eggcorn: "profound" (profane) words

Scot LaFaive spiderrmonkey at HOTMAIL.COM
Tue Jul 31 20:21:55 UTC 2007


I've discussed this many times with various friends over the years and
nearly every woman has said that, of the usual offensive words, "cunt" is
the worst thing you can call a woman, especially from a man, I believe. If I
remember right, "bitch" sounds worse coming from another woman. Of course,
this is merely anecdotal.

Scot


>From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: eggcorn: "profound" (profane) words
>Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:15:00 -0400
>
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>Subject:      Re: eggcorn: "profound" (profane) words
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>At 4:03 PM -0400 7/31/07, Charles Doyle wrote:
> >My female students have informed me, with seeming unanimity, that
> >the the C word (as a synecdoche) is the MOST offensive epithet that
> >can be bestowed on a woman--the genderly counterpart of the N word
> >racially, several have insisted.
> >
> >In contrast, a casual "What a bitch!" is merely rude.
> >
> >--Charlie
>
>Hey, no skewing the data.  Rather than "What a ____", you'd need to
>control for the frame.  Something like "You goddam ____" would be a
>possible context for the comparison.  The thing about synecdoche is
>that coming from one's partner rather than a stranger it indicates
>general misogyny (just as the N word would display general racism),
>focusing on traits not under the insultee's control, while the B word
>might potentially be taken more personally as singling out the target
>for individualized opprobrium.  Reasonable insultees may differ, of
>course.
>
>LH
>
> >_____________________________________________________________
> >
> >---- Original message ----
> >>Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:31:46 -0400
> >>From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> >>
> >>
> >>>Isn't the B word significantly less profound than the C word?
> >>
> >>Well, mebbe so as profundity (profunation?) per se goes.  But as a
> >>source of complaint, though, in this sort of context, I'd think the B
> >>word is pretty much always grounds for complaint (barring reclaimed
> >>uses by women or in literal reference among dog breeders, neither
> >>which are at issue here), while the C word in literal uses can be
> >>neutral, at least potentially.  A matter of personal taste, I presume.
> >>
> >>LH
> >>
> >>>But parallelism is a fast-fading skill in the culture at large.
> >>>
> >>>--Charlie
> >
> >------------------------------------------------------------
> >The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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