Severity of profanity

[Torrasque]

I didnt actually know the word "****" exited untill much later (like I was 10 or 11) at first obviously I didnt see how it was a swear word at all...having never heard it before

I cant stand the word fag...mainly because whatever the context..when somone usues it they automatically sound like a fucking homophobic 12 year old dumbass..to me anyhow

So if you hear fag in a 1930s movie where fag means cigarette, then they would sound like a homophobic 12 year old dumbass? Lol, I'd rather not get into context in this thread since it would be really side-tracking.

I can tell when somone is saying "fag" as in Cigarette or (what was it?) bundle of wood (also refering to a cigarette as a "fag" isnt so outdated...at least around thease parts)

but when somone calls somone else a "fag" as an insult..I dont know It just doesnt reflect well on them (since I guess i assosiate it with awful people)

I used to use fag as a casual insult for calling someone a homosexual, but I stopped using it when I realized how much it offends homosexuals, and how it reflects on me as a person.

Even I find what I am about to say, confusing, so I apologize if it makes no sense:
It does not matter what you think of homosexuals or homosexual rights, because if you wield homosexual slurs as an insult (fag, homo, gay, queer, cocksucker, etc.) then you are a homophobe to some degree. It is much worse to say "I have a lot of homosexual friends and I like homosexual people" yet still call a non-homosexual a fag (with the intention of insulting them), because you associate being a fag/homosexual, with being a bad thing. That is bad and horribly inconsistent...
Summary: if you use homosexual slurs as a insult, then you are a homophobe. If you do not consider yourself a homophobe, yet still use homosexual slurs as insults, then you are an ignorant homophobe which is worse.

Hmmm... I might expand on this idea and create a separate thread about this.

 

[Rowan93]

Bieber
******
****
******
Fuck
Shit
Jizz
Wank
Cock
Tosser
Bollocks
Arse
Tits
Piss
-(This is the line for what I conside "not really a swearword")-
Dick
Balls
Douchebag
Ass

Yes, I consider "ass" and "arse" to be separate words.

 

[Rawne1980]

I'm from the UK so things may be a bit different over here than in the States and some other countries. I'll explain below with the OP's words.

Fuck - Common as muck saying. Used by a lot of people as punctuation mark. Used so much it could hardly be classed as swearing anymore.

Shit/shite - Same as above.

Ass - Don't hear it like that, usually said as arse over here. Hardly offensive.

**** - Never could see the big deal on why it's so offensive.

Dick - Probable nickname for half the people I know.

Fag - Used to describe a cigarette in the UK. Never heard it used as an insult around my neck of the woods.

Bollocks - I have 2 thanks.

Douchebag - Don't hear that used by folks my age (in our 30's) around here. If I did hear someone say it i'd slap them. It really does sound like a playground insult.

****** - Never heard as an insult or anything else around here.

 

[Torrasque]

Bieber
******
****
******
Fuck
Shit
Jizz
Wank
Cock
Tosser
Bollocks
Arse
Tits
Piss
-(This is the line for what I conside "not really a swearword")-
Dick
Balls
Douchebag
Ass

Yes, I consider "ass" and "arse" to be separate words.

****** higher than Fuck? Thats weird.
Thats funny that you consider ass and arse to be separate words, but of completely different severity.

 

[Torrasque]

I'm from the UK so things may be a bit different over here than in the States and some other countries. I'll explain below with the OP's words.

Fuck - Common as muck saying. Used by a lot of people as punctuation mark. Used so much it could hardly be classed as swearing anymore.

Shit/shite - Same as above.

Ass - Don't hear it like that, usually said as arse over here. Hardly offensive.

**** - Never could see the big deal on why it's so offensive.

Dick - Probable nickname for half the people I know.

Fag - Used to describe a cigarette in the UK. Never heard it used as an insult around my neck of the woods.

Bollocks - I have 2 thanks.

Douchebag - Don't hear that used by folks my age (in our 30's) around here. If I did hear someone say it i'd slap them. It really does sound like a playground insult.

****** - Never heard as an insult or anything else around here.

Ok, so none of those words in my list are words that you would consider "swear words" ?
If that is the case, feel free to make your own list of words that you consider profanity (5-6 should do).
If that is not the case (you actually do think these are swear words), then please rank them in order of severity. You can leave the ones that you consider normal vocab out if that tickles your pickle.

 

[Mayhaps]

To be honest I don't find profanity offensive. Though I often find it meaningless and just make the reading tiresome.

 

[Vault101]

[snip.

thats why I just dont like it..************..asshole I say all I want

but yeah..the ONLY meaning I get from using fag as an insult if "GAY IS BAD"....and I just cant get behined that kind of sentiment..not only because I disagree...

its like..if I were to hate asians..so as an insult I scream YOU FUCKING ASAIN! at people..you know it just doesnt work, so even though people might use it as a casual insult regardless of how they feel about gay people...it just still doesnt work


[small/] (I like asians just fine BTW..I actually think asian men are rather attractive) [/small]

 

[Jezzascmezza]

****
Fuck
******
Shit
Dick
Fag
Douchebag
Ass
Bollocks

To me, "****" has always been the most offensive. It's the word I use the most caution in using, and barely ever say it anyway. I'm legitimately offended if somebody calls me a **** in a way that's even remotely aggressive.

 

[Rowan93]

Bieber
******
****
******
Fuck
Shit
Jizz
Wank
Cock
Tosser
Bollocks
Arse
Tits
Piss
-(This is the line for what I conside "not really a swearword")-
Dick
Balls
Douchebag
Ass

Yes, I consider "ass" and "arse" to be separate words.

****** higher than Fuck? Thats weird.
Thats funny that you consider ass and arse to be separate words, but of completely different severity.

I'm not entirely sure why I put it that high either, although in a lot of informal contexts "fuck" isn't really offensive to use, and should maybe have switched places with "shit".

And yeah, I think it's partly because it's an Americanisation (so not so much a real word as "arse" is, at least to British people), and partly because words/phrases like "badass", "sweet-ass" and "move your ass" sound weird to me when "ass" is pronounced/spelled as "arse".

Seriously, try describing something or someone as "badarse".
Doesn't it just sound wrong?

 

[Torrasque]

Bieber
******
****
******
Fuck
Shit
Jizz
Wank
Cock
Tosser
Bollocks
Arse
Tits
Piss
-(This is the line for what I conside "not really a swearword")-
Dick
Balls
Douchebag
Ass

Yes, I consider "ass" and "arse" to be separate words.

****** higher than Fuck? Thats weird.
Thats funny that you consider ass and arse to be separate words, but of completely different severity.

I'm not entirely sure why I put it that high either, although in a lot of informal contexts "fuck" isn't really offensive to use, and should maybe have switched places with "shit".

And yeah, I think it's partly because it's an Americanisation (so not so much a real word as "arse" is, at least to British people), and partly because words/phrases like "badass", "sweet-ass" and "move your ass" sound weird to me when "ass" is pronounced/spelled as "arse".

Seriously, try describing something or someone as "badarse".
Doesn't it just sound wrong?

Badarse sounds weird as hell, but "move your arse" sounds fine to me.
I've heard it said rather nicely by an english woman, but can't recall the show or instance... I just know I've heard it, lol

 

[Jamash]

Here's my list:

Fuck
Fag
Dick
Douchebag
****
Ass
Shit
Bollocks

Your list doesn't make sense to me, with "dick" being more profane than "****" and "ass" being more profane than "shit".

It doesn't make sense to me that it would be more polite to refer to the former Vice President of the United States as "**** Cheny" and Richard Nixon as "Tricky Cunty", or that the title of the television program Jackass would be less profane if it was called Jackshit.

I don't even understand how "ass" is profane at all, let alone more profane than "shit". Ass refers to the Asinus subgroup of animals and if you call someone an ass, you're basically saying they're stubborn, like a Jack Ass.

The fact that Americans consider "ass" profane because it's also another word for buttocks baffles me, because by that logic "butt", "seat", "rear" and "rump" would also be profane.

My list would be: ****, Fuck, Shit... Bollocks (mildly) with the rest of the words not being profane at all.

Fag and ****** are just normal words to me, with the former being a slang word for cigarette and the latter being something I eat for my dinner quite often. It's hard to consider something that's emblazoned on food packaging to be profane.

I know ****** is considered by some to be a derogatory term for homosexual but in my limited dealings with gays, if for some reason I did want to insult them, then I could use much better terms than calling them a pork meatball.

 

[JCBFGD]

Most offensive:
Fag

Least offensive:
Fuck
Shit
Ass
****
Dick
Bollocks
Douchebag
******

They're just words, people. Fag is only offensive because the group it discriminates against isn't yet equal.

 

[Limecake]

****
Fuck
Shit
Fag
Dick
Ass
Bollocks
Douchebag


Please note, I didn't include the N-word in here because I consider it a racial slur but not a curse word.

**** is at the top, it's the absolute worst thing you could call someone. It's the swear word nobody tells you about. Not too sure why it's so offensive though.

Fuck is next because it's the most obvious offensive word, Shit is third since it's one of the last cuss words on the list.

the rest of the words aren't that big of a deal, Fag isn't nice but it's meaning has changed drastically over the years (just like the term 'gay')

dick, ass, bollocks and douchebag aren't really swears but aren't exactly proper words either. They are more of a grey area.

 

[Torrasque]

Here's my list:

Fuck
Fag
Dick
Douchebag
****
Ass
Shit
Bollocks

Your list doesn't make sense to me, with "dick" being more profane than "****" and "ass" being more profane than "shit".

It doesn't make sense to me that it would be more polite to refer to the former Vice President of the United States as "**** Cheny" and Richard Nixon as "Tricky Cunty", or that the title of the television program Jackass would be less profane if it was called Jackshit.

I don't even understand how "ass" is profane at all, let alone more profane than "shit". Ass refers to the Asinus subgroup of animals and if you call someone an ass, you're basically saying they're stubborn, like a Jack Ass.

The fact that Americans consider "ass" profane because it's also another word for buttocks baffles me, because by that logic "butt", "seat", "rear" and "rump" would also be profane.

My list would be: ****, Fuck, Shit... Bollocks (mildly) with the rest of the words not being profane at all.

Fag and ****** are just normal words to me, with the former being a slang word for cigarette and the latter being something I eat for my dinner quite often. It's hard to consider something that's emblazoned on food packaging to be profane.

I know ****** is considered by some to be a derogatory term for homosexual but in my limited dealings with gays, if for some reason I did want to insult them, then I could use much better terms than calling them a pork meatball.

The names of people and shows include the profane words, but do not count the same way that normal profanity does. Kind of like calling a donkey an ass is not the same as calling a person a donkey.

The other words that are included in my list are profane just because of north american culture and from my dealings with normal people. When I say "what the shit?" it is not the same as saying "what the poop?" or "what the feces?" even though they are technically the same thing. Kind of like how dick is the same as penis or one of the other hundred words for penis. It is just more offensive to say one than the other.

But your analysis of my list and how you don't get how some of the words are profanity at all, is the reason I made this thread. I wanted to see what people thought of swear words that I think are swear words.

 

[Rednog]

I am amazed that a good chunk of people find "fuck" to be so offensive.
Considering it doesn't even get bleeped out that much anymore and you can even hear it in PG-13 movies.
I honestly don't find swear words offensive at all, it is the intention behind the words that matters.
Also some of those I wouldn't consider swear words but rather insulting words.

 

[Biosophilogical]

F*ck 5
Sh*t 7
Arse 6
C- 2
D*ck 3
F*g 1
Bollocks 8
Douchebag 4

I don't even like writing them down without a very good reason, so I just 'edited' them in your post. I put:

1 there because it is not only an insult by those who use it, but it is deliberately derogatory to a particular subgroup of our communities (both rude and discriminatory),

2 because a) It sounds harsh, b) It is rude for the sake of being rude at the expense of the female anatomy,

3 because it tends to be a less common word than things like F**k, and in Australia at least, where swears are not always used rudely or cruelly, d*ck is more reserved for calling into question the quality of someone's character: it's actually meant as an insult

4 is just crass with slight similarities to 3

5 just because it is so ... blunt, and is worse than arse or sh*t

6 because it is used as an insult more often than not

7 is mainly just used as a vocalised exclamation mark (like if you stub your toe, also, 5 is used in this way)

8 because really? You put bollocks there?

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I am amazed that a good chunk of people find "fuck" to be so offensive.
Considering it doesn't even get bleeped out that much anymore and you can even hear it in PG-13 movies.
I honestly don't find swear words offensive at all, it is the intention behind the words that matters.
Also some of those I wouldn't consider swear words but rather insulting words.

Seriously. It's gotten to the point that "fuck" is used so often that it doesn't have much impact, which leaves people who are unwilling to go up to "****" (which is literally the most offensive swear word available in the U.S., despite not being too big of a deal anywhere else) really without a word that, regardless of tone, indicates serious swearing.

 

[DANEgerous]

Frankly i have never found any word offensive or vulgar, the entire notion is rather absurd to me. It is just insane to stress over such things i am a very "profane" man.

 

[Queen Michael]

****
Fag
******
Fuck
Ass
Dick
Bollocks
Douchebag
Shit


Here they are. I assume you want the worst one the highest, so I did it that way.

 

[OldKingClancy]

I have no problem with swearing (in fact I say **** more times than anyone else I know) so this is how I think other people will be offended by these.

****** (Fag is a cigarette)
****
Fuck
Dick
Bollocks
Ass
Douchebag
Shit