Nah, "con" must have been a very bad word a few hundred years ago. The French people I grew up with used it like it was nothing. Much like "merde". Doesn't m

Nah, "con" must have been a very bad word a few hundred years ago. The French people I grew up with used it like it was nothing. Much like "merde". Doesn't mean that you should be saying it willy nilly. I'm sure if you call a stranger a "con" they won't take it well -- you need some familiarity to do that. "Espèce de con" ("some kind of cunt") is for when you mean it a bit more.