Author Topic: Acceptable expletives (Read 33763 times)

cranioscopical · « **on:** August 17, 2007, 09:42 AM »

At times I am forced to eschew my favourite Anglo-Saxon oaths.
In what passes round here for polite company I still have a need to express extreme frustration, and there are times when "Oh bother!" just doesn't seem to cut it.

When hard pressed, my expression of choice is "Castor and Pollux."
For example,
Castor and Pollux! The data say that we have been wrong all along!
So, your mother is coming to stay for a week... Castor and Pollux!"

On what favourite expressions do others rely?

Darwin · « **Reply #1 on:** August 17, 2007, 09:56 AM »

I quite like "cinders and ash" from Thomas the Tank Engine. Then there's the old standby "fudge and bannna peels". Sadly, I use neither. I don't know what comes out of my mouth in polite company, or rather, I never know what will come out of my mouth in polite company... I improvise. Castor and pollux is nice, though - I might use it!

katykaty · « **Reply #2 on:** August 17, 2007, 02:17 PM »

I know someone who renamed his kitten 'Cooking Fat' in celebration of the number of times she was standing exactly where he wanted to step while holding a tray of hot food.

tomos · « **Reply #3 on:** August 17, 2007, 02:38 PM »

castor & pollux sounds like a nice bit of cockney rhyming slang

My mum used to say "Christopher Columbus!", doesnt quite cut it does it

-
but for her (very religious) it was the nearest to "Christ!" she could get!

I think there's a few you'd get away with depending how polite the company is.
Is "feck it" used in the states/canada?
Sort of, well, definetly less unnacceptable than the other version.
Or just "shag it", but I suppose that's not too polite either

Funny in german the word "scheiße" (scheisse) is quite acceptable whereas in english not so much..

mitzevo · « **Reply #4 on:** August 17, 2007, 02:45 PM »

I always use "Where is my cheese?", "God I love my cheese", "Pleaes help me find it".. interchangeably.

Eóin · « **Reply #5 on:** August 17, 2007, 02:49 PM »

For me it's got to be smeg!

Darwin · « **Reply #6 on:** August 17, 2007, 03:03 PM »

Funny in german the word "scheiße" (scheisse) is quite acceptable whereas in english not so much..

Yes - same in Korean "doh-ng" and "doh-ng-shim" (my transliteration skills are negligible) are
terms used by everyone from toddlers to the senile and everyone in between... Doh-ng = excrement and Doh-ng shim its point of egress from the body

"Feck" it is not in general usage, at least in my part of NA. Similarly, "shag" is only used to describe the pile in a carpet or the state of someone's hair (The "Shaggy" DA, for example). Snog, to my knowledge (I know, off topic now) isn't even in our vocabularly - I was scrambling for it's meaning when my Welsh cousin mentioned someone trying to "snog" her at a party.

cranioscopical · « **Reply #7 on:** August 17, 2007, 07:04 PM »

tomos: Or just "shag it", but I suppose that's not too polite either

It's probably totally polite round these parts. I should use it more. As Darwin says it hasn't the same meaning here.

Darwin: Snog, to my knowledge isn't even in our vocabularly

That reminds me of when I first arrived on these shores.
Smoking was prevalent in those days, and contemporary U.K. slang for a cigarette was a 'fag.'

It was a conversation stopper in various boardrooms when I'd ask, "Can I offer anyone a fag?"

Needless to say, I still have many ways to further my reputation as a Limey nitwit.

BigJim · « **Reply #8 on:** August 17, 2007, 10:28 PM »

castor & pollux sounds like a nice bit of cockney rhyming slang

From Wordsmyth:"In Greek mythology, the twin brothers of Helen, one mortal and the other immortal."

From BritSlang: ("Castor & Pollux=Bollocks")"The names of the twins of Gemni are transfered to the twins of the ball bag"

cranioscopical · « **Reply #9 on:** August 17, 2007, 11:06 PM »

Quote
castor & pollux sounds like a nice bit of cockney rhyming slang

From Wordsmyth:"In Greek mythology, the twin brothers of Helen, one mortal and the other immortal."

From BritSlang: "The names of the twins of Gemni are transfered to the twins of the ball bag"

And they do have that star quality...

Darwin · « **Reply #10 on:** August 18, 2007, 12:10 AM »

And they do have that star quality...

tomos · « **Reply #11 on:** August 18, 2007, 08:40 AM »

(for the whole thread)

iphigenie · « **Reply #12 on:** August 23, 2007, 12:13 PM »

people used to make fun of me for saying "darn" - they thought it was so quaint. After 10 years around people who swore a lot i have picked up a few, but am working on it.

As an expletive I tend to use the equivalent of %$^^£%^*&N$^@ - i.e. a non verbal gmblzzttt!! type noise. let people fill in the blanks if they get offended it's from what is in their head not what I said.

PS: Unless in an argument with my other half - then it's all the nasties like in the worst gangster film

Darwin · « **Reply #13 on:** August 23, 2007, 01:15 PM »

PS: Unless in an argument with my other half - then it's all the nasties like in the worst gangster film

Fargin bastiges and the like?

Edvard · « **Reply #14 on:** August 23, 2007, 03:22 PM »

I seem to have adopted the word "Smoke" to replace expletives in most forms, which began happening after I did some work repairing electronics and the phrase "you let the smoke out!" came into my vocabulary with some regularity.
Hence:
Aw smokes; Smoke it!; Holy smokes; What kinda smoke are you blowing at me?; et cetera

Darwin · « **Reply #15 on:** August 24, 2007, 01:54 PM »

Finally got to use "castor and pollux" - thanks Chris!

cranioscopical · « **Reply #16 on:** August 24, 2007, 03:55 PM »

Finally got to use "castor and pollux" - thanks Chris!
-Darwin (August 24, 2007, 01:54 PM)

Good to know it has its uses but I like Edvard's "Smoke." After all, there's no smoke without the 'f' word.

Darwin · « **Reply #17 on:** August 24, 2007, 05:04 PM »

After all, there's no smoke without the 'f' word.

allen · « **Reply #18 on:** August 24, 2007, 06:01 PM »

I curse like a sailor (Poor Deozaan when chatting with me drunk...), but in my defense was one.

I've been known to, on occasion, substitute with <insert explitive here> -- both in speak and type. Naturally I lose the angle brackets when speaking.

ala

For <insert explitive here>'s sake . . . I get way too much <insert explitive here> spam.

Darwin · « **Reply #19 on:** August 24, 2007, 06:08 PM »

For <insert explitive here>'s sake . . . I get way too much <insert explitive here> spam.

=

For Pete's sake . . . I get way too much wonderul spam.

??

Cpilot · « **Reply #20 on:** August 24, 2007, 07:03 PM »

What's wrong with "poopie"?
As in "aww, poopie, I screwed up the $%#@mn &@#kin' thing again".

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #21 on:** August 25, 2007, 07:04 AM »

For Pete's sake . . . I get way too much wonderul spam.
-Darwin (August 24, 2007, 06:08 PM)

It's a good point: since when did Pete become an expletive? I love this explanation!

Funnily enough, also on that site is this interesting comment about obfuscating non-acceptable expletives by adding dashes to the words middle letters: eg: for Cpilot's benefit: p----e. Why do we do it? For four letter words, that are in such common usage, it's just as good as writing the full word (and just as offensive).

Darwin · « **Reply #22 on:** August 25, 2007, 09:35 AM »

I tried not to use "Pete" but it fit... I always thought "Pete" was St. Peter, but I like the itinerant farmer explanation (though it doesn't actually identify who Pete is or why his name is being invoked).

Anyway, I've often made a similar argument, Perry. Why bother being cutesy pie when everyone knows what you mean by a------ or "fudge and banana peels"? I mean, don't get me wrong, I find this quite useful now as my 5 year old is reading and my 3 year old is a linguistic sponge. Don't really need this kind of language coming out of their mouths at this age (that can wait for school to start for the 5 year old next week!). But this kind of language is so commonly used in the media, on playgrounds, and sadly in households now that it seems an affectation to avoid using it while substituting a word or a phrase that makes it obvious what our intent is in the first place! However, I look on it as leading by example. The words are out there and I use them

but I don't really want to teach my kids, or my friend's teenagers, that it's OK to use them in everyday language.

Ultimately, I feel it's a respect issue - most of the time, I'm able to avoid using this kind of language in mixed company and I do so because I respect that these words ARE offensive to many people and am sensitive to that. Example: I helped the neighbour's late teens/early 20's son troubleshoot a water pressure issue that was causing the seals on her hose bibs to blow out. I've never heard such prolific effing and blinding in my life and I was offended. Here I was, a somewhat older (OK "OLDER") person whom he had never met before and he was peppering his language with so many swear words that it was hard to pick out the non-swear words and figure out what he was trying to say (other than that he was exceptionally randy and wanted to have sex WITH the hose bibs, the wrenches, the water pressure gauge, a Hydrangea, and the cat - or so I inferred from his liberal reference to the act)! I found it overly familar, crass, inappropriate, rude, and insensitive. For all he knew, I could have been the parish priest! That I am far from it is entirely beside the point... $:-\$ I think the key is familiarity - I think you need to someone before you can start talking a blue streak in front of them.

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #23 on:** August 25, 2007, 10:07 AM »

I tried not to use "Pete" but it fit... I always thought "Pete" was St. Peter, but I like the itinerant farmer explanation (though it doesn't actually identify who Pete is or why his name is being invoked).
-Darwin (August 25, 2007, 09:35 AM)

St Peter makes sense to me (when being sensible): the farmer just made such wonderful non-sense!!

Anyway, I've often made a similar argument, Perry. Why bother being cutesy pie when everyone knows what you mean by a------ or "fudge and banana peels"? I mean, don't get me wrong, I find this quite useful now as my 5 year old is reading and my 3 year old is a linguistic sponge. Don't really need this kind of language coming out of their mouths at this age (that can wait for school to start for the 5 year old next week!). But this kind of language is so commonly used in the media, on playgrounds, and sadly in households now that it seems an affectation to avoid using it while substituting a word or a phrase that makes it obvious what our intent is in the first place! However, I look on it as leading by example. The words are out there and I use them but I don't really want to teach my kids, or my friend's teenagers, that it's OK to use them in everyday language.
-Darwin (August 25, 2007, 09:35 AM)

Exactly: just doesn't make any sense. When you leave two letters out from a four letter word you would to have to not know the word, which means you could have used the word anyway for all those who don't know the word $:-\$

We are generally a family of non-swearers; my middle son finished high school with the reputation of the boy who didn't swear! So let me encourage you: I think the statistics show that kids are much more likely to pick up the family values than what they bump into at school or in the community.

Ultimately, I feel it's a respect issue - most of the time, I'm able to avoid using this kind of language in mixed company and I do so because I respect that these words ARE offensive to many people and am sensitive to that.
-Darwin (August 25, 2007, 09:35 AM)

Excellent observation! When I try to figure out why I don't swear in front of people, part of the reason is that it's out of respect.

When I took my wife on to a building site I was doing I made all the contractors mind their language in her presence (which they did), and she was very thankful [power is a wonderful thing

].

It's interesting that you think it's familiarity, it may well be, but the person I am most familiar with I am also the most embarrassed when I do swear in front of... funny, eh?

Darwin · « **Reply #24 on:** August 25, 2007, 10:16 AM »

It's interesting that you think it's familiarity, it may well be, but the person I am most familiar with I am also the most embarrassed when I do swear in front of... funny, eh?

Another excellent observation! It's the same for me...