Swearing in Other Englishs

[deird_lj]

I recently realised something about writing different dialects.

You see, I’m an Aussie. My English is (sort of) a mixture of British English and American English – with a lot of Australian slang thrown in. It makes me a pretty reasonable Britpicker for American writers, and also a pretty good Ameripicker for British writers. But there’s one area I’m not very qualified to handle: swearing.


It’s not that I don’t know plenty of swear words. If you asked, I could list plenty of swear words for use by all kinds of American characters, or British characters, or pretty much anyone. But… I’m not entirely sure what they mean. Or – more precisely – I don’t entirely know what the characters mean when they use them.

A bit more explanation might be required. (Otherwise you’ll all think I’ve just got a crap vocabulary.)


I was betaing a fic for someone recently, in which she had an Australian character talking about an ex-boyfriend and using the term “that jerk Mike”.

I pointed out that Aussies don’t really say “jerk” that much, and after consultation with another Australian, offered the following alternatives:

“that idiot Mike” – which implies a very harsh opinion of Mike, and possibly a fair amount of bitterness, too

“that retard Mike” – still harsh, but she’s mostly over the whole thing

“that dickhead Mike” – she doesn’t really like him anymore

“that tosser Mike” – doesn’t like him, but more in an eye-rolling sort of way than a nasty way

“that bastard Mike” – affectionate, and possibly said with a smile

You see, if an Aussie calls someone a “bastard”, it’s not really that big a deal. Somewhere else? It might be hugely insulting – I have no idea.


American insults and swear words don’t tend to be ones I’d hear over here, except on TV. So I can generally (mostly) figure out how harsh they are, comparatively speaking, and when they’d be likely to be used.

British insults, on the other hand, are quite often the exact same insults used by Australians – but in a different hierarchy, with different ones being used to friends, strangers who cut you off in traffic, and deadly enemies.
I’m rather worried that, if I wrote a British character swearing, I’d end up with a swear word that was way too harsh – or, alternatively, extremely cute, but one way or the other, it just wouldn’t fit.



Thoughts?

Comments

[nwhepcat.livejournal.com]

It seems, from reading I've done, that "cunt" gets more of an affectionate usage in the UK than it does in the US. Here it's like dropping the big bomb.

[quinara]

It's slightly more complex than that (as is true of a lot of British swearing) - it can be used affectionately, and I would probably find it less surprising to hear it used that way than as an insult, but that's really because it is a seriously strong insult and if it's used that way it generally implies a quite extreme level of anger/hatred (at least in my experience/understanding). I wouldn't expect it at a football match, for example, even if people are swearing at the players with a very high amount of vehemence (using words like 'fuck' and 'twat' and whatever).

Similarly with things like 'bastard', people will use it as a fairly strong insult even if they refer to their friend who's just been dumped as a 'poor bastard' five minutes later. There's definitely more than one axis to our hierarchy!

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

Surveys in Britain generally say that it's the swearword that makes more people cringe and look away than any other - though racial epithets have probably overtaken its position in recent years. Still, it's only 'affectionate' in the sense that any other extreme swearword can be affectionate between two friends. (Black Americans calling each other 'nigger' springs to mind here.)

I do think ther is a difference though: in American English, in my experience, 'cunt' seems to be regarded as a specifically gendered insult. It's only directed at women, and seems to carry the meaning "you're worthless apart from your genitalia" or something like that. In Britain, it's become separated more from its literal meaning, and simply carried the connotation "utter bastard" or "really hateful person". In fact, while in the US I gather it's considered a demeaning insult, in Britain it's more often levelled against powerful people who are abusing their authority. The policeman who gives you a speeding ticket when you were hardly over the limit is a cunt; the referee who awards a penalty against your team when anybody could see the other guy took a dive is a cunt.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is certainly not a word you would EVER use if your mother, boss etc was likely to hear - it is regarded as VERY crude.

Fanny is the most acceptable name for the vulva whereas cunt is probably the least acceptable, and the phrase "You cunt" makes me cringe even writing it.