Generally I would consider “darn” as the most common euphemism for “damn.” Though I suppose “drat” would be up there. Likewise “heck” for “hell.” What are some others?
I guess I have heard “motherlover” used. I have nothing for “c**t” or even “bitch.” What are some others, or are there none in some cases?
Going down the Lenny Bruce nine dirty words:
“ass” - many acceptable variants, “butt” being the most common?
“balls” - gonads?
“cs**” - no idea
“ct" - no idea
"fk” - screw?
“mf” - motherlover?
“ps" - probably pee
"st” - probably poop
“tits” - probably boobs
Some euphemisms or substitute words try to preserve the meaning; others try to preserve the sound. For the latter, there’s “fudge,” “frick(in’),” “frig(gin’).” For the former, “screw” certainly works; but there’s always “intercourse.”
“cotton-pickin’” may be a sound-preserving substitute for “mf’.” Or it may be a racial epithet; who knows?
“shit,” “crap,” and “poop” all have pretty much the same meanings, both literally and as swear words, but they’re in decreasing order of naughtiness/adultness.
Every time someone is about to say “bitch” on TV you can watch them pause for a half second as they realize they can’t swear, and then come up with “witch” so I’d say it’s the #1 euphemism for that one.
Good pick. At the same time the phrase “son of a btch" is totally different than the use for "btch”. After all, one begets the other. You’d never say “That woman is such a gun.” or “That gun screamed at me all morning”.
The rest of the world is amused at the American aversion to using ‘bitch’ as a descriptor. Here in the UK, it is an insult for sure, but there are worse ones. On the other hand, ‘motherfucker’ is almost never heard outside of the rap community.
