Which is worse? The "C" word or the "N" word?

[TheWizardOfMudd]

Personally, I don't use either of them.

However, does it strike you as strange that certain words can carry such weight and offense that they are taboo to the ultimate degree?

I mean, after all, they are sounds created by the random abilities of humans to create sounds with their limited vocal capabilities.

I started thinking about this when I watched "Blazing Saddles" on Comedy Central yesterday.

It seems like the "F" word is more acceptable now.

[wickerwoman]

1. Context, context, context.

It's not the assembly of sound itself that causes offense. It's who says it to who, how they say it, and why.

With all of these variables it's impossible to say one word is intrinsically more offensive than another.

[HEyHEY]

2. I hate both - not just what's behind them - they just sound foul

[wtmusic]

3. the "M" word is worse than both

n/t

[TheWizardOfMudd]

6. I don't know what word you mean, wtmusic.

Do you mean MF?

[dawg]

15. I think he means ....

midget.

[wtmusic]

16. M***

don't really want to repeat it here

[geniph]

21. Mock? Moot? Mama?

Mork? Monk? Maul?

I am truly at sea as to the "M" word.

[dawg]

25. Me too!

I thought for sure it was "midget".

[SmileyBoy]

4. Hmmmm.... I'd have to go with the C word, because...

...Most of us know that the Black/African-American community seems to have neutralized the harshness of the word by taking it upon themselves for their own use. Look at that book that one Harvard professor wrote entitled "ni**er", explaining this phenomenon.

The C word (at least in the US, not the UK) has much more harsh context associated with it, because there's not really any context in which it can be used where it seems to be a less harsh word.

The great thing about "fuck" is that the word can be anything you want it to be. There's no racist/sexist undertones to it.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

5. Good points

I've noticed that the "N" word, when used in movies, has mostly illustrated the ignorance of and hate within the characters speaking it.

The great thing about "Blazing Saddles" is that, to my knowledge, nobody has ever complained about the use of the word. My opinion is that this is because the characters that speak the word are incredibly dumb, while the black characters are the only ones in the movie who are smart enough to know what is going on. It was brilliant of Mel Brooks to do that.

As far as the "C" word, I guess I need to do some research into its origins. I can't think of a word that is equally disturbing to males. Fascinating.

Edit: Grammar and spelling.

[Spider Jerusalem]

7. Its origins are Anglo-Saxon...

it was, basically, the Anglo-Saxon word for the female genitalia. It's in Chaucer (as "queinte", in "The Miller's Tale"), and it was part of a street name c. 13th century ("Gropecunte Lane", the centre of prostitution in medieval London).

And the reason it's considered obscene and taboo is the same reason a lot of other perfectly good Anglo-Saxon words are considered obscene and taboo (cf. fuck, shit, piss, etc.)...they are "vulgar" (that is, common). The Norman Conquest of 1066 brought a new ruling and upper class to England, who spoke Norman French, derived from Latin, and so first French and later Latinate equivalents of the Anglo-Saxon words (copulate, defecate, urinate, etc.) were the "acceptable" ones.

[Nevernose]

27. Although it does not appear

to be a term of vulgar abuse until 1929 or so,

[Servo300]

19. RE: As far as the "C" word, I guess I need to do some research

Here is a book that might help:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580050751/qid=1086186304/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-2666488-7140945

[Angelus]

8. The "N" word is worse.

It still, to me, means a deragatory term against African-Americans. I don't like it.

I've used the "C" word many times, and I must say, this is the only place where people find offense to it for some reason...oh well. It isn't gonna change my stance on it. :shrug:

Back in my "dark days," I've used both of these words many times, and with no remorse. Now, I don't use racial slurs anymore.

[slinkerwink]

20. but it's just perfectly OKAY to use sexist slurs!

way to go! :yourock:

[Angelus]

23. Oh...look who it is.

No suprise.

Yes, I think it's ok to use the "C" word. This place, the DU, is the only place I know of that thinks it's a bad, bad word. Why is that?

Anyways, like I said, I'm not going to change my stance on it. I won't use it on DU, however, because it's against the rules and I intend to follow those rules. As far as offline is concerned, no one is going to tell me what word(s) I can/can't use.

[slinkerwink]

24. because the "c" word is used to put down a woman based on her genitalia

and the "c" word....it's never spoken nicely---only in anger intended to hurt the woman.

[Angelus]

29. Spare me the lecture.

[Pithlet]

32. DU is not the only place

the C word is considered extremely offensive. DU does not have the magical ability to make people overly sensitive, nor does being on the left end of the political spectrum.

[LastKnight]

9. black people use the n word, so im gonna use the c word...

me and all my cracka friends went and got somethin to eat the other night, and the check came and one of my friends didnt have enough cash and asked if i could cover it... i said "cracka please, you know ill cover the difference."...

well, wait, thats not gonna work... never mind... bad idea.

[LastKnight]

12. oooh... seems my above post was thinking the wrong c word, neeever mind.nt

[neverborn]

10. I will not tolerate or use the C word.

[gauguin57]

11. As a woman, I hate the C word ...

... but I do use it once every 15 years or so, to describe a woman who has done something particularly heinous (usually to stab a fellow woman in the back in an unbelievably disgusting way). I save it to describe someone I find really, really foul -- so it really has impact. Like calling someone a vagina-head, or a pap smear (which I've also done once every 15 years). But most of the time, I hate the word. I hate "pussy-whipped," too. Really, really hate that expression.

I never use the "N" word. African-Americans would be offended by me, as a white person, using it. And I wouldn't use it even if they WEREN'T offended. No reason to. It's just offensive in that context. If African-Americans want to use the "N-word" among themselves, they can. Since I have a ... "C-word" ... myself, I feel it's ok for ME to use that word once every 15 years. Under the above-mentioned circumstances. I don't like it when guys use it. That's just the way it is.

[neverborn]

13. As a man, I hate the C word ...

but I'm a militant feminist.

I hate "pussy-whipped" too. A lot.

I can use the "N" word in like... jokes, etc. I'm not racist, and I would never call an African-American a "N" word to tear him down. I just happen to find racist jokes funny.

But I can't abide sexism at ALL.

[MarianJack]

14. I'm a White Man...

...with a Puerto Rican wife and an African American son (4 years old).

Yesterday, he asked me for the first time why he was brown and I told him that it was the way GOD had made him. He has observed that everyone in his family is a different color, but only has just started asking about it.

As to the 2 words, I don't use either. If anybody called my wife a "c" or other derogatory term, she could do soooo much worse to them tham I can. Once, in jest (I hope, LOL), she reminded me that Lorena Bobbett was also a Hispanic woman.

As to the "n" word, GOD help the first person who calls our son that hateful name! It's painful to imagine his hurt feelings WHEN, unfortunately not IF, that day comes, butI know that it's inevitable.

Perhaps it won't be as frequent as we live in Maine, which in the 2 years we've been here has certainly demonstrated itself to be a highly accepting state.

By thw way, thanks Wizard, for a thought provoking post!

[bif]

17. A friend's Dad said something amusing (yet appalling) over the weekend...

He was trying to act politically correct when he made this statement:
"Maybe they'll let the niggers vote in Florida this time." (He's pretty anti-Bush). He just doesn't get what he said was so wrong!

[Commendatori]

18. The 'n' word is worse, and here's my "proof."

I don't use either, but I use the 'f' word constantly, along with 'b' and 'a.'

I note that in England people use the 'c' word with the same frequency that some of us use the 'f' word, but they shy away from the 'n' word, so by that I'll say that the 'n' word is worse: even the Brits avoid it.

[geniph]

22. I only call men c***s

I won't use the word toward a woman. I actually can't think of an occasion when I would ever use the word n*****. It just does not come up in my conversation, foul-mouthed and crude as I can be.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

26. If the "c" word is "Cheney," that's a tough call.

Otherwise, I'd probably say the "N" word is much less acceptable and more offensive (to me, anyway)

[drumwolf]

28. In the UK, the "c" word is apparently not gender-specific

"C--t" has a very specific misogynistic connotation to it in the US that it doesn't in Britain.

I've read a bunch of British authors that use the word very frequetnly (like Irvine Welsh, for example), and they apply it just as much to males as to females. It seems like they use the word the same way Americans would say "motherf---er" or "a--hole."

[THUNDER HANDS]

30. just in my experience

The 'N' word, when said by someone with a southern accent - sounds a lot worse than any other word I can think of.

The 'C' word is bad too, but not nearly as bad as the 'N' word.

[sniffa]

31. n word

but i'm not sure at times, who's more uncomfortabLe around that word: bLacks or whites?