Part of the cultural differences, but I wonder if bugger is an expletive word in the UK. To me, it seems a cute word that I'd love to incorporate, but I don't want to become a ol' salty sailor spewing forth offensive words...
It's funny when I travel to different countries and see graffiti with words I assume are offensive or such in the native culture, but have no impact on me what-so-ever (other than catchy ones stick in my head [like the aforementioned 'b' word]).
And ya know what? I'm sure that others in other countries look at our set of expletive words and find some cute or non-offensive, because of their cultural/dictionary differences. To me, the 'b' word brings up thoughts of insects, especially the cute ones (like ladybugs ;)).
It's interesting, b/c I wouldn't want to see someone posting a similar message as this asking if the 'F' word was an expletive (b/c I would find that offensive). I apologize if anyone finds this message offensive. I kept the mention of the word itself to 1 time (if that makes a difference :)).
Another interesting tidbit of this thread is that I would wager that American expletives are more widespread than other cultural expletives, due to the massive American cultural industry known as Hollywood...
Jason
bugger in the UK, to bugger, buggery refer specifically to, well, anal sex. Bugger is also used as a mild 'Oh shit'. It changed slightly when it crossed the atlantic much like wanker did.
Yes, it is a expletive in the UK, but one whose power has been completely dulled by time and overuse. It's not the sort of word you'd use when you're trying to impress but, for example, "you old bugger"[1] is generally seen as a term of affection.
[1] Of course, taken literally that's an accusation of homosexuality. Whether or not that's offensive is up to the individual.
Re:b*gger
pdcawley on 2001-12-14T19:41:52
It's one of those words you have to be a little careful with. Some people get really offended by it.
Then again, in some circles 'fuck off' can be literally translated as 'No, not really, what on earth made you think that?'
An American friend of ours had my stepdaughter literally rolling on the floor laughing whilst he was learning how to swear in British English. He'd sort of got the hang of the phrase 'To not give a bugger' meaning 'To (not)? care less', but he didn't quite realise that 'To not give a little bugger' is just, well, silly.
I have noticed that Brits seem to swear more than our colonial cousins though. But if there were a world cup for preeminence in everyday expletives it'd probably be awarded to Australia, unless Gnat can provide a fucking good case for giving it to New Zealand.
