How Do You Handle Foul Language?

Ask specific questions about your target languages. Beginner questions welcome!

How Do You Handle Swear/Curse Words In Your Target Language?

Avoid as much as possible (hearing, using, reading)
0
No votes
Avoid using
21
24%
Use as seems appropriate
25
28%
Uncontrollable use
1
1%
Avoid
3
3%
Acquire
26
30%
Study
8
9%
Practice
4
5%
 
Total votes: 88

User avatar
tommus
Blue Belt
Posts: 957
Joined: Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:59 pm
Location: Kingston, ON, Canada
Languages: English (N), French (B2), Dutch (B2)
x 1937

Re: How Do You Handle Foul Language?

Postby tommus » Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:45 pm

My wife and I were on an overnight train from Edinburgh to London in 1976. The night porter came around in the evening and asked us if we wanted to get knocked up in the morning.
9 x
Dutch: 01 September -> 31 December 2020
Watch 1000 Dutch TV Series Videos : 40 / 1000

User avatar
Jim
Orange Belt
Posts: 142
Joined: Sat Apr 22, 2017 3:18 pm
Languages: English (N), French (intermediate), Spanish (frosty intermediate), Russian (beginner)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5766
x 254

Re: How Do You Handle Foul Language?

Postby Jim » Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:25 pm

gsbod wrote:Interesting, that must be a regional thing. It's not used in the south of England or south Wales, as far as I can tell.

It dates back to the industrial revolution - the “knocker-up”. In that context, it makes sense that the expression survived longer in the midlands and the north of England. I’m from the south coast and didn’t know that use of the expression until I moved to the midlands.
3 x
La hora más oscura es la que viene antes del nacimiento del sol

Merci de corriger mes erreurs !

User avatar
IronMike
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2554
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 6:13 am
Location: Northern Virginia
Languages: Studying: Esperanto
Maintaining: nada
Tested:
BCS, 1+L/1+R (DLPT5, 2022)
Russian, 3/3 (DLPT5, 2022) 2+ (OPI, 2022)
German, 2L/1+R (DLPT5, 2021)
Italian, 1L/2R (DLPT IV, 2019)
Esperanto, C1 (KER skriba ekzameno, 2017)
Slovene, 2+L/3R (DLPT II in, yes, 1999)
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5189
x 7265
Contact:

Re: How Do You Handle Foul Language?

Postby IronMike » Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:33 pm

My Russian swearing is pretty good, I'd say even C2/3+. My Russian was never bad, and I even got looks from native speakers that showed me they were impressed (cashiers at grocery stores for example), and was even told that a couple times by Russians, which in and of itself is remarkable.

But, never have I ever been so complimented than when I was in a military setting, with uniformed Russians or Kyrgyz, and busted out my матерный язык/Russian swearing.

As an example, here is a translated & redacted-but-easily-understood curse phrase that I heard naturally coming out of the mouth of a Russophone, that I've used which has gotten pats on the backs from many colonels:

Suck my [curse for butt] with a straw, whore.

Oy. The imagery...
Last edited by IronMike on Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
6 x
You're not a C1 (or B1 or whatever) if you haven't tested.
CEFR --> ILR/DLPT equivalencies
My swimming life.
My reading life.

Beli Tsar
Green Belt
Posts: 384
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2018 3:59 pm
Languages: English (N), Ancient Greek (intermediate reading), Latin (Beginner) Farsi (Beginner), Biblical Hebrew (Beginner)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=9548
x 1294

Re: How Do You Handle Foul Language?

Postby Beli Tsar » Wed Jul 21, 2021 8:11 am

A good French friend of mine has truly excellent English, and lived and worked in London for several years. The one thing that has always seemed out of place is her use of swear words - she swears like an trooper in English, whereas I don't think she does in French, as far as I can tell. It really jars, even when those who hear her are themselves pretty comfortable with swearing.

My assumption is that it is hard for her to feel the shock/inappropriateness value of those words in the same way a native would. It's hard to absorb the deep subtexts of any word, to get beyond the basic gloss. Swear words, of course, are all subtext. A word-for-word translation simply doesn't bring out the emotional impact. So my friend just doesn't feel those subtexts like a native speaker. That may be doubly so, considering how differently swearing works in French and English (I think?)

It's interesting seeing that those posting so far about their own use of swearing are very confident, advanced language learners. I doubt I'll ever be far along enough in a language to swear confidently, knowing I was getting the context and tone right, even if I wanted to...
5 x
: 0 / 50 1/2 Super Challenge - Latin Reading
: 0 / 50 1/2 Super Challenge - Latin 'Films'

Ug_Caveman
Green Belt
Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2018 2:58 am
Location: England
Languages: English (N), Dutch (A2 - July 2021), working towards B1
x 1075

Re: How Do You Handle Foul Language?

Postby Ug_Caveman » Thu Jul 22, 2021 3:08 pm

In my native tongue... My favourite TV series is a political comedy drama called 'The Thick of It' - starring Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker (a fairly obvious caricature of Alistair Campbell) - they quite literally hired swearing experts to edit the scripts :D I frequently quote it with my friends who also watch the show.

In Dutch? I know a few expletives but I've never found myself in situations where I might need them (I think my examiners might not have approved too much...) I feel like swearing is as much a part of a language as anything else, so I'll probably improve that skill... At some point.

I also know the standard French and Spanish swear words that all teenagers decided to look up in their dictionaries as a minor act of school-age rebellion...

Dr Samuel Johnson: Ah, I see you’ve underlined a few - 'bloomers', 'bottom', 'burp', 'fart', 'fiddle', 'fornicate'? Sir! I hope you’re not using the first English dictionary to look up rude words!

Edmund Blackadder: I wouldn’t be too hopeful; that’s what all the other ones will be used for.


On the subject... One of my old French teachers told us a story where (while he was studying for his degree) he had gone to work in a French school for a while, and one of the French pupils kept saying 'saucepan' and 'curtains' under his breath before turning to his friends and giggling. It later transpired that another (bilingual) pupil had been asked by all of her friends what the 'best' English swear words were, and that is what she had told them :lol:
8 x
Languages: English (N), Dutch (passed A2 exam in May 2021, failed B1 in May 2023 - never sit an exam when you have food poisoning!)

Seeking: Linguaphone Polish and Linguaphone Afrikaans

User avatar
kanewai
Blue Belt
Posts: 753
Joined: Fri May 22, 2015 9:10 pm
Location: Honolulu
Languages: Native: English
Active: Italian
Maintenance: Spanish, French
Priors: Chuukese (Micronesian), Indonesian, Latin, Greek (epic and modern), Turkish, Arabic
x 3219
Contact:

Re: How Do You Handle Foul Language?

Postby kanewai » Fri Jul 23, 2021 5:56 am

When I was younger we'd pick up words we heard in movies and toss them around when we tried to speak Spanish. In our minds we sounded cool like characters out of Y tu mamá también, or even better, gangster like the characters in El mariachi. Now, I just cringe when I think about it. Like others said, context and tone matters in cussing. I simply don't have it in languages I study.
4 x
Super Challenge - 50 books
Italian: 11 / 50
Spanish: 50 / 50
French: 16 / 50


Return to “Practical Questions and Advice”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests