I thought I had heard it all... (strong language)

[B&NGoddess]

...until i dealt with this winner. guy calls looking for a board game. coworker looks it up but can't find it. she tries numerous searches. she's trying to explain this to him but can't get a word in edgewise. she ends up hanging up on him.

a minute later the phone rings and i answer. before i even get out the standard greeting, i'm met with "don't you fuckin hang up on me you fuckin bitch!"

"Excuse me!?"

"yeah you fuckin bitch. you fuckin cunt!"

Ho. Lee. Shit. i slammed the phone down after the c-word. i may have a potty mouth myself, but that's the one word i refrain from using.

on the other hand, i congratulated myself. its the first time ive been called that. by anyone. ever.

[MadMike]

My one friend once punched her ex-boyfriend in the mouth for calling her that. She's actually a real sweetheart, and a small, petite woman, but you do not want to piss her off.

[skeptic53]

There are (or were) interesting cultural variations on what offensive term can be used in jest and what cannot. In the middle 70's I worked with an Englishman, we used to play poker at lunch. He lost a hand and grinned at the winner and said jokingly "You cunt!" The American jumped up and just about popped him in the nose. The Englishman had the same reaction when one of us jokingly called him a "cocksucker". He knew many bawdy songs, one of them explained one side of the near-fights. I don't remember much of it but one line of the song went something like "He thought a cunt was something they called you at school". Maybe in Merrie Olde England, but not in the U. S. of A.!

Raps, want to weigh in on this?

[Depot Denizen]

Yeah, but I think in this case, the caller was definately being an offensive asshat. It's a pretty strong word, even more so than fuck.

[skeptic53]

Oh no question, no joking was involved in the OP story!

[Kilamon]

A friend of mine went to the UK and while in the UK, it's mandatory to visit the local pub so off he went. He was slapped three times just for introducing himself to the local fauna and nearly ejected from said pub. His name was Randy.

[Becks]

I can handle being called a bitch (because I can be one). However, if anyone EVER called me a c, I would kick their ass for all eternity.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

As nasty as that word is, you can use it to really let the air out of a jerk. They call you a bitch, you just say "No, it's c?t!" Usually, you get a . "Oh, isnt' that what you meant? Because you better believe I AM ONE."

I promise you no one will be able to pile on any more abuse after that. Because I promise you that was the biggest bullet in their arsenal, and now it's allready been fired. By you. At them.

[Rapscallion]

Things change over here tremendously, so it's not really cut and dried.

One of the Monty Python crew was reminiscing about comedy and how it changed over the years. Back in the seventies, they had written a skit where he had been asked what his hobbies were, to which the scripted answer was something like, "Bank robbery and masturbation."

Back then, the censors had thrown a fit over the word 'masturbation', whereas today they wouldn't bat an eyelid.

There are also regional variations to deal with. What may be offensive in one area may be quite banteringly acceptable elsewhere.

Raspcallion

[skeptic53]

Interesting. Over here, call a person of either gender a cunt, and pretty much the fur will fly wherever you are, from coast to coast.

[Gawdzillers]

My one friend once punched her ex-boyfriend in the mouth for calling her that.

JESUS H. CHRIST WITH A ROCKET LAUNCHER.

[Rapscallion]

Honestly, things change. It also depends on how good a chum the recipient is.

Case in point is Sandy and Norm at our place - a couple of the drivers who regularly meet up at transport cafes and the like after negotiating over their mobiles phones. Sandy phoned Norm the other week and bellowed, "Norm, you old cunt. Ready for a coffee?" This is his standard greeting.

"I'm at home," Norm replied. "My brother died yesterday."

Apparently, Norm's wife didn't hear that bit.

Rapscallion

[Scottya21]

I like to use things that are curses, but people don't actually know the meanings of, like "sod it", or "bollocks", or "bugger".

[SongsOfDragons]

I like to use things that are curses, but people don't actually know the meanings of, like "sod it", or "bollocks", or "bugger".

My mum has a great one. Shit-arse-damn-and-bugger-it.

[Pagan]

It's great using "bugger" here, because it's not really a cuss word! Especially judging by all the people laughing at Capt. Jack in "Dead Man's Chest"!

What I love is when people call me a "witch". Now, I know this is pretty mild, but I can completely take the wind out of their sails. Call me a witch and I respond with, "How did you know?", because I am one!

But call me that c-word and you will find out just how much of a bitch I can be!