Really, its use is probably exaggerated in the telling. It’s generally considered to be among the most intense swear words in use in the UK, and would only be used casually among a minority of people, and is still a huge insult if it is used as such.
If anyone’s interested, here’s a report about what words are considered more offensive to the UK population:
IMNSHO it’s high time that feminization-as-an-insult (You hit like a girl!) and words like the above that use derogatory language referring to female anatomy as insults have long worn-out their welcome, and we treat them as such here. Even though this means I do end up routinely explaining that moderation decision to folks were these words are part of the public discourse still. That they are still in use doesn’t make it right.
And that comes from someone who, having grown up on a midway in the summers, had every “girly” insult you can imagine to unlearn!
1 - Does the affected class in question use it as an insult? (presumably, girls don’t admonish girls for hitting “like a girl”, whereas guys use the term “dick” as well)
2 - Is there a bigoted connotation to the term (i.e, the recent spook article)?
I’m open to other standards, but those two seem pretty straightforward to me.
“Putz” means the same thing. Both are vulgar, but like swear words in most other languages, they don’t have the impact on me that they would if I was from that background.
It’s a cognate for the modern German word Schmuck, which means “jewellery” or “decorative element”. Schmuckstück is also an outmoded slang, much like “family jewels” in English.
When I came to Germany, sexual terms were not really used in a derogatory way as much as the arse was. Arschgesicht and Arsch mit Ohren are my favourite. Tussi is exclusively female, but comes from the old name Tusnelda and more like “bimbo”.
EDIT/POSTSCRIPT: What I neglected to mention is that vulgar terms for the vulva have increased in use, mostly coming from the Berlin Aggro scene which tries to imitate gangsta rap misogyny. Or, anecdotally, I have heard F•••e (the German equivalent of c••t) from women trying to be as hurtful as possible when insulting another woman more than from men.
My partner and I have settled on both of the four letter C words in the bedroom context, but in any other context, yeah not so fucking much.
I feel that so much of the problem is that we lack decent non-problematic terms. Largely because every term we come up with we then get all squicky about because we’re so immature and/or repressed about our sexuality.
And even though she directed a run of The Vagina Monologues back in the day, she’s even less enthusiastic about using either of the V-words in bed than I am. We also both feel that the P-word brings along certain, ahem, youthful connotations that can feel a bit weird, even if it does get used occasionally.
I dunno, maybe we should take up the British tradition and move over to the F-word instead.
Isn’t it awfully nice to have a pussy?
Isn’t it fightfully good to have a clit?
It’s swell to have a snapper
It’s divine to own a snatch
From the thinnest little beaver
To the world’s biggest thatch.
So three cheers for your pewter or vagina
Hooray for your golden pouch of God
Your camel-toe, your bearded clown
Your luter or your twat
You can shave it into shapes
Or you can wear it like a hat
But don’t let a man come near it, of that’s the end of that
They won’t come back.