IME, cunt was the ultimate swear word. There was nothing more offensive than it, and when I was growing up, it was never used. We all knew about it, but the closest most would go is C U Next Tuesday. It doesn't have near the same level of taboo as it once did, but it's not in everyday use like fuck is (though I work with a woman who could make a sailor blush with the things she comes up with).
That's without going into specifics, e.g. an electrician is a sparkie.
Yes, that's the shift I usually go through, an interchangeable usage, but dialled in as required. I'll mix in "sex" on occasion, and once or twice I've had characters self-refer to their snatch, but only when talking about themselves with another woman. That's one of the words a man would use only with a death wish, I reckon, and certainly not amongst good company. Same as lady curtains, that's a bit dodgy.
'Lady curtains'. I'm literally laughing out loud
My favourite ever in this genre is "parking the purple Pajero".
OMFG ... seriously? Where are people's heads at?
Do carpenters get known as chippies and electricians as sparkies in America? I think they do in the theatre/movies, but maybe not in other industries?
Yeah, while 'cunt' can be the direst insult in the UK, it's also used affectionately among friends (particularly groups of male mates in Scotland and the North, but also elsewhere).
It's mainly used in a jocular, mildly-humorous way - but that's 90% of Britspeak, so yeah, it's still used. But less so now we're more aware of the Yank meaning.
No, a chippie here is, or at least was, a slightly more polite term than “whore” for a prostitute. I’ve never really heard it used in reference to an actual sex worker, though, only as a way to insult a woman seen as promiscuous, usually by someone that’s a Boomer or older. I remember it being a word that made it past the censors on TV back in the 80s and early 90s; I don’t know that I’ve heard it since then.
What's the basis for this "appears to be"?
Yep, I remember well the dulcet tones of the three year old from the back seat, "Was that driver a right royal prick too, Daddy?"
You can't get purple Valiants any more, so it's the Pajero. Very Aussie, for sure.
I think that one was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I certainly hope it was.
I both agree and disagree. I like to read witty dialogue, like the characters exist in a world where, instead of thinking of that comeback three hours later while sitting on the pot, they have it right in the moment, though that's a stylistic thing more than a right or wrong thing. So always having that exactly right word doesn't bother me as long as it's plausible that the character could know it.
Haha - I was obviously a bit less sweary but I do remember a small voice saying 'When you call that other driver 'mate', you don't really mean that they're your friend, eh Mum?'
I’m not sure how much this helps. But I’ve recently gone back to a story that I started writing a while ago and then stopped. It’s a quasi-autobiographical story and I am always tempted to explain more with those.
