Which countries – or cultures – have the most relaxed attitudes to swearing? Cathal Collins, Cork
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Readers reply
I see you are from Cork. Do you really need to ask? Mark Rowlands
In my research, I have noticed that while all western countries write in cursive, Ireland is the only country to speak in cursive. Bernard O’Scanaill
It’s obviously us, the Irish. We’ve even invented the word “feck”, which you can safely say in front of your granny. It’s marvellous. Orla Coffey
Ireland. “Fuck off” can be anything from humorous dissension to mild disbelief to a threat of violence – and that’s just my mother on the phone on a Sunday night. lococomico
Ireland, FFS! Mary O’Connor
This is a story about ethnicity and cussing. I live in Omaha, Nebraska. My mom’s side has several ancestors who were Irish orphans, sent in the late 1880s to live and work on Nebraska farms or be jockeys. When I was 10 or so, I spent the night at a friend’s house. While there, I dropped a glass and said: “Shit,” which would have been fine in my house, but my friend’s mom gasped and said: “Sarah, we don’t say that word!” I felt shocked and ashamed.
When I got home, I told my mom the story. She rolled her eyes and said: “Well, we’re Irish, and Irish women cuss.” I thought this was hilarious, and still do. Indeed, this has been my experience. Omaha is a city of immigrants and a very Catholic town, with a lot of Irish and Italian heritage. When I travel to the south, or to more Scandinavian areas of the midwest, like Minnesota, I notice that people cuss a lot less. Sarah High
Definitely the Czech Republic, my country of origin. We swear from early childhood and swearing is kind of part of the culture; we think swearing is funny and effective. England turned out to be very relaxed – if you’re part of the working class, of course. Also Australia – a court once decided that the C-word can’t be taken as an offence because people use it so broadly. Veronika Neumanová
Can any country beat Canada’s publicly funded TV network, the CBC, for having broadcast a hugely popular TV series from 2015 to 2020 that was coyly spelled Schitt’s Creek? Richard Orlando
Bill Bryson’s book Mother Tongue has a chapter on swearing, in which he says: “Some cultures don’t swear at all ... The Finns, lacking the sort of words you need to describe your feelings when you stub your toe getting up to answer a phone at 2am, rather oddly adopted the word ‘ravintolassa’. It means ‘in the restaurant’.” I don’t know where he got that notion from, but it’s a right load of old kivekset. EddieChorepost
Danes seem to love to season their sentences with curses, mainly the English F-word. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the most common words in Danish. It’s almost considered cool – or even necessary, in some scenarios – to slot the F-word, or any of a handful of Danish curses (usually to do with hell, Satan or cancer), into a sentence. I would say it’s much more socially acceptable to do that in Denmark than anywhere in the English-speaking world.
I’m sure the F-word even appeared in the proposed title of a kids’ TV show over there, but I can’t find anything about it online. That’s probably because the search results are diluted with stories of John Dillermand, another Danish kids’ TV show. It’s about a cartoon man who is a bit like Mr Tickle, but instead of extending arms, he has one big extending penis. But that’s a whole different story. Ethan Pender
Jamaica – especially swearwords native to the local language, Patois. Mikhail Johnson
Tricky question. Not all swearwords have the same gravitas in different languages. The C-word or the F-word in Spanish are used regularly in everyday conversation, but they are not as offensive as their English equivalents. SOB in Spanish is extremely offensive. But the language best suited to swearing is definitely Italian. opie4tea
I have lived in Hungary and Spain and speak both languages fluently. I would say swearing was normalised in Hungary well before it became widespread in the UK, and it’s much more graphic and anatomical. It even references bestiality. In Andalucía, where we are at the moment, there isn’t such a range, but it surprised us to find that the C-word is used as a friendly greeting, as in: “Hey [C-word], how are you doing?” Even 20 years ago, professional people in a work setting would say: “Joder!” to express surprise. On balance, however, I would award the prize to the Hungarians.
I settled in Portugal three years ago. I have never been concerned about swearing; punk rock materialised when I was about 12, so the Sex Pistols and the Stranglers were normal fare. However, even I was shocked at the playing of very explicit songs, in English, on mainstream Portuguese radio at all times of the day. The Portuguese, a polite and respectful people on the whole, are happy to pepper their tirades liberally with their own F-word. Andy Thompson
I’m a 65-year-old American, with experience travelling all over the world and working with people from around the globe. I must say, people from the countries that make up the former Yugoslavia use more swearing in just about every sentence than any other countries. It’s amazing how many different ways there are to curse a person’s mother and all the women in someone’s family. Makes my ears burn! Ron Ecke
The Scots, by a mile. I used to field suggestions from the Scottish office floor for names for new computers I was adding to the network, being careful to suggest a theme (footballers, Star Wars characters, whiskies etc). The first time I didn’t, the room full of graduate, middle-class lawyers and assorted other professions immediately suggested a stream of the rudest words I’d ever heard, some of which needed explaining to me. In detail. HaveYouFedTheFish
Why, we do! Only in Oz can an 80-year-old be heard to shout: “Well, fuck you, mate!” as a car sweeps through the crosswalk, narrowly missing her – and all those nearby nod their agreement. No one is shocked by her language, but they’re all shocked by the driver’s behaviour. Margaret-Rose Stringer
Australia. Yes, I’m biased. I live here and I love swearing. Even people who don’t swear are relaxed about others swearing. This is also not exclusive to regional or backwater areas of the country; everyone swears. My lecturers at uni, my boss at work and, heaven forbid, even kids in a schoolyard. Yet no one corrects them unless class is in session; that’s how relaxed it is. The C-bomb is just part of the vocabulary, to the point that being called a “mad cunt” is a compliment, rather than being called “mate”. Maybe that’s why Australian’s are so relaxed? Pearl Hirunchai
