Did you know that swearingFluchenswearing can actually reduce a feeling of pain? Well, you do now. Whether you say “fuck” or “fiddlesticks (ifml.)Unsinn, Quatschfiddlesticks” in a moment of crisis will depend on your own sensibilities, as well as on those of the people within earshotHörweiteearshot. But will a minced oathdurch Verballhornung abgeschwächter Fluchminced oath like “fiddlesticks” provide as much reliefErleichterung, Trostrelief as a taboo word like “fuck”? See for yourself next time you to stubanstoßenstub your toe.
Below, we present words and expressions that are used as non-offensive substituteErsatzsubstitutes for swear words — so-called “minced oaths”. For example, in polite company or in front of children, someone might say “sugar” instead of “shit”.
| Swear words | Minced oaths |
|---|---|
| bastard | B, bar steward, basket, blighter (both UK) |
| bugger (UK) | B, beggar, blighter (UK), mugger |
| bullshit | baloney, bull pucky (N. Am.), phooey |
| fucking | chuffing, effing, fecking, flaming, flipping (all UK), freaking (US), frigging, fruiting |
| Fucking hell! | Flaming heck!, Flipping heck! (both UK) |
| Fuck off! | Eff off!, Naff off! (both UK), Go forth and multiply! |
| shit, shite | shoot, sugar |
| Shut the fuck up! | Shut the front door! |
| What the fuck? | What on earth?, What the dickens?, What the French toast? |
