Posted by Jay Livingston
(Warning: this post is about language, and it contains some very bad words. When we talk about language, if we can’t use the actual words that we’re talking about, then the terrorists have won.)
It’s fun to notice the differences between American and British English, especially profanity – probably because in most respects the languages are so similar. Sure, it’s “ass” here and “arse” there, but the meaning is the same. Some words, like “wanker,” have crossed the Atlantic (maybe because we didn’t really have a good word for it).
Then there’s the C-word.
A BBC presenter,* Jeremy Paxman, slipped in referring to the budget “cuts,” and it came out as “the C-word” (story and video here). A month earlier, another presenter made a similar mistake when referring to culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. (The presenter’s name: James Naughtie. Enough said.)
We’re a bit more prudish about language. In the US, inadvertent or spontaneous profanity on TV has brought heavy fines. In the UK, it’s been merely a giggle. In the US, “The King’s Speech” is rated R for language. In the UK, it’s 12A (under 12 years must be accompanied by an adult).
And in the New Statesman last week, Laurie Penny spoke up for the C-word. She finds it “empowering,” especially when uttered by a woman.
On this side of the Atlantic as well, it’s the word that carries the strongest taboo. Probably more so than in Britain. I think we use also it differently. We do not use it to refer to men. My first inkling of this came thanks to the Monty Python travel agent sketch. The Tourist cannot pronounce the letter C. The travel agent, Bounder, asks, “Can you say the letter 'K'?”
Tourist: Oh yes, Khaki, king, kettle, Kuwait, Keble Bollege OxfordNo American, whether in anger or in a comedy sketch, would call a man (including himself) a cunt. But here’s Laurie Penny:
Bounder: Why don't you say the letter 'K' instead of the letter 'C'?
Tourist: what you mean.....spell bolour with a K
Bounder: Yes
Tourist: Kolour. Oh that's very good, I never thought of that. What a silly bunt.**
The first time I ever used it, I was 12 years old, and being hounded by a group of sixth-form boys who just loved to corner me on the stairs and make hilarious sexy comments. One day, one of them decided it would be funny to pick me up by the waist and shake me. I spat out the words “put me down, you utter cunt,” and the boy was so shocked that he dropped me instantly.Manliness isn’t the issue. It’s not like when we call a guy a “pussy.” When the Brits call a man a cunt, it apparently means merely that he is completely inept, perhaps contemptible In the US, she would have called him “asshole.” Cunt just carries too much gender denotation, at least to my American ears.
It reminds me of something I heard long ago in college. A bunch of guys were talking, and one said that some girl was “a schmuck.”
“You should never call a girl a schmuck,” said another guy, pausing before finishing the thought, “unless she’s a real schmuck.”
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* A non-profane difference. American TV doesn’t have “presenters” or “newsreaders.”
** In the only YouTube versions I could find, this punchline has been edited out.
1 comment:
In my experience (disclaimer; I'm British and have lived in America for the past ten years) I would say there is a difference in how people react to bad language.
I remember when I first came to America, someone my age actually told me that I cursed too much and that wasn't as acceptable here as it was at home. I was quite shocked as I didn't think I was saying anything *too* bad.
I've actually found it hard to adapt, as this is just the way I know how to express myself. This is not to say that I don't know when I shouldn't curse (in front of my mum being the big one - she really doesn't like it and she's a Brit), but it's part of who I am.
As you pointed out, our television is different - I think anything goes in the UK after the "watershed." This being said, I learned the term "holy shit" at the tender age of five, from the quality film "Smokey and the Bandit", which was on the BBC uneditted on a Saturday afternoon.
Finally, to make myself feel better about my enduring potty mouth, science apparently says swearing is good for me:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-we-swear
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