Phil Foden’s mum called a ‘s**g’.
Can someone please tell me what a s**g is.
It looks like it may be “slag,” which, in British English, when used in reference to a woman, essentially means “prostitute” or “slut.”
That is what I thought. But I can not believe that is so offensive that a newspaper can’t print it.
I suspect that a lot of American newspapers wouldn’t print “slut,” either, which seems to be a rough equivalent.
Don’t know the laws but perhaps British defamation laws may not necessarily protect a newspaper repeating a libellous slur.
Facebook bans the word from being used in groups. Which is actually a significant problem in a rock ID group.
I don’t think the word itself is up there with c*nt, but when directed maliciously at a woman, it’s pretty bloody offensive. I can appreciate the paper wouldn’t want to spell it out.
One other comment - every paper has its own guidelines on reporting/using offensive language - from what I can tell, it’s generally how much they rate the intelligence of their readers. So tabloids won’t print the full word (but will probably put it in large type in a headline to sell more papers), whereas more intellectual papers such as The Guardian will print the word in full, knowing that their readers won’t get the vapours.
Part of the reason the triceratops Dinobot is named “Snarl” in Transformers Animated - even thought there already was a Snarl (a stegosaurus) in G1 - specifically because his original name, “Slag”, is an offensive word in other English-speaking countries.
There is actually a comic called “The Fat Slags”. I suppose that kind of content is aimed at mocking tabloid readers, rather than to be consumed by them.
FWIW, “slut” is not a valid word in Words with Friends. OTOH four of George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words (“shit”, “piss”, “tits”, and “cocksucker”) are valid words. As is “asshole”. And “slag”.
I’d think it would be a significant problem in metallurgy and volcanology groups as well (assuming you are sill talking about “slag”).
Quite a few news and sports outlets in the U.S. like ESPN do pearl-clutching over offensive names/chants that stir controversy, refusing to tell the reader what they were.
So you have to go to TMZ or other sites to find out what the uproar’s about.
In the current case, it’s easy to confirm that the s-word was indeed what’s been described here, and to find photos of the demeaned s*** in question. 
Or when discussing the “slag-heaps” in The Great Gatsby.
“Slag” is a real word; I do not think anyone will be scratching their head or shocked reading about smelting ores.
Ah yes, I remember the Fat Slags - a comic strip in the ‘lad’ mag Viz in the '90s. I think it’s fair to say it wasn’t a very ‘woke’ time. As I said above, the word itself doesn’t have the flinching effect of c*nt - I wouldn’t really call it a swear word - but if you’re using it as a method of hurling abuse at someone’s mother, then it really really isn’t very nice - more for what it means than as a horrible word in itself. If that makes sense?
And yet Facebook declines to allow posting comments that contain the word, in any and all contexts.
At least the ones the Tenctonese settled in.
This might be the reverse of the c-word we are discussing in another thread viz. mildly offensive in the US and practically verboten in the UK.
Although long past its heyday, Viz (including the Fat Slags, Sid the Sexist, Biffa Bacon amongst others) is still going strong.
I’m not going to go around introducing you to people as “Sam Francisco”. Can I just call you “George”?