Dirty words - what ELSE do they mean?

Community
#1

Ok, I’m really embarrassed to ask this, but I will anyway.
:blush: :blush: :blush:

Some words and expressions that are commonly used in everyday speech also have other meanings, the dirty one and the more common one. Being a non-native-English speaker I sometimes get into stupid situations because of not knowing those other meanings. I would prefer to know that beforehand to use some other wording, or at least to be aware of what I’m saying.

It’s not about dirty words in whole, it’s only about those which have another meaning that is often used in everyday talks. I have some of them in my dictionnary, but with words like “bum” even my dictionnary gives the dirty meaning in first place, and it’s not commonly used in other meanings. Also, really specific things like “spanking the monkey” are not something you can pronounce without knowing what it means.

Ok, with words like “cherry” I sometimes could guess it from the context, as well as “screw”, which, as I now know, is not only a technical term.

However, speaking of changind locations around the country, I now understand why people often use"travel down" instead of more short “go down”.

My recent LJ delight about"sausages" also revealed the other meaning, and now I understand why my workmates were looking at me so strangely.

It could all be not that bad (apart from looking stupid, which is also quite unpleasant), but about a year ago I was desperately and nervously looking for a job. For one very good position I had to go through a whole lot of interviews and tests, passed them all, and then after final interview I was rejected. One of the two reasons that were given me wholy officially (and my agent was quite embarrased saying that) was that I mentioned “intercourse with customers”.

Don’t laugh. My dictionnary gives the first meaning as social relationship, second as international relationship, and only after that - sex. So it was quite logical to think that the first two are more often used. When after that talk to the agent I talked to my Kiwi friends on this, they said the first meaning that comes to their heads is “wild hot sex” (after that I got completely depressed about that interview).

Now, even understanding what possible reactions could be, I’m still asking for advice: what things are better to not be said or said with alternative wording? You can regard it as a foreigner’s request for help with learning language.

I hope moderators wouldn’t mind such a thing to be here.

Thanks.

#2

The problem with a request like that is that its often hard to think of a loaded phrase to say off the top of your head, it’s more that you know it when you hear it in conversation.

#3

this is a tricky question - a Stephanie noted. However, for your education, I will relate a cautionary tale.
I have a German friend who is a teacher. Her English is also not always perfect. One day one of her class was being particularly annoying, and later in the teachers lounge, she said “That kid has been buggering me all day!” Fortunately her collegues knew what she really meant, but disolved into peals of laughter anyway.

The word she wanted was bugging - ‘to bug’ meaning to annoy.
‘Buggering’ has quite a different meaning, which I will not relate here for fear of the wrath of the moderater. Suffice it to say that it has the same origins as the commonly used ‘bugger’ and refers to a type of intercourse (your 3rd dictionary meaning) not commonly mentioned in polite company.

One of the problems with slang is that it often changes the meaning of proper words, and often the context in which it is used, for example, in American gangsta speak the phrase “my bitch” is probably a really sh*ty way to talk about your girlfriend, or someone you consider submissive to you; but the same phrase from a kiwi farmer would refer to their (female) working dog. The second use is the dictionary correct use, but most people would also understand the first use.

Other things to watch out for are ‘reclaimed insults’, for example gay guys may call each other queen and fag, but may take offence if called these things by straight people (unless they are close friends). This is because these words have historically been used as weapons against this community. There are similar racial epithets that should be avoided by people not belonging to the sub-culture as well - these can be tricky even for people who grow up speaking English, as there are no consistent rules - individuals find different terms offensive.

Good luck, and I hope other people will have some helpful hints.

Edit: I believe to get across the desired meaning you wanted for ‘intercourse’, the best word may be ‘discourse’.

#4

Thanks Steph and Telpe.
I see it was a kinda stupid post I made.
Sorry for being baka.
I’ll try to deal with it.
Happy Easter.

#5

It’s NOT a stupid post! It’s just a really really difficult one to answer. It must be almost impossible to learn English as a second language. I’ll keep an ear out for any examples of words or phrases that could be misunderstood, but as previously noted, I can’t think of any off the top of my head.

#6

It not be a stupid question, lass. It just feels… kinda weird to explain innuendo and toilet humour. Lessee:

“boning” - from bone, an essential part of the human anatomy. In the infamous Ravenholme Underwear thread, it refers to an article describing the process of putting stiffening along the seams of a dress bodice. Also, “boner” can mean, well, a sausage that is larger than normal, and “boning” can refer to Hide the Sausage.

I’m sorry. Ducks flying piano You’re just so cute when you blush. Kawaii!!

#7

A good general rule is that if it is an ordinary, everyday object that is phallic in shape, its name can also be used as innuendo.

Difficulty in slang isn’t just limited to English. It’s entertaining to watch my French professors blanche/turn bright red as a student misprounces something to mean something else, or use a series of ordinary words that when combined, mean something entirely different.

#8

Exactly, it’s not a stupid question, just a hard (and embarrassing) one to answer.

I had a French teacher in high school who carefully taught us a list of common swear words, in case some native speakers ever decided to haze us by telling us they meant something innocuous. She didn’t tell us what they meant, but she wanted us to know they were smutty.

Now of course I have a Latin teacher who gets a real kick out of explaining dirty jokes in the texts we’re reading.

OK, getting a bit more serious, otherwise innocuous words like ‘do’ and ‘come’ can be used in a sexual sense, and are often highlighted by a different tone of voice than normal. ‘Beating off’ or ‘wanking’ refer to masturbation, ‘buggering’ which someone was too embarrassed to explain properly is having anal intercourse, although in NZ at least, ‘bugger’ has turned into a fairly minor cuss-word. ‘Bloody’ used to be a swear word of extreme disrepute (I think it means literally, “by my lady” ie a relgious reference) but seems to be much more innocuous now.

Sorry, hopefully I haven’t incurred the wrath of the moderators, quite.

#9

Oh Lucy you have to watch “Allo Allo” sometime, that will educate you…or make you give up and take a vow of silence… I say dont worry about it, our modern PC, cardigan wearing, non confrontational, wet blanket, society needs more people who have no problem what so ever with saying [size=150]BOLLOCKS [/size] at the top of thier lungs, or sitting on a bus and shouting out “That bush looks like a Willy”.

So damn the Bloody poofters be as crude and abrasive as you like, after Billy Connoly made a fortune out it.

#10

Which brings us to words like ‘willy,’ ‘dick,’ and ‘johnson’ as euphemisms for, er, sausages, and ‘family jewels,’ ‘bollocks,’ ‘balls’ and ‘nuts’ for certain anatomical features in the same locality.

#11

Steph, you are cute!

Looking through the whole thread, i think I need to be more careful with what I’m saying in whole.

As for “bloody” - I use it all the time… :blush:

#12

Generally speaking, in English, any word which represents:

  • something long, can be used as a substitute for penis
  • something round, can be used as a substitute for a testicle
  • something with a hole or slit in it, can be used as a substitute for a vagina
  • something that is a bump, can be used as a substitute for a breast, or breasts if they come in pairs.

So for example, if I said: “Steph, may I put my pencil in your pencil case?” and I leered or winked :wink: I’d expect Steph to slap me. Especially if I didn’t have a pencil.

There are some phrases that are good to avoid. “Bum” can mean “borrow” and “fag” can mean “cigarette”, but If I was to say to Carl, “Can I bum a fag?” he’d probably look at me funny, because he knows I don’t smoke.

Much of it is in the delivery of course. If I said with a straight face “where is the axe, I want to go into the forest to look for faggots?”, you’d hopefully realise I was looking for firewood.

Don’t worry too much about making mistakes with the English language. If people misread things, just tell them they have a filthy mind.

#13

True! Most smuttiness is in the mind of the listener!