpe, and Penistone. Graffiti-dialogue on the toilet wall at the university which I attended: “If Typhoo puts the T in Britain, who put the cunt in Scunthorpe?” “The same person who put the penis in Penistone.” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/32 "2014-09-01T22:43:26Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > This is after all, the “Mundane Pointless Stuff” sub-forum: so there follows nonsense, kind-of about the C-bomb, from a British point of view… > > Background: in the 1960s, the British Typhoo tea retailing company mounted an advertising campaign with the slogan, “Typhoo puts the T [clever pun :rolleyes:] in Britain”. There are, quite a way north in England, two fairly obscure and ugly industrial towns – definitely not jewels in Britain’s tourist crown – called Scunthorpe, and Penistone. > > Graffiti-dialogue on the toilet wall at the university which I attended: > > “If Typhoo puts the T in Britain, who put the cunt in Scunthorpe?” > > “The same person who put the penis in Penistone.” Nice post. Adds much to the evolution of words. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/33 "2014-09-01T23:59:41Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > “If Typhoo puts the T in Britain, who put the cunt in Scunthorpe?” English cricket legend Ian Botham spent some time also playing football (soccer) for Scunthorpe United. I remember that at the time (1980 according to Wikipedia) he was referred to as “the man who put the cunt in Scunthorpe”. Being an Australian cricket fan, I agreed with the sentiment (although I now accept that I only disliked him because he was so damn good). Speaking of “the F word” and “the C word”, Australian TV presenter Andrew Denton was once asked by a guest what the show’s rules about language were. His reply was something like, “we can say anything except ‘funk’ and ‘cult’.” It got the message over nicely, while not troubling the censors. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/34 "2014-09-02T01:14:42Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > I believe that for many years, the comic book industry was subject to a fairly strict set of self-censorship guidelines (much like the Hays code was for movies). Among the rules were proscriptions against using several innocuous words such as “flick” or the name “Clint”, because the all-caps sans serif lettering can make LI look like a U. I’ve heard that about Flick, but the Marvel character Hawkeye’s real name is Clint Barton, and he’s been around since the early 60’s when the Comics Code Authority was in full force. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/35 "2014-09-02T20:09:36Z")
There’s a real double standard here though. Nobody bats an eye when someone, male or female, calls a person a ‘dick’ or an ‘asshole’, reducing the person to a body part. But people make the same argument that calling a woman a ‘cunt’ does just that, belittles her by referring to her as that part of her anatomy. If we all strive for equality, why shouldn’t we be allowed to fold that word into our regular vocabulary along with the other two words? [end of devil’s advocate position] ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/36 "2014-09-02T22:44:01Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > There’s a real double standard here though. Nobody bats an eye when someone, male or female, calls a person a ‘dick’ or an ‘asshole’, reducing the person to a body part. But people make the same argument that calling a woman a ‘cunt’ does just that, belittles her by referring to her as that part of her anatomy. > > If we all strive for equality, why shouldn’t we be allowed to fold that word into our regular vocabulary along with the other two words? > > [end of devil’s advocate position] That ain’t the way language works. That’s why. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/37 "2014-09-03T22:35:26Z")
The F word has pretty much lost all meaning. People use it all the fucking time. You know what I fucking mean? The C word is always offensive and usually aimed at a woman. Calling a man that word would get your lights punched out. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807/38 "2014-09-03T23:04:17Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The C word is always offensive and usually aimed at a woman. Calling a man that word would get your lights punched out. Not in England. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-c-bomb-more-offensive-than-the-f-bomb/696807.md?page=1)