I picked the post title at random from the top row of words at this site, which features “Swear words and profanities from around the world,” because the apparent page title, &$!#%, didn’t work for me. The “Questions & Answers” section at the bottom says:
It’s a celebration of swearing. Because swearing is great!
Choosing the right swear word is one of life’s great pleasures. Perhaps it’s a muttered “dickhead” when you see that guy on the telly, or shouting “MOTHERFUCKER” with tears streaming down your face when you stub your toe on the bed for the third time in one morning. But the right word at the right time is a uniquely human joy.
[…]I know the best swear word! Can you add it?
I would love to add your rude words. I’d especially like to hear more non-English swear words (so I can swear around the kids without them knowing) and obscure or regional vulgarities.
How did you decide how rude a word is?
Rudeness is complicated. In one sense, rudeness is highly subjective: what offends me might not offend you. But swearing is based on the breaking of taboos that are created by society at large, so there’s definitely a hierarchy of sorts, even if it’s unspoken and vague.
I reckon we in the UK could all agree that bonk is less rude than shag, which is less rude than fuck — the difficulty would be in putting an exact number on how vulgar a word is. So I’ve intentionally chosen a format that’s imprecise, and leaves room for your interpretation.
Obviously, this is my kind of site; I found it at MetaFilter via another post by the indefatigable and irresistible chavenet. …And on preview I discover that there is a different row of words at the top — I guess it changes constantly — so consider my title a snapshot of one magic moment in &$!#% history.
That exact phrase is one my mother (born and lived in Manchester) used on a weekly basis
I can’t begin to tell you how delighted I am to learn that!
“Arschgeige”? How did that come about?
I think “flange” started in the zone of words-that-sound-rude-but-aren’t* and somehow escaped, possibly thanks to Viz (cf Roger’s Profanisaurus).
* Once as a child I was having a fit of hysterics and, to avoid choking, was obliged to spit my mouthful of half-chewed dinner back onto my plate. “YUCK!” said my siblings. “Oh now, it’s just a masticated bolus,” said my father, rekindling my waning hysterics.
That exact phrase …
Oh? Is it supposed to be a rare phrase? ‘Blooming’ my grandmother (born 1896) would use often. I half-remember some cock-and-bull story involving flowers. Blooming. Or not.
There is ‘The flowers that bloom in the Spring, tra-la’ that veers dangerously close to ‘bloom’ as a minced oath. Or Eric Idle not even bothering to mince.
‘Balderdash’ would also be common argot at my grandparents’. Used specifically of Pompous Politicians on the Wireless. I’m pretty sure I heard ‘Blooming Balderdash’ on occasion.
My grandparents both Londoners; grandmother’s family originally from Essex/Suffolk border.
Balderdash and Piffle.
Is it supposed to be a rare phrase?
I’ve never heard it; have you? Yes, both words are familiar, but the phrase is not.
It’s probably exclusively British; Americans don’t need to euphemize “bloody.”
I heard bloomin’ growing up, but not in combination with balderdash. The latter sounds slightly posh to my ears, or at least posh-adjacent. I certainly wouldn’t have used the word as a schoolboy; it would have led to derision and mockery.
No idea. I can confirm it exists in the wild, though.
Wiktionary calls Arschgeige a “shitgibbon compound”, a term derived from a blog post by Taylor Jones. I wouldn’t call that an etymology though.
Has the dated term “balderdash” been revived in Britain as a minced form of “bollocks”? Unusual to see a synonym, rather than a mere soundalike, in that role.
Oh! Shitgibbon antedated to 2011 in the compounds!
Also, doucheyacht and douchecraft carrier.
Doucheyacht is unacceptable. Insults should be able to be pronounced by drunks.
Yeah, that’s a stupid attempt at a swear word. It sounds like Sanskrit (duṣyāt-).
What about that classic from childhood memories of black and white cartoons, Jumpin’ Jehosophat! Was that a mild minced oath, or a stroke of Bugs Bunny brilliance?
I should assert the claims of the Welsh verb cnuchio. It has a good, strong sound to it, unlike the uninspiring English equivalent. It also contains a vowel and a consonant that mere Saxons cannot pronounce (to say nothing of the initial consonant cluster.) Cymru am byth!
It cannot, of course, compete for sheer venerability with the Russian verb. Another isogloss between Slavonic and Indo-Aryan! And an agricultural term, to boot!
Well done wiktionary! Except no entry for ‘cnuch’.
And no specific mention it’s an expletive/no register or usage notes. So would (say) Shirley Bassey use it when the sax hits a bum note?
Why not. Surely duṣ- indicates something bad?
All about it.
Isn’t it rather more at home in animal husbandry?
So would (say) Shirley Bassey use it when the sax hits a bum note?
I cannot say. But I would not use it in front of Shirley Bassey.
Hello! Tom here, author of the swearing project. Thanks for the mention, glad you enjoyed it.
As fellow language fans, you may be interested to know that the &$!#% is called a “grawlix” or obscenicon— a string of symbols from the top row of a keyboard that replaces a profanity in a comic.
I always feel I’m being a teensy bit naughty when I say “bum” instead of “bottom” (never “arse”, God forbid, though I have been known to use it in compounds such as “arse-licker” which seems to be okay to my puritan mind). In fact I try not to refer to that body part, to salve my conscience. But “bum” is what most people say, so what’s my problem apart from inconsistency?
“Balderdash and Piffle” was a British etymological programme several years back on BBC2. I’m still not sure which of the two described my contribution to it.
I’m not sure [Brit] ‘bum note’/’bum deal’/’bum knee’ cp ‘bung knee’ [**] is the naughty variety of ‘bum’. Wikti has it as a different etymology. Your conscience can remain spotless!
[**] Ah, I seem to be losing my native tongue: wikti alleges that sense of ‘bung’ is Aus/NZ slang, no mention of Brit usage. Broken, not in working order.
bum
https://youtube.com/watch?v=eSrXqOI9988
Bloomin’ Idiot is now the name of some floral and gardening centers.
Bloomin’ Idjit, maybe not.
Hi, Tom — glad you found the post!
As fellow language fans, you may be interested to know that the &$!#% is called a “grawlix” or obscenicon— a string of symbols from the top row of a keyboard that replaces a profanity in a comic.
I could have we’d talked about “grawlix” here, but apparently not. We did, however, have an enjoyable discussion of sound effects in comix back in 2015.
Clip of scene
Further research suggests that Stich is speaking a language called Tantalog.