Vivica  +  18332 Tue, 06 Jan 04 02:44 PM Hi, I'm not sure if this goes in this board or not, so please move it if it is in the wrong place. Could anyone tell me if there is a standard rating for english swear words? I've tried to find a list on the internet but I can't find one at all. I need to know for my schoolwork. If anyone can help me and direct me to one that would be brilliant. Thankyou. Vivica Joined on Tue, Jan 6 2004 New Member 11

	Raul  +  18370 Tue, 06 Jan 04 07:13 PM Rating swearwords or taboo words is not easy as long as the degree of "offence" may vary from person to person or from town to town. Even an exclamation like "Jesus!" may seem offensive to someone, believe it or not. Keep in mind that a word can be considered taboo in one culture but not in other, especially slang and swearwords. As I don't want to reproduce such words here, I advise you to take a look upon Michael Swan's "Practical English Usage". He wrote a very daring chapter on this type of words and I think he kind of rated them. Hope this helps! Raul Joined on Mon, Sep 1 2003 Lima - Peru Full Member 221 "I touch the future: I teach"

	pedant  +  18420 Wed, 07 Jan 04 06:29 AM George Carlin, the comedian, did a very funny routine on the seven swear words you can't say on TV. It's on tape, but I'd be happy to email you the list. pedant Joined on Thu, Dec 18 2003 Full Member 104

	sohj  +  19366 Thu, 15 Jan 04 06:14 PM Vivica: Just to help you to be really picky, you might want to note that, properly, swearing is blasphemy (so that's where the "Jesus!" exclamation becomes a swearword). And lots of the words that people wouldn't normally consider swearwords are actually blasphemies -- like "Darn!" is a stand-in for "Damn!" and is offensive to some of a most particular nature. Lots of the words that are commonly referred to as swearwords are really only obscenities. And some of the words that people think of as obscenities are actually swearing if you are an Anglo-Saxon or Old Norse speaker and a pagan worshipping the Goddess Fricka. sohj Joined on Tue, Dec 9 2003 NYC New Member 31