Trouble, trouble, trouble. I have a history with dirty words, and I don’t mean that I use them too much. Okay, I use them like salt and pepper. And you can interpret that as you will! Saucy verbiage serves a purpose. It puts exclamation marks in discourse. You’ve avoided blander selections from the lexicon to emphasize your point. Done with a bit of flair, and selectively, I don’t think it rude.
However, I’ve gotten into trouble with spicy language. Last year I answered this prompt and illustrated how, without using a single vulgar or obscene term, I got into trouble. Here are the passages:
I messed up a relationship with a very proper young lady by pointing out to her that the current “dirty” word used to describe a woman’s sexual organs derived from an earlier word for a rabbit – a cunny. But of course, cunny became contaminated by association and eventually became just as crude as its predecessor. She decided that I was hopelessly obscene and not someone you could take to meet Mother.
I didn’t make myself popular with another girlfriend by insisting that the way we said words could make them obscene. It was not a very close relationship. And it was fated to early failure. I was slapped for reading a menu to her using suggestive gestures and pronunciation. What you can do with facial expressions, gestures, and suggestive pronunciation is fantastic! But be prepared for the consequences.
Crazy, right? Unfortunately, there were other similar incidents in my life. Sometime around high school, I found a generator for four-letter Anglo-Saxon-sounding words. The original work was an exercise in sociolinguistics. and pointed out that many of the dirty dozen” filthy words” in English were derived from Anglo-Saxon four-letter words. Let’s just say it was a development of the Norman invasion that Anglo-Saxon was the language of the lowly, and therefore of the low language.
Creating words
Of course, being a juvenile high school student, I soon was using the generator to create a host of juicy-sounding pseudo-dirty words. I was the toast of my gym class, but an English teacher took umbrage at my mutilation of a beloved language. This was probably a factor in my expulsion from high school. Being that I ultimately got my bachelor’s degree, master’s, and Doctoral candidacy without that certification, it could not have been too important.
So, at this point you probably ask me…Lou…Lou, have you seen the error of your ways? Have you repented? Seen the path of Righteousness? I’ve seen something alright! About two years ago, I ran into a Shakespearean Curse Generator online. It’s the best thing since, well, since the Anglo-Saxon dirty word generator: Here’s the link, try it: http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/index.html?
By the way, some years ago, I lost track of the Anglo-Saxon word generator that made me such a fat cat at George Washington High. Just for giggles, I’d love to find it again. Drop me a note if you locate it. In the meantime, have fun with the Shakespearean Insult Generator.
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I think the best insult I found, so far, has to be “Thou beslubbering Hell-hated lout!”, lol. Too funny… hugs
I love all the words. This does not endear me to everyone…
My dad was good at this, too. I don’t think he was thinking when he called my bro the “bastard son of a syphilitic camel,” though he knew my mom better than anyone. 🤣
I’ve heard that one!
I know!
From you probably!
’twas
🤣
My brain went in an entirely different direction with banned words, but I like what you’ve done here. We used to have a “Meterological Explanation” tool that we weather forecasters toyed with for fun. Three columns with different terms, you think of a 3-digit number, then look up which words correspond. In no time, you could reassure an unsuspecting person that soon the effects of the Omega Diffluence Index would pass.
That shows potential!
Oh my gosh, that was fun! Thanks for the link.
Glad you enjoyed it!
My father didn’t swear and mom only did it in German until an eye doctor told her I’d be blind by 21 and take me home to save their time and money. I was so proud of her salty language. My first husband could string the words into a paragraph, the second husband, a firetruck mechanic, never swore. I’m always smacking my mouth, asking if that came out loud. I have a favorite blue word that starts with an S and ends with a t. My dad asked me if everything I touched turned to that since I was using it so often. We were having a discussion about my separation from first husband. I replied, “quite frankly, it does seem to all turn to that”. His reply was that he didn’t beat me and brought his pay home, What more did I want? I wanted to add more salty words to my vocabulary, most certainly. It’s funny that my son doesn’t swear often and my daughter can talk like a trucker. She’s her father’s daughter. 🙂 I can’t imagine not using colorful language when the world is so full of need for it.
It’s interesting. Swearing and use of “creative Language” is very varied.