This is what I most detest about the trend toward âbadâ language â itâs just plain BORING, and itâs losing even its shock value.
What ever happened to wishing that someone should grow like a turnup with his head in the ground, or be afflicted with the fleas of a thousand camels, or anything else which has some creative storytelling value to it?
I use it quite a lot in a sort of ironic way. Like âwhat a rotter!â.
I prefer Techie or other In-group Insults:
e.g.
âYou can be replaced by a VERY small shell scriptâ.
âAs Brains go, youâre a 286 running Microsoft Bobâ. . .
And, of course, the classic: âShouldnât you be wearing a Red Shirt ??â
(evil grin)
Peaves in Harry Potter was found of saying âPotter, you rotter.â
Or, of course, the late Past Master of the Art: Winston Churchill, who could still zing 'em while drunk off his @ss. . . .
Classic examples:
Dowdy Madam (to Churchill): You, sir, are Drunk !
Winston Churchill: And you, madam are ugly. But tomorrow, I shall be sober. . .
Dowdy Madam #2: Sir, if I were your wife, I would put poison in your tea. . .
Churchill: And, madam, were I your husband, I would drink it !
âŚbut rotter is not an insult which is thrown with much energy these days
Feh. I use it every December⌠directed toward the Grinch⌠with very much energy (especially alone in the car)
A favourite of mine is âyou unlettered hooliganâ.
Churchill had wordpower on his side, but even he couldnât match Shakespeare at bespoke insultery.
PRINCE HENRY
Iâll be no longer guilty of this sin. This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horseback-breaker, this huge hill of fleshâ
FALSTAFF
'Sblood, you starveling, you elfskin, you dried neatâs tongue, you bullâs pizzle, you stockfish! O, for breath to utter what is like thee! You tailorâs-yard, you sheath, you bowcase, you vile standing tuckâ
â Henry IV Part 1
Right on.
But letâs not forget Groucho Marx or Bernard Shaw or Oscar Wilde or Mark Twain orâŚ
Book tip:
The Complete Book of Insults
(Bumper Volume containing The Book of Insults Ancient and Modern + The second Book of Insults)
Nancy McPhee
Guild Publishing, London
Mayhaps, but the Bard of Avon had TIME to polish his prose. Churchill did his replies in real time. . .
I learned the word ârotterâ from âYouâre A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.â
My favorite uncommon (at least in the US) word is âpillockâ - i.e. a complete moron.
"You manky Scots git! " From The Holy Grail.
Reminds me of:
Very witty. Very, very witty.
Modern day Bard-speak: LOL WUT?
Seriously.
Please.
P.S. Modern-Bard-Light?
P.P.S. Or shall I garrote you in the night, you shite? Gibbeted gobber, why dâyou slobber? Oh, right, you delight in my smatter, the darkest of matter, shhh in the night, yet twinkling, so light, ye weighty, still neighty, why ever didst shine so brightey? No matter. Iâm right, check my bespights. GâknightsâŚ
P.P.P.S. bow 
P.P.P.P.S. Snowing deeper, faster, sticker, I snickerâŚ
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
