What do you think is the oldest swear word and do you think we still use it?
Asked by
rojo (
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February 13th, 2014
I got to wondering what was the polytheistic equivalent to God-damn which got me to wondering if, since hell is a relatively modern concept would the word damn or its equivalent be even a part of early cursing.
Which led me to the wonder if perhaps cursing would have been more scatological or sexual or religious based, which, in turn, led me to the internet where I learned that “Curse words tend to based on whatever societies find most taboo, and most scary, and most interesting,” says Melissa Mohr, whose book Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing examines how and why people have resorted to profane language, from ancient Roman times to the present.
Which led me back to Fluther to ask what your opinions are?
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19 Answers
I say undoubtedly “Shit”. I mean it’s been disgusting an unhealthy since before we had language to express it. It was a point and look curse.
I thought it would more likely be related to certain body parts but if a society did not have the hang-ups that we do about the body, perhaps that is a mistaken belief.
Well, I think if I pointed at a stinking pile of dog shit, them poked you in the chest with my finger, scowling, you’d get the message regardless of language?
Ugga munga!
No. We haven’t used it for a looong time.
Probably Shit.
It has always amazed me that Fuck became something to say to someone you wish ill on.
I can’t imagine a more pleasurable thing.
I have heard that the derogatory nature of the term “fuck” comes from it being an abbreviation of the statement “I Fuck You” as in I bend you over a stump and have my way with you whether you agree or not.
Well, If we are to believe Adam and Eve to be the first humans, I’d say snake.
Otherwise I think snot, or maybe hungry. Hungry may have happened a lot, and being real hungry could mean having to eat some awful stuff, or being dead. I suppose on a really bad day, hungry and snot could get used together.
Adam uttered the world’s first & by definition, oldest profanity right after he bit into that apple.
“Ah c’mon, you gotta be fucking kidding me, you (Eve) bin fucking naked all this fucking time & I never fucking realised…what a fucking waste!”
It says so in the fucking bible, aka Kama Sutra.
I believe it’s “Oh Shit”, uttered by fighter pilots when they fucked up, from WWI to now, or guys when Eve caught them fucking up. It covers so many situations.
Caca, not shit.
We’d have to go back to proto-Indo-European to find a swear word. But knowing human nature, I’d bet there is a hieroglyphic that means “Osiris my ass” or “Yahweh or the highway”.
I heard that ” Fuck” originated from fornication rules way back when in England and that villagers that wised to fornicate had to have the Kings consent. FUCK stands for ” Fornicating under consent of King.” I don’t know if it’s true, but I like the story. haha
Don’t know if it’s the oldest one, but the word bitch is extremely ancient. It may originate from Greece, and attributed to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt who was said to run around with a pack of wild wolves, and could turn into a wolf herself. Diana with the Romans. (who took all their gods from the Greek) Calling a woman a ’‘bitch’’ was to insult lower class society women, which makes sense from empires who valued sophistication and evolution. Captured outsider women who became slaves of any kind would often be attributed as bitches because of their lack of societal prowess or their retaliation against their captors. (most especially women from Germanic tribes during Roman rule) Therefore attributed to Artemis’s wolves.
In ordered societies, a woman who would not comply, or defied, was associated to a savage dog. A prostitute, to a dog in heat. A cheater to a conniving street mutt. The term bitch was also used against men much earlier than we think, which was usually used to mock their masculinity, or perceived lack thereof.
The modern word for bitch probably comes from old English ’‘bicce’’, which was in turn taken from the Vikings, their word for bitch being ’‘bikkje’’. (which all means female dog)
But don’t let me rattle on, check out this quick history of the word bitch by a college student.
I’m pilfering his article because there was a thread on here years ago, and back then I looked up some info, and found something very similar to what this article says, so it may be on to something.
If this doesn’t help, I hope it’s at least interesting, I thought the article was awesome. :)
Great fuckin question, by the way.
Well, Ugga munga! @Juels.
Good to see you! Happy VD.
@ibstubro Thanks, you too! Gosh, hope that is Valentines day and not Venereal Disease.
Happy Valentines Day!
I bet it has some connection to a female. Some form of “bitch” would be my guess.
@zenvelo Yup. Thou art caca! is an oldy but goody.
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