Asperion Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 Over the years authors have developed many different ways of getting around the censors, especially where it comes to swearing. In Red Dwarf, everyone used the term smeag whenever they wanted to swear. Other authors went with ancient words that most people will not recognize. How do you prefer to make these non-swears? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 One word: Farscape. (Frell yeah!) Cygnia and Armory 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 When in need of a noun when I'm complaining about people, "diseased sodomizers of underaged reptiles". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 con-sarn it sometimes (thanks to an early 1940s version of the Devil and Daniel Webster) Note: especially considering his mother's reaction was "what kind of talk is that on the Sabbath" Of course, smurf. And being a Southerner we have dagnabbit, and dern it, dang it etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 I'm partial to "Mother of Hades". I also quite like "son of a whore", but that's probably no better than what I substitute it for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 When actually cursing I tend to favor ba------d over son of a ----------- Don't know why (less syllables maybe, I stutter a lot when angry, which makes me angrier, and stutter more) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 When in polite company, "fudge" and "dang" are my go-to. But I find I've been outright swearing more in recent years -- maybe because my life has grown more swear-able. I am trying to cut down, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killer Shrike Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 I'm a former Marine. If I stopped swearing when I spoke I'd be reduced to hand gestures and writing things on a chalk board. lemming, Cancer, Rails and 5 others 4 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 I just noticed I've been hanging around the wrong kind of people. F'rex, a couple of weeks ago at work, I had cause to push the haul arse button. Normally in a situation like that, I'd invoke the vernacular term for excrement, but I found myself using a term best translated into English as "Oh, deary deary me!" tkdguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archer Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 I don't swear IRL except for maybe twice (ever) with my kids in order to deliberately place special emphasis on what I was saying. I wasn't raised in a household or extended family on either side which used swear words in conversation so I just never picked up the habit. Kind of weird because neither side of the family was overwhelmingly religious when I was very young. In writing fiction, I'll use whichever swear words I feel is appropriate to the character. My favorites from fiction: From Battlestar Galactica: frak From Star Wars the EU: Sithspawn/Sithspit - Usually used as a single word exclamation when the person is excited or shocked. Holy Sith! - humorous for the anagram kriff/kriffing - roughly equivalent to a mild form of the f-word kark/karking - roughly equivalent to a not mild form of the f-word lubed - meaning either "fantastic" or "screwed", according to context vaping - mild curse about the level as saying "damn" dwang - as in "deep in dwang". Probably derived from some Mandalorian word, the term is usually used by clones in the GAR. shebs - meaning buttocks, from the Mandalorian language shab/shabuir - from the Mandalorian language. "Buir" means father or mother (the language not distinguishing between the genders) and "shab" meaning excrement. So a shabuir could be used to mean you are a "crappy parent" in a society where family is everything and passing along what you know to your kids is the ultimate in cultural values. The term shabuir can also be used somewhat sympathetically to a parent who has tried to do everything right by their kids but everything turns out wrong for the kids anyway (e.g. - a parent who was put in a crappy no-win situation with his kids). shebs - meaning buttocks, from the Mandalorian language dar'manda - Mandalorian, someone who was born a Mandalorian but who has lost his cultural heritage or has deliberately turned his back upon it. In literal terms, it means that upon death that the person's soul will not return to the Manda (the collective over-soul or heaven). So saying that someone who has deliberately turned his back on the Mandalorian culture is "dar'manda" is roughly the equivalent of saying he's become a soulless monster. There's a lot more Mandalorian that's wonderful for cursing and abuse. If I had to pick one culture from which to derive insults, it'd be this one. Firefly: Gorram Ringworld: TANJ futz/futzing bleep expletive deleted - Bleeping out bad words on the boob cube and putting "expletive deleted" in the written news became so common that saying "bleep" and "expletive deleted" became the new swear words used by society. The censors decided that they'd have to live with those new curse words being in use since obviously despite whatever they tried to censor that people would just adapt and move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 Farscape: frel Cygnia and Armory 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 I will also occasionally write [REDACTED] where a profane word would normally go. I think I got the idea from Heinlein, one of whose characters in Starship Troopers said something about "the best redacted unit in the whole unprintable army", or words to that effect. bigbywolfe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 Why not go Presidential and say [expletive deleted]? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 There's also a specific word for which [obscene gerund] is an adequate substitute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 Besides "frell", we also use [MEEP] in our circle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlord Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 Yosemite Sam is the greatest 'clean' cusser in the history of cussing. Learn from his example. https://youtu.be/wWYFxekoAsM Ockham's Spoon, Duke Bushido, Ternaugh and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 14 hours ago, Asperion said: Over the years authors have developed many different ways of getting around the censors, especially where it comes to swearing. In Red Dwarf, everyone used the term smeag whenever they wanted to swear. Other authors went with ancient words that most people will not recognize. How do you prefer to make these non-swears? Battlestar Galactic had "Frag" in the same way. 13 hours ago, Pariah said: One word: Farscape. (Frell yeah!) Farscape is definitely way up there. Apparently the Translator Bacteria had a censorship filter:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCNDdlCo4rA And Zort, for the Fictional Talan Lanaguage of the game Outcast. Also sometimes "Ptok'chai" - and pardon my Klingon here. And from Dragonball Z Abridged: "Ah, Crapbaskets". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 $&@#% oath I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 My wife's family are fond of "Son of a motherless goat!" from The Three Amigos. Old Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 6 hours ago, Starlord said: Yosemite Sam is the greatest 'clean' cusser in the history of cussing. Learn from his example. https://youtu.be/wWYFxekoAsM Rassin' frassin' has been my my go-to for decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattingly Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 The Middleman is another inspiration. Ockham's Spoon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
massey Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 8 hours ago, Starlord said: Yosemite Sam is the greatest 'clean' cusser in the history of cussing. Learn from his example. https://youtu.be/wWYFxekoAsM Racka frackin' is one of my go-to curse words when kids are around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 20, 2019 Report Share Posted March 20, 2019 Isn't there a flippin' sticky thread for this already? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asperion Posted March 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 52 minutes ago, Old Man said: Isn't there a flippin' sticky thread for this already? That other thread was originally meant as a warning to everyone to not use swear words in their posts, otherwise discipline action will need to be taken. However, people being as they are that thread has moved away from that warning. I was simply attempting with this thread to make a general discussion about the different methods that people have used to swear in published material that censors will either not catch or will not care about thinking that the audience will not recognize or care about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deglar Posted March 21, 2019 Report Share Posted March 21, 2019 Sometimes I will inform the illegitimate rodents in my path that I would prefer them to consume excrement and expire. This is when I forget to eschew obfuscation. Christopher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.