This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Did not do the bloody research: From YKTTW
Thanks to whoever launched this (working from Korean PC-Bang public computers means lots of things mess up for you) and to whoever cleaned up the trope description.
Iphigenia: OK... this page is full of inaccuracies. The word 'shag' is most definitely not equivalent to 'fuck' - yes, the meaning is technically the same, but it's much, much milder. And no, the title of Austin Powers 2 was not changed in the UK - where did people get that idea? Also, 'shit' is not the 'American counterpart' of 'shite' - both words are used in the UK, but 'shite' is a lot less offensive (yeah, I know it makes no sense). I'm removing the Austin Powers 2 example, and I'm tempted to remove the other two unless they're substantially rewritten.
- This is not a trope about how offensive different words are. It's about words appearing in contexts where they seem both excessively strong and accidentally so. I didn't add the "Austin Powers 2" esample; but "shagged" seems to fit the bill in the context of a film poster.
Clerval: I don't know - "shag" is milder, but not so much milder, I think - it's still pretty jarring to have a character say it in a show where such direct allusions to sex wouldn't normally happen. And according to The Other Wiki there was a lot of hoo-ha over the title in the UK - trailers before the watershed had to just call it "The Spy Who —" and there where no posters that read "The Spy Who Shagged Me" - either the word Shagged was asterisked out or it was simply called "Austin Powers 2". And I would say whether "shite" is more or less offensive is also dependent on content, yes it can be mild, but said venomously enough it's almost worse.
kicking_k: I'm not at all convinced that "buggered" (the Lois Mc Master Bujold example) was wrongly used. I'm British, don't swear, and wasn't startled by the use of that word. No, it's not a word you'd use to your granny, but there's swearing elsewhere (the characters are soldiers). And who says Barrayarans speak English English, anyway? They have the occasional word like "trousers", but it sounds pretty American to my ear.
Zeke: This is one of those cases where a response not only "justifies" an example but proves it completely bogus. In situations like that, I just remove the example and answer it on the talk page; no point in leaving a bad example up. Cut:
- Real life example - Even the mighty urban legend debunking site Snopes is not invulnerable to this - In the page debunking Sarah Palin's daughter giving another child the finger as a photoshop, they fail to note that her daughter is actually giving the other child the forks - the previously mentioned gesture, a V-for-Victory hand sign with the back of the hand facing away from the body - Which is equivalent in meaning, even though it is not exactly the gesture that the rumor the article is meant to debunk describes.
- For what it's worth, the forks is pretty much an unknown gesture in the States. This troper did have to let her dad know that if he wanted to flash the peace sign on his trip to England, he had to make sure he did it palm forward...
Pastafarian: Folded Truth in Television into Real Life; I don't think we need both.
Sir Frederick: As an Australian, I gotta say - this page is hilarious.
I have to say, as a Brit I'm confused by this page, especially this bit: "Though it varies according to region, age and situation, "bloody" is about as strong a curse as "damn", and "bloody hell" is about the same as "goddamn". It refers to "God's blood" as an oath." Is this saying bloody and bloody hell aren't strong words? That's how it reads to me, but the context implies the opposite. In Britain "bloody", "damn", "bloody hell" and "goddamn" are all about the same level of strength: close to "crap", and nowhere near actual swear words like fuck etc. I don't think anyone under 60 would claim otherwise. "Wanker", however, is a strong word.
Loser Takes All: Removed this from the Simpsons entry under Western Animation. It's pretty clear they knew exactly what "arse" meant and just had Willie use it because he's Scottish; and the show uses the word "ass" frequently, so it's not an example of a foreign profanity being used in a context where a domestic one would be out of place:
- And Groundskeeper Willie has used the word "arse" several times (although in this case I think they did do the (bloody) research) — in one episode, where Skinner has the school bullies locked in a basement room, at the end he wonders if anything has happened to them and Willie warns him that if anything has, the PTA will "rip you a new arse". I was quite startled when I heard that and the subtitles (complete with "arse" spelling instead of "ass") confirmed that I hadn't misheard it.
- MmmKay?: Excuse me, but I have a bit of a question; if "Bloody Hell!" has the offensive power of "Goddamn!", then what about "Bloody Heck!"?
