It isn’t a racial slur at all in the US.
Out of interest, would you say Jap or Chink are racist terms?
“Cunt” isn’t a racial slur in the US or Ireland/UK, though.
I’ve been thinking about the GWB “Paki” incident.
I think no, technically he wasn’t incorrect to use it, since in a US context it is inoffensive. However, as a global politician whose words are heard all over the world, he should have been advised better. He’s a politician, though - we’re on a message board.
This thread reminds me of the joke:
A teenage boy asked his dad what the difference was between a “pussy” and a “cunt”.
The dad got out a picture of a nekkid lady and drew a circle around the pubic region.
“You see that circle?” asks dad.
“Yep” says the boy.
Everything on the inside is “pussy”…everything on the outside is “cunt”.
I think this thread is the most to-do about nothing I’ve seen.
Everybody has some word they take great offense to being called.
Just never call me a Democrat and we’ll get along fine.
All those other words are only insults if you let them get to you.
I dare say it could be a case of “If the shoe fits”…
This thread reminds me of the joke:
A teenage boy asked his dad what the difference was between a “pussy” and a “cunt”.
The dad got out a picture of a nekkid lady and drew a circle around the pubic region.
“You see that circle?” asks dad.
“Yep” says the boy.
Everything on the inside is “pussy”…everything on the outside is “cunt”.
I think this thread is the most to-do about nothing I’ve seen.
Everybody has some word they take great offense to being called.
Just never call me a Democrat and we’ll get along fine.
All those other words are only insults if you let them get to you.
I dare say it could be a case of “If the shoe fits”…
Amen.
Thanks for bringing that up. I have seen that frequently in this very forum, and I think that might qualify as “the word” that really pushes my buttons. When it’s used in this way, notice that it’s not calling A man a pig, it’s saying MEN are pigs. The fact that anyone would so blithely dismiss half of the entire world’s adult population as being of the same ilk just makes my blood boil. To me, this is a FAR far more grievous insult than calling a single woman a nasty name. In addition, the meaning is clear, and doesn’t depend on any non-standard interpretation used (or perceived to be used) in my particular small town.
But would I dream of demanding that everyone stop using the word “pig”? Of course not. I just get over it and go on with my life.
ummmm…
Duke of Rat
I got it the first time. 
Yeah…hamsters. Posted, went away, came back and “Cannot find server”. Opened the thread, no post by Duke, so I hit reply again. Got a double post with the better part of an hour in between. Go figger:rolleyes:
You know, I’m perfectly aware that cunt is not a racist term and I never claimed it was. I said it is a word which I find offensive and a word which in my experience is used as a more vicious insult than cock or prick. Knock yourselves out trying to prove that my experience and my feelings about the word are invalid if you like.
The generic you might use the word as casually as cock or prick. I don’t and I don’t experience it that way. I’ve never in my life heard a woman being called a cock or a prick but I’ve heard cunt used as a term of utmost insult for a man. It sounds like the meaning of the word is shifting and it is less of the complete taboo word it has always been in my experience. :shrug::
There is a feminist construct where cunt can be seen as hate speech. So could cock and prick for that matter when cock or prick was used as an absolute insult for women.
I’m just saying I’m comfortable in my skin with how I feel with the use of the word cunt. I don’t like it ;). Maybe if I were 20 years younger, the word would have lost its sting because it is used casually like prick or cock. Probably it would have.
I’ll be sitting over here in the old crones corner.
Primaflora, yup, I agree with you. Maybe I’m an old fart (I’m 37). I think cunt as an insult is very rude. It is also very effective for that reason, IMHO. But that’s just me. I have very pleasant associations with cunt, and choose not to use it as an insult for that reason. Hi ho.
On the other hand, if I’m pissed off, I’ll say ‘fuck’ so much that a bystander may think I have a speech impediment! Seriously, I’d have to think really hard (pun intended) to think of something that thrills me much more than hearing my beloved wife say, “Fuck me.” Now is that fucked up or what? 
In my smeggy way, I guess I’m trying to say that the intent of a word said should be given more meaning than the mere saying of the word, or even the associations the hearer has…though I doubt that will happen in my lifetime.
Well we don’t use it regularly, just like we don’t really use “prick” regularly. However if someone were to use it, nobody would jump on, or think lesser of, them. It’s definitely not a word that I would use outside of my very close friends, simply because I’m aware of how many people feel about it.
PS. Our ages range from 19 - 21. I don’t know whether that has any bearing but I thought I’d toss it in anyway.
It might be helpful to ignore the hate speech/sexism issue and simply recognize that, in the US, the word “cunt” is generally treated as one of the – if not the – most obscene words in the English language. That is why it bothers many people to see or hear it. That is why many people who will happily say “prick” or even “fuck” will often avoid saying “cunt” and may even take offense when they hear it spoken by others. “Cunt” is considered so obscene in the US that in most circles it is never used at all. I cannot recall ever hearing it in an American movie or song. I have spoken it aloud exactly once in my life, in reference to the girl who had just attempted to break my neck. Well, not spoken so much as screamed. Ah, high school. But I digress.
This special treatment of the word “cunt” in the US cannot be solely because if applies to the female genitalia rather than the male. The synonymous “pussy” is used relatively casually in reference to both the female genitalia and as an insult. I don’t know why. But I do know that if you insist upon using the word “cunt” around Americans then you are going to end up offending many of them. That’s just the way it is. There are some Americans who don’t give the word any more weight than they do other obscenities, but I don’t think the general opinion is not changing anytime soon.
It might be helpful to ignore the hate speech/sexism issue and simply recognize that, in the US, the word “cunt” is generally treated as one of the – if not the – most obscene words in the English language. That is why it bothers many people to see or hear it. That is why many people who will happily say “prick” or even “fuck” will often avoid saying “cunt” and may even take offense when they hear it spoken by others. “Cunt” is considered so obscene in the US that in most circles it is never used at all. I cannot recall ever hearing it in an American movie or song. I have spoken it aloud exactly once in my life, in reference to the girl who had just attempted to break my neck. Well, not spoken so much as screamed. Ah, high school. But I digress.
This special treatment of the word “cunt” in the US cannot be solely because if applies to the female genitalia rather than the male. The synonymous “pussy” is used relatively casually in reference to both the female genitalia and as an insult. I don’t know why. But I do know that if you insist upon using the word “cunt” around Americans then you are going to end up offending many of them. That’s just the way it is. There are some Americans who don’t give the word any more weight than they do other obscenities, but I don’t think the general opinion is changing anytime soon.
Nigger - denigrating to a group of people whomever it’s said to, hence offensive to everyone (ok, some exceptions, you know what I mean).
Motherfucker - not denigrating to anyone in particular, but very offensive to the person so called. Offensive to people who object to swearwords in general.
Brit - if used derogatively, would be offensive to a group of people, but normally isn’t.
Paki - like nigger in UK, like Brit in US (I think).
Cunt- I think most people agree it’s nearly the most offensive of swearwords. But is it more like ‘motherfucker’ or ‘nigger’? Or does it vary as with ‘Paki’? It can’t be offensive simply because of it’s non-insult meaning (cf. Dick/Pussy/Cunt both genitalia, Paki/Brit both abbreviations). It’s just how most people use it.
I thought most people used it like ‘motherfucker’ (I’m in the UK) but Zabali says it’s more like ‘Nigger.’ You can’t settle this by reason, we just need a big poll. Go!
A latecomer to the thread checking in:
I’m at the ripe old age of 22, and I flinch at cunt. I’ll cuss a blue streak without a care, but I just don’t like the word cunt. It is simply not used where I’m from. I’ve known normally sane people to nearly come to blows over that word. Dick, cock, pussy, bitch, and prick (man, it feels good to type all these words, doesn’t it?) don’t even come close.
Why? Yup, it’s a double standard. English is rife with cases where words which used to be just different gender-specific cases of the same idea (e.g. buddy and sissy, hubby and hussy) have had the female version utterly obliterated by negative connotations (cite). I’m happy for those who live in areas where cunt isn’t the absolute worst word one can call a woman. But please at least acknowledge that, for many of us, it is.
As I pointed out earlier, Jack Nicholson said it in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It was also said in Silence of the Lambs. Those are just two off the top of my head.
Perhaps because “pussy” is an insult directed at men. I would think that men might tend to complain about it less, since it’s sort of a Catch-22 in the sense that a man who complains about being called a pussy would be seen as even more of a pussy. As I mentioned earlier, in a lot of places, there’s a certain amount of expectation on men to be “tough” and not complain about anything, or that men somehow aren’t supposed to have feelings. If they do show their feelings, they are labelled as a “pussy”. Again, it’s simply a double standard - nothing more, nothing less.
In my experience, all those words such as dick, cock, cunt, twat, pussy, etc. are pretty much on a par. It’s not something you would say in polite society, but you might use them if you were really angry at someone, or if you were joking around with your friends. I dunno, maybe in other places with more provincial attitudes, it’s considered all right to call men nasty names and not women. I can certainly understand how it’s impolite to use ANY of those words, but I’m not seeing how it should be o.k. for the goose and not for the gander.
For those who are saying it’s that particular word that is so offensive, is it really just that word? For example, would you be less offended by being called a “twat” or a “gash”?
You acknowledge it’s a double standard, but then say we should respect it?
No. It doesn’t work like that. If you’re going to take a person to task for using the word cunt, then you owe it to yourselves to apply similar rules to comparable words. Failing that - and this was the whole point of my OP - just leave it.
Anything else is hypocrisy, and I would respectfully suggest that it’s better to be called a cunt than a hypocrite.
But to most American speakers of English, there are no comparable words. Sure, there are words with a similar literal meaning, but there are none widely considered as vulgar as “cunt”. I think the literal meaning of the word and its etymology are beside the point here; it’s simply the way the word is used in the US. For most Americans, including many who use other swear words casually, “cunt” is literally unspeakably obscene. This is not hypocrisy, it is a reflection of the fact that, to most Americans, “cunt” is the single most obscene word in the English language. It has no accepted casual or neutral usage.
I think it’s reasonable to expect Americans to make allowances for English-speakers from outside the US for whom the word does not carry the same connotations, at least once the Americans in question realize this fact. But if you expect Americans in general to begin treating “cunt” as lightly as we already treat “dick” or “pussy” you’re going to be disappointed. Despite all being non-medical terms for the genitalia, the different connotations of the words prevent them from being truly comparable.
You make some pretty sweeping assumptions about what people think. Care to cite??
I can and do cuss profusely at times…sometimes to the point where people are amazed at the depth and scope of my cussing abilities. However, I’m not the only person I know that uses cunt as an insult or even a term of endearment.
If you are a cunt and I call you a cunt, you can be assured I am insulting you.
If you are not a cunt and I call you a cunt, it’s no more insulting than if I called you a dickhead.
It’s only when people are so sanctimonious that they place themselves upon a pedestal where they feel they are immune to ALL insults that ANY insults whip them into a frenzy.
Like I said before…if the shoe fits.
Do to severe budget problems, the Vatican decided to start sending all their personell on commercial airliners. When I was flying to LA, who should sit across the aisle from me but the Pope himself. I tried to make some small talk, but I have to admit I was a bit flustered.
After takeoff, his Holiness started into a crossword puzzle and I read a magazine. About halfway through the flight, the Pope leaned over to me and asked, “excuse me, my son, but do you know a word for ‘a woman’ that ends in ‘-unt’.”
Now I was really flustered. What kind of crossword puzzle was the Holy Father doing? I stammerred a bit grasping for an appropriate response. Finally, inspitation struck.
“The word, your emminence, is ‘aunt’”.
“hmm”, he replied. “Would you happen to have an eraser?”