3 ms·

I don't find that to be true for the c-word (American here). I'll edit out of respect for the low-profanity nature of HN discourse, but if someone said "Jan ha

I don't find that to be true for the c-word (American here). I'll edit out of respect for the low-profanity nature of HN discourse, but if someone said "Jan had a falling out with Marcia after she called her a meddling c#nt", that wouldn't phase me. I would find it amusing and childish if someone said "c-word" as a mention, in a context where an f-bomb would not be out of place, which is most adult conversation. Yeah calling someone a daft c#nt isn't something we really do here, and it's about as misogynistic as insults get, but by contrast: white Americans really do take pains to never pronounce the n-word, use, mention, singing along with the radio, or under any other circumstance. No white American would complete the sentence, "as Muhammad Ali put it, 'no Viet Cong ever called me...'". It's an actual taboo, at this point: it is simply never to be said, and it's tough to make a living or complete an education after a single offense, if made in public or documented. Edit to add: I did say "no white American" but there's a certain subculture who do, and I have no idea what to call them now, since the name itself is pretty offensive. We would sometimes refer to them as Wegroes to be droll.

filoeleven 6y ago
Yes that’s fair. My experience may be biased regarding more conservative usage of words or ideas of what’s considered to be taboo.
- samatman 6y ago
  It's true that if you go and use that word in anything like the British normal fashion, let alone Australian, you will get panicked looks and be shushed. But then again: for the most part, Americans don't know what bugger means. It registers as a silly British euphemism for the f-word! Truly two people divided by a common language. Lets not even get into the fact that you can buy an accessory where the label says it's a "fanny pack"...
  - filoeleven 6y ago
    Yeah, I only learned about all of these differences when I got into British panel shows, some of which are truly fantastic. 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown was my introduction, and Taskmaster is far and away one of the funniest things on TV. The latter show will broadly appeal to nerds, because most task descriptions (like “bring in the heaviest item that fits inside a shoe box”) leave loopholes large enough to drive lorries through, and the contestants are by turns great and terrible at exploiting them (in this case, “a copy of Mein Kampf”; which category this falls under is left as an exercise for the reader).

filoeleven 6y ago

Yes that’s fair. My experience may be biased regarding more conservative usage of words or ideas of what’s considered to be taboo.

samatman 6y ago
It's true that if you go and use that word in anything like the British normal fashion, let alone Australian, you will get panicked looks and be shushed. But then again: for the most part, Americans don't know what bugger means. It registers as a silly British euphemism for the f-word! Truly two people divided by a common language. Lets not even get into the fact that you can buy an accessory where the label says it's a "fanny pack"...
- filoeleven 6y ago
  Yeah, I only learned about all of these differences when I got into British panel shows, some of which are truly fantastic. 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown was my introduction, and Taskmaster is far and away one of the funniest things on TV. The latter show will broadly appeal to nerds, because most task descriptions (like “bring in the heaviest item that fits inside a shoe box”) leave loopholes large enough to drive lorries through, and the contestants are by turns great and terrible at exploiting them (in this case, “a copy of Mein Kampf”; which category this falls under is left as an exercise for the reader).