Swearing in Japanese

[Noy Telinú]

Sure, they have meanings, but for most of them, you don't say it at all except to be vulgar. Bitch is pretty much only allowed to not be when actually talking about dog breeding. But people still react.

Unless I'm getting this wrong.

Is it possible that someone who had a scetchy education not know or forget that there are swear words in Japanese?

[Spokavriel]

You mean you have never heard of bitch being used as a verb? I often Bitch about Obama. That's not cussing that's an action.

[Noy Telinú]

I've heard it, but not in any nice setting. It's confusing.

And what dies fuck mean anyway? The way it's used I can't figure out what it means!

[Spokavriel]

Maybe George Carlin can help you. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZkb4TPI-Lo

And in case it is not all there the "lyrics" are in the following spoiler.

SPOILER - Show Spoiler

Perhaps one of the most interesting words
in the English language today, is the word FUCK.
Out of all of the English words which begin with the letter F, FUCK is the only word referred to as the "F" word, it's the one magical word.
FUCK as most words in the english language,
is derived from German,
the word "fricken[?]", which means to strike.
In English, FUCK falls into many grammatical categories.

As a transitive verb, for instance.
John FUCK-ed Shirley.
As an intransitive verb, Shirley FUCKS.
It's meaning's not always sexual;
it can be used as an adjective, such as
John's doing all the FUCK-ing work.
As part of an adverb,
Shirley talks too FUCK-ing much.
As an adverb enhancing an adjective,
Shirley is FUCK-ing beautiful.
As a noun, I don't give a FUCK.
As part of a word abso-FUCKING-lutely,
or in-FUCKING-credible.
And, as almost every word in the sentence,
FUCK the FUCK-ing FUCK-ers.

As you must realize,
there aren't too many words
with the versatility of FUCK.
As in these examples describing situations
such as fraud,
I got FUCK-ed at the used car lot.
Dismay, Aw FUCK it.
Trouble, I guess I'm really FUCK-ed now.
Agression, Don't FUCK with me buddy.
Difficulty, I don't understand this FUCK-ing question.
Inquiry, Who the FUCK was that?
Dissatisfaction, I don't like what the FUCK is going on here.
Incompetence, He's a FUCK-off.
Dismissal, Why don't you go outside and play hide-and-go-FUCK yourself?

I'm sure you can think of many more examples.
With all these multi purpose applications,
how can anyone be offended when you use the word?
We say, use this unique, flexible word more often in your daily speech.
It will identify the quality of your character immediately.
Say it loudly, and proudly!
FUCK you!

Read more at http://www.leoslyrics.com/george-carlin ... PRCvjGi.99

[Noy Telinú]

Yeah, that's what I mean, there's like, no real meaning to the word.

It's like run, so many meanings, but at least run has the meanings.

Irritating on how I can't figure out the meaning.

Like when you say "fuck this!" what is the meaning of the word?

[Konsaki]

Like when you say "fuck this!" what is the meaning of the word?

Fuck - Dismiss (emphatically)
This - Object of Dismissal

[Noy Telinú]

Dismiss? Then why is it a swear word?

[Konsaki]

Dismiss? Then why is it a swear word?

Because the original use of Fuck was a crude way to say "Have Sex and/or Violent sex" and was considered vulgar. The modern lexicon still lumps it under the same vulgar word grouping but it's uses are more spread out in implied meaning, though half the time you can interpret it in the sexual manner and still be correct.

[uragaaru]

Hell, depending on context and geography, fuck is, to quote Lewis Black, "not even a word. It's a comma."

[Noy Telinú]

Values Dissonance plays a huge part in this category, as Japan has a much higher threshold than Western cultures on what's not acceptable for kids. Any shonen or shojo anime and manga falls under this category, especially some Magical Girl anime. This tends to happen because of the Japanese language's lack of true swearing, which results in some of the harsher words or interjections being translated into English as profanities; therefore, it's not uncommon to find an anime series that routinely uses the equivalent of "damn" or "shit" and was intended for children. Similarly, shonen deconstructions, those with Darker and Edgier contents, and those with a pessimistic viewpoint often falls into this trope and is often mistaken as seinen.

Damn you TV tropes for messing me up! >_<

[Té Rowan]

Well, fork(), spawn() and system()! (Even though this is swearing in Unix, not japanese.)

[Shadou]

Some words are just not used in polite company, no matter the context. Taking the example of using the word 'Bitch' as a verb instead of an adjective, I still would not use the term while, say, at a christmas party with my family, who are all somewhat old-fashioned and would not appreciate the use of any profanity. If you think about the origin of using Bitch as a verb, it probably stemmed from a shortening of 'stop being a bitch', into 'stop bitching', implying that when you tell someone to stop bitching, you're telling them that they're being a bitch... which is still referencing back to its roots in dog breeding as referring to a female dog in heat, which are known for being tempermental. So the adjective and verb forms are still fairly closely linked, and in either case is still not a word to be used in polite company.

'Fuck this' has a similar background, probably stemming from the idea some guys have that you should ditch a girl soon after coercing them to have sex with you to prevent them from clinging. In either of its forms, "Fuck this" or "Screw this", it refers to getting rid of something after someone's interest in 'this' has reached its limit, hence the 'dismissal' meaning of the term.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, there are REASONS some terms are considered vulgar. Every profanity or vulgarity in the english language has its roots in one or another socially unacceptable practice or behavior.

[Noy Telinú]

From a certain point of view...

Polite company needs to be defined.

But, Japanese does have actual swear words, right?

[Spica75]

referring to a female dog in heat

Bitch simply means female dog. I can confirm that simply by checking its translation, it only translates into "tik" ie. female dog...
It probably started it´s route towards being a curse word by being used a nonobvious word for prostitutes, then meandered onwards from there.

which are known for being tempermental.

Temperamental isn´t the word i would use...

'Fuck this' has a similar background, probably stemming from the idea some guys have that you should ditch a girl soon after coercing them to have sex with you to prevent them from clinging. In either of its forms, "Fuck this" or "Screw this", it refers to getting rid of something after someone's interest in 'this' has reached its limit, hence the 'dismissal' meaning of the term.

It´s an extension of the "fuck you"/middle finger salute, ie basically another way to say "go to hell", "get lost" or something with a bit more emphasis... Well, probably at least. There are few expressions whose origin is truly known for sure.


*****

But, Japanese does have actual swear words, right?

In the same way English has swear words yes. I´m not sure if i can come up with a word that is nothing but a swear word in English at least...
In Swedish i can come up with a few, but even those are morphed words or words that started from non swear words(Swedish can copy&paste or morph into new words a lot more than English however).

[Noy Telinú]

Oh wow this is confusing...

From a certain point of view thing? O_o