Why is cunt such a powerfully offensive word?

Can anyone explain why this word, in particular, out of all the epithets out there seems to offend so many people?

It can't just be the primary, literal meaning of a woman's genitalia, because people do not lose their minds over "pussy" or "twat" or the 50,000 other variations on that theme.

On the one hand, I kind of like that there's this word that still has the power to shock (some people), but on the other hand, why is "cunt" hugely offensive, but "dick" isn't. I mean, no, you probably shouldn't call someone a "dick" in mixed company, but if you did, you wouldn't suddenly become a social pariah.

And if you are a person who finds the word offensive, I'm not telling you that you shouldn't, but I'm curious if you can explain, in any logical fashion, why this one stings, but "bitch" or "asshole" or "bastard" doesn't -- at least not to this extent.

by Anonymousreply 72January 15, 2020 6:28 AM

Cunt you see the answer right in front of you?

by Anonymousreply 1June 8, 2018 5:12 AM

In other English-speaking countries, it doesn't have as offensive a connotation as it does in the U.S.

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by Anonymousreply 2June 8, 2018 5:15 AM

No idea. In my country the two most common curses are cunt and bollocks. Bollocks is almost exclusively applied to men and inanimate objects but cunt is for everyone and everything. He’s a cunt, she’s a cunt, the weather is a cunt. Men and women use these words are they’re about as shocking as asshole and prick in the US.

So I too would like to know when cunt became such a taboo in the US. One word you have that we don’t is douchebag. It has a nice ring to it, I like it and use it but nobody knows I’m swearing at them.

by Anonymousreply 3June 8, 2018 5:18 AM

The reason is that we live in a prudish country with a prudish, religious history. There are standards of behavior for women that are prescribed by our society. Women are not allowed to be okay with a vulgar term for female genitalia. Society demands they must feign shock, horror and disgust or suffer disapproval. They are required to be ladies.

by Anonymousreply 4June 8, 2018 5:19 AM

Indeed. On arrival in Ireland waiting for my luggage I heard one Irish man say to another as he pulled his jacket and umbrella out of his case “It’s a right cunt of a day out there”.

by Anonymousreply 5June 8, 2018 5:19 AM

I never knew the meaning of it in junior high school when many naughty boys started saying it and I still don't understand it today.

by Anonymousreply 7June 8, 2018 5:25 AM

Ireland was a Catholic theocracy that locked women up in institutions for having premarital sex and yet they’re okay with cunt and twat and fanny. Loved being told “I will in my fanny” which means I won’t. Men say “I will in my bollix” The Brits have never been known for being too sexually liberated either and they love their twat and cunt.

by Anonymousreply 8June 8, 2018 5:25 AM

I do not like it but, if it used, I think it should be used for women who act horribly. I really do not like it when people call men that. What happened to calling men like that pricks? I also think it is bullshit to say pussy when referring to weakness.

by Anonymousreply 11June 8, 2018 5:36 AM

I think r11 that in the case of men, if the "shoe" fits they should wear it. Women can too come to that, equal opportunity abounds in this case.

by Anonymousreply 12June 8, 2018 5:44 AM

Why cunt instead of prick, R12?

by Anonymousreply 13June 8, 2018 5:47 AM

You must understand that in Britain everyone knows cunt as a swear word. Not everyone would actually know what a cunt actually is. Women’s genitals are referred to as fanny not pussy or cunt although the kids would be aware of pussy from porn. My parents had no idea what pussy meant until recently. So cunt has just become a generic swear word for everything and only behind fuck in common usage and popularity. Kids here would have all started saying fuck long before they knew what fuck meant. Pre internet lots of people never found out what it meant because here we say shag or ride. Or up north the charming “get yer hole”!

by Anonymousreply 14June 8, 2018 5:50 AM

I don't know, r13, use both at the same time if the situation calls for it. Cunt might have more of a jarring impact for a man and men generally shrug or laugh off being called some sort of name like that. A woman would become way more annoyed I would think. Although some men would revert to childishness and try to resort to actual physical fighting over something as silly as name calling. It's only a word, forget it and move on....I don't even get too upset over the word fag or faggot unless there is a vicious intent and possible violence, then it is quite possibly a matter for the police, but I don't know if one can place too much faith or confidence in them all the time either. I probably didn't answer your question too well, but take it for what it's worth.

by Anonymousreply 15June 8, 2018 5:58 AM

One syllable words with the "k" sound are epithetically euphonious. I made that term up.

Cunt Dick Fuck

All are appropriate in various driving scenarios.

by Anonymousreply 17June 8, 2018 6:08 AM

I believe that most of them are derived from old Norse and Germanic languages, R17.

BTW, whatever happened to the "von Fuckstick" troll? He tried so hard to make that take off here.

by Anonymousreply 18June 8, 2018 6:18 AM

In the U.S. it was primarily used to degrade women and only this century has it become less about gender. For males, it seems to have replaced the use of prick. Dick vs prick? I always thought dick was someone being stupid and prick was someone who was disgusting.

by Anonymousreply 19June 8, 2018 7:04 AM

Cunt (in the spelling queynte) appears in the Canterbury Tales many times, so we know it was in common use at least since 1475. Funny story though: some gay friends of mine were circling a narrow lot candy store just before a holiday and waiting for a parking spot to open. Finally someone was pulling out of a spot and they were poised to swoop in and take it when an enormous Cadillac veered in and jammed into the spot. The gay driver of the car, rolled down his window and screamed out the window "you fucking cunt" just as all the doors to the Cadillac swung open and 6 nuns in full habit stepped out..... ROFLMAO

by Anonymousreply 20June 8, 2018 7:12 AM

I'm more partial to GAPING cunt, myself.

by Anonymousreply 22June 8, 2018 7:41 AM

Chaucer used queynte in 1475 many times in the Canterbury tales, so the English have used it for over 500 years at least. Funny story: several gay friends of mine were circling a small parking lot candy store at holiday time when they spied a car getting ready to pull out. They waited and just as they were poised to slide in, an enormous Cadillac veered right in straight from the street. The gay driver rolled down his window and screamed "you fucking cunt" just as 6 nuns in full habit exited the Cadillac. His fellow gays manfully slid down in their seats so as not to be hit by the inevitable lightning bolt.

by Anonymousreply 23June 8, 2018 7:50 AM

That's what I thought. No good reason.

by Anonymousreply 24June 9, 2018 3:13 PM

Cunt never bothered me. "Gash" disturbs me, as does "gaping cunt" (see above). Bad visuals.

by Anonymousreply 25June 9, 2018 3:33 PM

Cunt is much more commonly used in the U.K., where it’s not considered as offensive as it is in the US.

by Anonymousreply 27August 15, 2018 3:14 AM

I agree with r25. “Gash” is a lot more offensive.

by Anonymousreply 28August 15, 2018 3:15 AM

It has an onomatopoeia quality. It’s the ka sound that comes before the delivery. It seems aggressive and offensive at the same time.

by Anonymousreply 29August 15, 2018 3:20 AM

I don't believe know one knew what "pussy" meant in Britain. In the 70's they played up the double entendre for all it was worth on Are You Being Served? regarding Mrs Slocum's pussy(she was always talking about her cat but it was clearly played up for genitalia connotation)

by Anonymousreply 30August 15, 2018 3:37 AM

I use this word frequently, usually if I’m driving somewhere.

by Anonymousreply 31August 15, 2018 3:45 AM

Because "the pussiest pussy who ever pussied" just doesn't cunt it (sorry, "CUT it") in these parts, OP.

by Anonymousreply 33January 12, 2020 9:22 AM

It's not powerfully offensive here.

It's used so commonly here, it's almost predictable.

BTW, Madonna is a cunt.

by Anonymousreply 34January 12, 2020 9:32 AM

Seems to be custom and convention that it's still reserved as the most offensive insult. Almost by consent people need a word set aside for the most impact. The hard C monosyllable does the job unimprovably. Thus the word retains its taboo power.

Perfect insult for men because it's emasculating, for women because it doubles down on misogyny.

It duly retains its power in drama too, used quite sparingly for absolute contempt. In 'Cuckoo's Nest' Nicholson refers to Nurse Ratched as 'a cunt' (few would disagree). In 'Glengarry Glen Ross' Pacino begins his awesome takedown of Spacey with: 'You stupid. Fucking. Cunt.' Sometimes the insult is deserved indeed.

by Anonymousreply 35January 12, 2020 9:40 AM

In the U.S., cunt and twat specifically refer to vagina and in the harshest way possible. Thy have no other meaning. The closest equivalent here is probably bitch. The weather is a bitch. Donald Trump is a little bitch. That was a bitchy comment.

As someone who lives in the U.S., I'm trying to import bellend but without much success.

by Anonymousreply 36January 12, 2020 9:48 AM

In the US Vagina is the clinical term, you can use it if you are going to the doctor or talking about it in front of kids. Pussy is kind of dirty and more slang. But it's not always negative since a lot of straight porn talks about it to nausea. Cunt is purely an insult and only to be used in extreme cases. "that fucking cunt almost killed me!" Bitch just doesn't work there.

by Anonymousreply 37January 12, 2020 10:09 AM

The power of the word in the US is odd. Some of my female friends were saying they never heard me use it, which was wrong. But anyways they saw the use of it by men as a way to judge what kind of person a man is just based on if that was a word that came out of his mouth.

Since woman have taken over the word Bitch as almost meaningless these days, cunt is the only one left as an insult. By that I mean I have heard woman say "yes, I am a bitch, but I get what I want" but I would never hear them use the "C" word in that same sentence.

by Anonymousreply 38January 12, 2020 10:19 AM

I save the use of that word for when I am very angry at a woman who is being a jack ass or particularly nasty and sees herself as all important above everyone else and spewing nasty venom. I love using it then, just to see the shock value on their face. LOL

Of course they usually respond with a barrage of incommoding insults. But I am still smiling/laughing through that whole thing because the pissed off look of "how dare you" is priceless.

by Anonymousreply 39January 12, 2020 10:26 AM

If you used that word in the US to your female boss, you would be instantly fired. It's that much of an insult.

by Anonymousreply 40January 12, 2020 10:29 AM

[quote]Why is cunt such a powerfully offensive word?

For the same reason I don't like the word "bald"

by Anonymousreply 42January 12, 2020 12:51 PM

It's and American and Canadian thing. You say cunt in Canada, the world stops, it's fucking weird. White women start to cry, in their crushing oppression. Angels drop dead. You say it in England, it's just part of every conversation, but usually directed at men.

by Anonymousreply 43January 12, 2020 12:59 PM

I block anyone out who uses it to describe men/insult men because it is extremely sexist, imo. Why not use prick if a man is acting poorly?

by Anonymousreply 44January 12, 2020 1:05 PM

[quote] Of course they usually respond with a barrage of incommoding insults.

What kind of insults now?

Something about the bathroom?

by Anonymousreply 45January 12, 2020 1:16 PM

As others have said OP seems to forget there is a world outside of America, cunt being so offense is a uniquely American phenomenon.

Go to Australia or the British Isles.

by Anonymousreply 46January 12, 2020 1:23 PM

Years ago a female friend and I had a long stoned discussion about the difference between calling a woman a bitch and calling her a cunt. The difference we arrived at was that cunts are malicious while bitches are just self-centered.

by Anonymousreply 47January 12, 2020 1:30 PM

Because deep down, females fear the only reason men tolerate them is that poo-free hole in their crotch.

by Anonymousreply 48January 12, 2020 1:58 PM

What is it, you cunt face?

by Anonymousreply 49January 12, 2020 2:46 PM

Here in the UK a journalist on the flagship BBC radio show 'Today' referred to Cabinet Minister Jeremy Hunt as 'Jeremy Cunt.' Astonished hilarity ensued. Another radio journalist made a similar error when talking about the 'West Kent Hunt.'

by Anonymousreply 50January 12, 2020 3:35 PM

What is it you cunt face in America?

by Anonymousreply 51January 12, 2020 4:47 PM

Men tolerate women????? lololol

by Anonymousreply 52January 12, 2020 5:35 PM

Toxic masculinity is a major problem. Look at the prick sitting in the White House.

by Anonymousreply 53January 12, 2020 5:40 PM

It's possibly the most Datalounge of words OP

It's largely a British expression--Americans rarely use it--and so it allows our DLEGs to feel vaguely continental and in the know when they use it

Straight American men only use it quite sparingly, as a much harsher form of "bitch" and even then, not all of them, so there's a gay angle to using it in everyday conversation.

Finally, many otherwise milquetoast DLers like to imagine what the world would be like if they could be a bitchy female (make of that what you will amateur Freudians). Hence their worship of "divas" and popular threads like "What would your name be if you were a cunty woman?" or "What is the cuntiest thing you've ever done?"

Between the three you have a perfect storm.

by Anonymousreply 54January 12, 2020 5:43 PM

short story: American's, in general, are afraid of sex

by Anonymousreply 55January 12, 2020 5:45 PM

Just remembered that Michael, the nastiest and most screwed up character in 'The Boys In The Band' (which is saying a lot) uses the word, the only character who does. Thus of course the usage says more about him than his hapless object of derision.

by Anonymousreply 56January 12, 2020 5:53 PM

Just ask Hillary or Elizabeth Warren....they’re experts on the subject.

by Anonymousreply 57January 12, 2020 7:16 PM

its a FAVE with Tourette's sufferers.

by Anonymousreply 58January 12, 2020 7:19 PM

Yeah cunt is nothing in the UK. Try saying "bloody cunt" 💋

by Anonymousreply 59January 12, 2020 7:26 PM

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're all going in circles again. We KNOW that the word doesn't hold such power in English speaking nations outside of the UK. We know the history of the word's origins. We know that, in North America, there is probably overlap between those who use the word and misogynists. But, that's also true of words like "bitch." But no one can truly answer WHY this word is so abhorred here. Why it is the one word -- other than the N word, of course -- that makes people gasp. That could, as others have said, instantly lead to to being fired or becoming a social pariah. And why there is no male equivalent. I'm not a woman, so I don't get to tell women what to do (novel concept!), but if I were one, I think I'd be in favor of reclaiming the word, the way many black folks have reclaimed the N word, the way we as gay men have reclaimed fag. It robs these words of their power. But, that's not for me to decide.

by Anonymousreply 61January 12, 2020 9:13 PM

sorry, that should have read... "we know the word doesn't hold such power in English speaking nations outside of NORTH AMERICA."

by Anonymousreply 62January 12, 2020 9:13 PM

All I know is that I use it a LOT more since becoming a regular on Datalounge.

by Anonymousreply 63January 12, 2020 10:44 PM

There’s a moment in a Tina Fey book where she calls her gynecologist a cunt, and when I heard it (in audiobook version) I gasped.

by Anonymousreply 64January 14, 2020 11:13 AM

A Pussy is warm and welcoming. A Cunt is the woman who owns it.

by Anonymousreply 66January 14, 2020 11:29 AM

What's a bitch in that equation R66?

by Anonymousreply 67January 14, 2020 11:49 AM

R64 is so dramatic SHE GASPED!

by Anonymousreply 68January 14, 2020 3:37 PM

The short, sharp sound of the word alone. It's blunt and crude to the ear like few other words.

by Anonymousreply 69January 14, 2020 3:45 PM

That contributes, no doubt, R69, but there's no way that's the primary reason for the outrage.

by Anonymousreply 70January 15, 2020 1:05 AM

Because women's Va-Ja-Jas are disgusting sperm dumps so when you call someone a CUNT that is what first comes to mind.

by Anonymousreply 71January 15, 2020 6:14 AM

It’s a good word to mean, “I mean business and fuck your feelings”.

by Anonymousreply 72January 15, 2020 6:28 AM

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