For what it’s worth, I’ve got a British children’s book published circa 1900 that uses the word in a context that suggests the author was blithely innocent of any offensive implications whatsoever (it’s in reference to the appearance of a child smeared with coal-dust; there are no actual black characters in the book).
I suspect there may be a bit more variability in people’s feelings about cunt than about nigger.
As to the cultural thing, I think we need to wait for a UK doper to chime in. But I’ll mention that Harry Flashman, in the eponymous historical fiction novels, is quite casual with throwing nigger around. He also uses it much more loosely than we do–an African and an (asian) Indian were equally eligible for the word. Possibly also Arabs and southeast Asians–I forget. But Flashy’s not only fictional and Victorian, he’s also a bit of a jerk, so we can’t extrapolate very far from him.
I’m rather curious myself.
I meant the supercut of all the fucks–522 fucks in 253 seconds makes for 2.06 fucks per second, or 123 fucks per minute. 
Well, if you find yourself running short on fucks to give, you know where to find some. 
That was over 100 years ago. I’m quite sure that even in the UK the use of that word in that context would be deemed extremely unacceptable now. Also, there are now more people of color in the UK whereas back then there were very few to be offended.
More recently even than that. Agatha Christie’s novel And Then There Were None was first entitled Ten Little Nggers* in 1939. It was changed (and the poem that is a major plot device) for the first American edition, probably because it was perceived at least that there were more black people in the US, or at least more people in the US who would be offended by the title than in the UK.
C.S. Forrester’s novel The General has a passage where the title character makes approving reference to one of his staff by saying that he “works like a ngger, and plenty of brains." And the edition of Ian Fleming’s James Bond books Live and Let Die has a whole chapter entitled "Ngger Heaven” about Bond’s trip to Harlem, along with a shitload of semi-casual racism throughout the rest of the book. (The chapter was removed later).
I don’t think “n*ggger” was considered as offensive as it has now become, at least not until the 1950s. Maybe because it was assumed that there would be no black folks who read the book, or perhaps none who would say anything.
Regards,
Shodan
Dunno about you, but 3 fucks a minute would wear me out.
Yes. You can’t tell someone to fuck off in the Pit, but you can tell them to “go fuck a cactus” by historical precedent.
I’m well aware of both of those things. I just thought it was an interesting data point in terms of showing the cultural / historical variability of offensiveness.
Yes; about the only place I know of where it’s considered exceptionally offensive is, well, here.
Actually, in much of polite society, it’s still rather offensive. My mom would box your ears for using it in her presence. Don’t think so insular.
Don’t forget American broadcast network television and radio. Of the “Dirty 7”, it’s still the big one in terms of FCC violations.
But the FCC’s rules are way out of touch with what society in general actually is like.
I daresay the phrase “cunt punt” has allowed the term some comedic value it was formerly lacking.
my Brit guildies and corp members used twat and cunt heavily while my mic was broken and all I could do was listen in way back when I first started playing EVE Online. It was freaking hysterical when I got the new headset and could actually talk … right in the middle of a discussion full of fucks, cunts and twats [we were discussing a fight in a solar system the alliance was trying to take over and we were in the internal trash talk phase of getting ready to sit on the gate] I made some comment in the female American voice I have. There was dead silence and sudden apologies for the language. So I said ‘I don’t care what fucking language you twats use as long as the gate gets covered’ That ended the belief that this american female was a delicate flower of femininity. I personally can swear like a sailor on leave in a whorehouse. :smack:
Have you forgotten where the fuck you are?
No, no no no no. Don’t make this mistake. Someone may be having you on here.
Cunt is by some way the most offensive swear word in the UK and is absolutely not on an equivalent level to bitch.
Agreed. Don’t be under the impression that “cunt” is some inoffensive word in the UK. It really can be the strongest swear word used aggressively, but it is all about context. It can be used as a term of affection - mostly amongst males I think - “and then the daft cunt set his arm on fire” or whatever.
Actually, that’s a question I’ve had. I got quite used to the word “cunt” through living for a spell in the UK (and especially Scotland), but I’ve only heard it used non-offensively to describe another male friend. I don’t remember ever hearing a male describe a female affectionately with the word “cunt.” Is my observation generally true, or can a man call a woman a “daft cunt” without being offensive? I guess I can imagine a context where it might not be as offensive, but I can’t actually think of a real situation where I encountered it in that way.
Fuck and cunt both have nice hard consonants which makes it sound sharp. That’s why German sounds like one long curse filled diatribe.
I think the current definition of “worst” words settles on the level of contempt implied by them. This is something I really like about my generation.
For my Grandparents, it would have settled on topics that shouldn’t be mentioned before “innocent ears.” (i.e. sex, death, feces, etc.)
Agreed. Frankly, it took me kind of by surprise. When I was a kid ('90s-era) “cunt” didn’t seem much worse than “bitch” - it was certainly rude and hurtful, but wasn’t seen as some ghastly, unspeakable, uber-offensive slur the way it apparently is today. I feel like the change happened in the early 2000s, who knows why.