One of the most apparently different things to me between the British and the Canadian language is swearing. I love to swear. Most brit’s do. But it is rude, and I’m just learning that. I find myself “hushing” my boyfriend if we’re in Loblaw’s in Barrhaven now and he is swearing loudly. Now, if we were in Sainsbury’s in East Dulwich I wouldn’t bat an eyelid, and nor would anyone else for that matter – if anything I would get a cheeky smile from another shopper.
Swearing is implemented in the culture in Britain. You’re brought up with swearing. My boyfriend’s nephew is just learning to talk and it’s considered cute when he says the “f” word or has some attitude about him. During my meetings at work in London, people wouldn’t think twice about chucking out the “s”, “f” or – god forbid – the “c” word over tea and biscuits. It’s become a part of who we are, and we’re proud of it.
It takes more than just a simple 'bloody' to swear like a Brit. Most British swear-words have a history longer than that of North America itself, evolving out of even older European languages such as Norse, High German and Latin (hence British phrases like 'pardon my French').
Highly British swear words tend to have evolved over many, many years and are often a result of age-old words that didn’t intend to offend. The Sex Pistols album, Never Mind the Bollocks, was saved from censorship due to it being derived from the words ‘bullock block’ which is a pulley-block at the head of a topmast. Now the actual meaning of the word ‘bollocks’ is something completely different.
An amusing word to me is fanny. To American’s and Canadian’s alike it means bum. To the brit’s it means the… front bottom, to say it politely. Another word for this, a-hem, front bottom is the “c” word. One of the most offensive terms for female genitalia, the “c” word is the ultimate four-letter word in British English, the final media taboo – finally airing on television at prime time in 1999. The word has Germanic cognates including old Norse (kunta), middle-Dutch (Kunte) and possibly High German (Kotze meaning prostitute), which all point to a pre-historic Germanic ancestor kunton. The word would appear to have entered the English language during the early Middle Ages; in 1230AD, both Oxford and London boasted districts called 'Gropecunte Lane', in reference to the prostitutes that worked there. Records do not show whether it was a decision of intentional irony that eventually placed the Bank of England there. The abusive term 'Berk' also derives from this word, being cockney rhyming slang, short for 'Berkshire Hunt'.
French Connection hit the marketing world on the nail when they came up with their play on the “f” word, and printed tops with their abbreviated logo F.C.U.K. This clever play on letters, which was discovered when a fax was sent from Hong Kong branch FCHK to FCUK, hit stores in April 1997 and was an instant hit. The marketing gurus came up with a plethora of slogans – “too busy to f.c.u.k”, “great f.c.u.k”, “f.c.u.k. off” and so on. I was 16 when this came out and it was the must have item that summer… and every summer still, French Connection brings out more witty slogans.
The “f” word is perhaps the most versatile of all swear words, and I would go out on a limb and say it is Britain’s favorite. When it first was broadcast on television in 1965, being uttered by Kenneth Tynan, it caused considerable scandal, albeit without mention anywhere of what he said. (It was: "I doubt if there are any rational people to whom the word f**k would be particularly diabolical, revolting or totally forbidden.) Again, the Sex Pistols broke the rules and said it repeatedly in their 1975 interview on Thames Today, infuriating presenter Bill Grundy. The word, as I said, is versatile which perhaps makes it the most commonly used in everyday life – according to an internet wit called Nick Lohr, it is “the one magical word which just by its sound can describe pain, pleasure, hate and love – f**k falls into many grammatical categories, as a transitive verb, for instance: 'John f**ked Shirley.' As an intransitive verb: 'Shirley f**ks.' It's meaning is not always sexual; it can be used as an adjective, such as 'John is doing all the f**king work'; as part of an adverb: 'Shirley talks too f**king much'; as an adverb enhancing an adjective: 'Shirley is f**king beautiful'; as a noun: 'I don't give a f**k'; as part of a word: 'abso-f**king-lutely' or 'in-f**king-credible'; and as almost every word in the sentence: 'F**k the f**king f**kers”.
So there you have it, a brit’s take on swearing. It’s not because we’re rude, we just don’t know any better. And we love it.
PS. did you notice I did the whole article without actually swearing!?
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