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Warning: This thread is focused on and discusses about a trope involving the highly offensive c-word (not the rooster one), and therefore, will contain very strong language that may be offensive to some tropers. Viewer discretion is advised.

Country Matters is... something, and is something we should deal about. The trope seems to be about how the word "cunt" and how severe the word can be depending on the country (Eg. more acceptable in the UK than US) and culture (Eg. unacceptable if used against a woman). However, given the possibly unclear description, the trope might just be about the word "cunt" being said, which is People Sit on Chairs on its own.

This trope is currently listed as a Pothole Magnet, due to the numerous instances in which it has been potholed on this wiki, particularly when the word being potholed is "cunt". The administrivia page also notes that the trope, and potholes, have been misused for references to female genitalia, particularly when the word is never used.

This trope was harder to do a wick check for, but I, with some assistance from other tropers, managed to get this wick check completed.

While I was expecting this trope to have loads of wicks, there were only around 1895 wicks, so 50 wicks were checked.

50/50

     Comparisons between different cultures on their severity of the word in real life 
  1. Music.Whitehouse
    • Separated by a Common Language: Uses the word cunt a lot and they're from England, so this fuels much of their accusations of misogyny. Of course, in some cases, that's their express intent... It's a simple pothole to the word cunt, but I feel like the example as a whole fits here, given that there's a comparison between England and other territories.
  2. Your Normal Is Our Taboo
    • Country Matters: The word "cunt" is considered highly misogynistic in the United States, while in England and Australia, it has considerably less stigma and is generally just considered a bit coarse. The French equivalent is also pretty tame (generally meaning "dumbass") unless being used specifically to describe a woman's genitals.
  3. BennettTheSage.Tropes A To E
    • (1/2) Country Matters: Sage has used this epithet in a number of reviews, particularly Angel Cop, Love Hina, Virgin Fleet, and Very Private Lesson, and it's his summation of Asuka Soryu and Susan Sommers. However, he has said that he wants to cut down on gendered profanity like this, because he knows how much it can offend the female members of his audience. Comparison between males and females.
  4. Avoid the Dreaded G Rating
    • (1/2) Even the word "cunt" alone doesn't justify an 18, as both Kick-Ass and Shaun of the Dead feature the word and only get a 15 (mentioned by Simon Pegg on the commentary who bemoaned "15 rating horror" and then got one). BBFC 18 is equivalent to a Hard R, so the BBFC seem to show some leniency.

     Use of the word offends characters in-universe 
  1. How the Character Stole Christmas:
    • A How I Met Your Mother episode entitled "How Lily Stole Christmas." Narrator Ted, relating the story to his teenaged children, substitutes "grinch" for "A Very Bad Word." Lily, upset over being called a c—-, takes away all the Christmas decorations. At this point, Ted actually does call her a grinch.
  2. Hated by All:
    • Harley Quinn (2019): While the public reviles Psycho for dropping Country Matters twice on live television, people who personally know him dislike him for being an asshole AND for being a misogynist. He's accurately described by the Cowled Critic as universally hated. By the end of Season 2, the rest of crew want nothing to do with him either, and pass him over when they come to break Harley out of Arkham.
  3. Theatre.Hamlet
    • Country Matters: Ophelia is upset by a dirty innuendo Hamlet has made, so he feigns ignorance and just upsets her more with his euphemistic response, "Do you think I meant country matters?"
  4. Characters.Friday Night Funkin
    • (1/4) Blue with Shock: Boyfriend goes blue if he misses a note, alongside a spaced out facial expression implying he's choked. He makes the same expression when Tankman calls him a "cunt" during Week 7.
  5. Literature.Aztec
    • Country Matters: One of the earliest sentences Mixtli learns from the Spanish invaders, much to His Excellency's horror.
  6. Film.What Richard Did
    • The City vs. the Country: A big component of Richard and Conor's rivalry, with the former seeing him as a lower-class usurper trying to “steal” Lara. On the thematic level, their conflict also signals the major social divide between rural and urban Ireland that had developed during the Celtic Tiger. Interestingly, Richard calling Conor a “culchie” (along with Country Matters) seems to be what finally brings them to blows. The word "cunt" is the reason why the rivalry becomes heated.
  7. Fanfic.Moxxie Morningstar
    *cut to*
    Lilith: I can’t believe how much swearing there is in children’s books these days!
  8. Film.Ted
    • Country Matters: John hates the c-word so much that it seems to physically pain him. I'm unsure if it offends him, given the example is a ZCE, but he seems to hate the word.
  9. Music.Eminem
  10. Podcast.The Brian And Jill Show
    • Country Matters: While Brian & Jill have fun cussing in their first episode due to no FCC regulations, this is the one that Jill refuses to go with.
  11. Film.My Awkward Sexual Adventure

     Word is used as a Precision F-Strike or Atomic F-Bomb 
  1. Awesome.Big Mouth
    • After taking Mirror Missy's verbal abuse all episode, Missy finally tells her to go away with a Precision F-Strike.
      Missy: You know what, Mirror Missy? Why don't you just go fuck yourself, you fudging cu-cu-cunt?
  2. Manga.Soul Eater: ZCE, but the other example makes it clear.
  3. Atomic F-Bomb
    Begbie: CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNT!!!!!!!
    • Game of Thrones: The Stunned Silence at the start of Cersei's walk in "Mother's Mercy" is broken when a bystander yells "Cunt!" at the top of his lungs and everyone realizes they too can get away with insulting the queen to her face.
  4. Film.Blade Trinity
    • Country Matters: From Hannibal King to Danica Talos in one of the most memorable insults in the franchise.
    King: See, that tickle that you're feeling in the back of your throat right now? That's atomized colloidal silver. It's being pumped through the building's air conditioning system, you cock-juggling thundercunt!
  5. Music.Haim
    You don't know how it feels, you don't know how it feels, you don't know how it feels... to be the cunt
  6. Characters.Friday Night Funkin
    • Corpsing: Many of his Game Over lines has the Captain barely holding it together after insulting the Boyfriend for losing. Similarly, after calling Boyfriend a cunt, he bursts out laughing only to call him and Girlfriend the same word again.
    • Country Matters: Before "Stress" starts, he outright calls Boyfriend the c-word, THEN calls both him and Girlfriend the c-word for good measure.
    • Ruder and Cruder: During Weeks 1-6, there aren't many swear words, with the only one being "Shit!" appearing when you just barely hit a note. Here, during Week 7, your opponent is a Sir Swears-a-Lot who outright calls Boyfriend and Girlfriend the c-word in the opening cutscene of Week 7's 3rd song, "Stress". Justified, as Week 7 is the first to have actual dialogue other than Week 6, which still has some crass dialogue in "Roses." The use of the word is very precision based, since the work has never used that word until then.

     A character who uses the word is symbolized as unpleasant 
  1. Literature.Skagboys
    • Country Matters: Par for the course in a Welsh novel. However, Matty's use stands out. Much more often than not, he simply refers to everyone else as "Cunt". Its no exaggeration to say this helps to make him one of the least sympathetic of the protagonists, and that really does say something when country matters is tossed around as freely as it is by almost every other main (and peripheral) character.

     Character has the word in their name to symbolize how petty they are 
  1. Fur and Loathing
    • Many of the Straw Men that inhabit Vegan Artbook but Cuntons stands out in particular. She hates all animals except her pets for reasons and loathes wolves in particular for more reasons. So naturally she killed a wolf and now wears its skinned head as a very ghoulish hat.

     Character almost says the word / Censorship or wordplay of the word played for laughs (Not necessarily covered by Censored For Comedy) 
  1. Fanfic.Crisis Equestria
    • Country Matters: Havocwing uses the c-word at the end of a long string of swears after Rainbow Dash knocks her tumbling along the ground at the end of their fight in Chapter 21. Of course, since all we see is, "-unt." she could have meant something else...
  2. Series.Please Like Me
    • Country Matters: Rose calls Josh for help because she is trying to write 'the c-word' on Stuart's lawn, but she only got as far as 'cun' before running out of paint. Josh pretends not to know what word she means in an attempt to get her to say it.
  3. Funny.Kath And Kim
    • Kim insists that chardonnay is pronounced "cardonnay". ("It's French. The 'h' is silent.") When everyone tells her that it's definitely pronounced "shardonnay", she gets defensive and calls them all a "pack of shunts".
  4. Music.Mitch Benn
  5. Bowdlerise.Live Action TV
    • Parodied in an episode of How I Met Your Mother: Marshall is recapping a vulgar conversation with his boss regarding another company that has done a lot of environmental damage. Lily reminds him that she is pregnant and wants him to censor himself so the child won't hear vulgar language. Marshall then recaps his story, replacing the raunchy words he said at work with clean ones (i.e, "grab them by their big sweaty hands, "sons of mothers", etc). Barney notes the scene is like watching The Breakfast Club on TBS. Also, there are things Ted isn't prepared to tell his kids. E.g. in a flashback to their college days, Marshall was obviously smoking a joint, but what we get to see is Marshall enjoying a sandwich in his dorm room, giggling as he does so, and hiding the sandwich under some papers when he thinks the Dean is going to visit. Ted also self-censors certain words and replaces them with more innocent substitutions like "grinch" and "fudge".
  6. Characters.Crush Crush
    • Country Matters: She's a nurse who works for the Centre for Understanding Nutritional Technology (also known as the Centre for Learning Intimate Technologies). Sounds like the acronym is for humor.
  7. Archer.Tropes A To C
    • Country Matters: Cheryl's real last name is "Tunt". This is the subject of a few puns.
    Archer: Tum again?
    • In season five Mallory calls Cheryl "My little count..ry singer!"
    • In season six:
    Krieger: Archer won't risk his relationship with Lana for a previous conquest, especially a prostitute. For a man like him, it's all about the hunt.
    Pam: Well they're all gonna have—
    Krieger: I said hunt!
  8. CDTAdventure.Tropes A To K
    • Country Matters: Parthenia drops a c-bomb on Chaudhari. Non-verbally, of course, since that would unnecessarily escalate the situation in the Town Square. This is a weird example, but I guess that "quietly" using the word counts for this folder.

     References to the bits 
  1. WesternAnimation.Sausage Party
    • Country Matters: Douche's package advertises that he is "Country Fresh". The actual c-word is dropped a few times, also. Since Douche is a douche, I'd classify this example here. The other part qualifies for Character say the word.
  2. Lap Pillow
  3. Bite the Wax Tadpole
    • (1/2) In December 2013, IKEA's annual charity plushie, the stuffed Big Bad Wolf Lufsig, gained attention in Hong Kong after someone threw one at unpopular Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (nicknamed "the wolf" by his particularly large opposition). While the juxtaposition was funny, Cantonese speakers realized that its name (a corruption of a Swedish word meaning "to lumber") as listed on IKEA's Mainland China website, "Lù mǔ xi", was pronounced as "Lo Mai Sai" in Cantonese, which could be read as a pun of "Lo Mai Hai" ("your mother's cunt"). Even worse, the Cantonese word for "throw" is a homophone of a word commonly translated as "fuck" ("Diū"). The expected response was subverted, as the resulting Memetic Mutation caused Lufsig to fly off store shelves in Hong Kong and the mainland (with people lining up in the morning to buy them and support IKEA's causes). The Chinese name was later changed to a closer transliteration that averted the Cantonese wordplay.
    • (2/2) In Czech, "Pichu" is pronounced like the word for female genitalia (the Country Matters equivalent). When the second generation of Pokémon arrived at the Czech Republic, kids everywhere had to joke about Pikachu's vagina. Pichu was censored out in some instalments, but no-one thought of changing the name. Later the pronunciation was adjusted to Pixu (x standing for the sound like 'ch' in German 'lachen', Spanish 'j' in 'Javier', or Scottish 'ch' in 'Loch Ness') or Pic-chu.
  4. ComicStrip.Bloom County
    • Self-Deprecation:
      • In a series in Bloom County 2015 about "trump" being used for farting in Britain, the target of these jokes, Donald Trump, responds by sending Milo a copy of "British Cockney Rhyming Slang", and a note telling Milo to check the "B section", in particular, the definition of "berk". The definitions themselves are accurate to the actual British slang usage of "berk", with "vagina" being used as a substitute for a more offensive term. Reference to the word.
  5. GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff.Toys
    • IKEA's "Lufsig" wolf plushies experienced a huge surge of popularity in Hong Kong and China after a protester threw one at Hong Kong's leader CY Leung, who had been called "the wolf" by critics who think he is cunning, and as a pun off his name in Chinese). That and the rather unfortunate name Ikea's Chinese website gave the toy; which could be used to refer to a part of a Mother's anatomy, and even worse, a phrase essentially meaning "Throw Lufsig" that could be read as "fuck your mother".

     Shock value examples 
  1. Film.Kick Ass
  2. Music.Kunt And The Gang
    • Country Matters: Come on, do we really need to say anything? ZCE. Also, considering the band creates songs about puerile subjects, I would list it under here.

     Word used without cultural issues mentioned / Character says or is named the word with no culture issues mentioned, and unclear examples. 
  1. Characters.Panty And Stocking With Garterbelt
  2. WesternAnimation.Santa Inc
  3. Series.Fleabag:
    • Fleabag calls Godmother this at one point. It's hard to disagree with her.
  4. WebVideo.Sidemen:
    • Used frequently among the guys, mostly as a playful insult and occasionally out of pure anger.
  5. Characters.Kill La Kill AU
  6. LetsPlay.Pew Die Pie
  7. BennettTheSage.Tropes A To E
    • (2/2) Sage and Suave both hate Love Hina, to the point that Suave renames Naru as "The Intolerable Bitch" and calls her a cunt
  8. Literature.Ulysses
  9. Characters.Friday Night Funkin
    • (2/4) *Bleep*-dammit!: In gameplay, he'll say "effing" in place of "fucking", yet has no problem using other swear words, including the c-word. What's odder is that he's more than happy to say the F-word in all its glory in some of his game over quotes.
  10. Film.Kick Ass
    • (1/2) Country Matters: Said by Hit Girl to a room full of criminals.note  The example also has unnecessary gushing and natter.
  11. Series.Jersey Shore
    • Country Matters: Ronnie gets pretty drunk in the season 2 premier and lets out all the bitterness he has toward Sammi out, including pulling out this trope. Angelina uses it a bit later in the same episode during one of the commentary sections.
  12. Funny.The Wire
    • Bird blurting out insult after insult towards the detectives during his interrogation, especially towards Kima. Unclear. There's not really any mentions in this entry that state that she is offended by the word.
  13. Funny.The Crown 2016
    George VI: There was an old Countess of Bray, and you might think it odd when I say, that despite her high station, rank and education, she always spelled "Cunt" with a K!

     Potholes for the word that don't fit in the above categories except "character says the word" 
  1. Lap Pillow
    • Hamlet lays his head in Ophelia's lap — and proceeds with a string of Double Entendres about what else he might lay in her lap, including the trope namer for Country Matters. Mentions the trope name.
  2. Country Mouse
    • Not necessarily experienced in Country Matters. Ambiguious reference to the trope.
  3. BoxOfficeBomb.N Through R
    • Nil by Mouth (1997) — Budget, $9 million. Box office, $266,130. This is the only movie Gary Oldman wrote and directed, and while it got some decent reviews, it also earned notoriety for having the most usage of the word "cunt" (it also abused the F-Bomb). Known for how many uses of the word are in the film.
  4. Avoid the Dreaded G Rating
    • Just like Peter Morgan's aforementioned The Queen, the Netflix series The Crown (2016) fits this trope. The series is a character study about Queen Elizabeth II, but with some edgier content (namely, some medical gore and occasional nudity) - no worse than most TV-14 rated cable dramas, though. A crude limerick in the first episode that uses a certain swear word, and a Precision F-Strike in the fifth, take the series as a whole into TV-MA territory despite its benign nature - certainly compared to other original series with TV-MA ratings on the service. (The latter moment, of course, would've likely kept the series in solid TV-14 territory were it not for the former moment.)
  5. Characters.Dream SMP:

     Other 
  1. Characters.Futari Wa Pretty Cure Dragon
    • Country Matters: Calls Ai a "screwy little quim" after she allegedly tries to hit Hiroshi in the crotch deliberately with a volleyball. Although it mentions that he hates anyone calling him or his friends a cunt, this examples doesn't make it clear enough that it is about the word "cunt".


Statistics:

Because there are so many wicks of this trope on the same pages, certain examples have been divided into different folders. Additionally, as the percentages are calculated based on individual examples, we cannot expect that the results precisely sum up to 100%.

Out of 69 examples from 50 pages checked, estimated

  • 4/69 (5.8%) involved comparisons between different cultures on their severity of the word in real life.
  • 17/69 (24.6%) involved characters being offended by the word.
  • 11/69 (15.9%) involved the word being used as a Precision F-Strike or Atomic F-Bomb.
  • 1/69 (1.4%) involved the word being used by a character symbolized as unpleasant.
  • 1/69 (1.4%) involved the word being used as a pun in a character's name that symbolizes that they are unpleasant.
  • 8/69 (11.6%) involved the word being used in wordplay or clear censorship.
  • 6/69 (8.7%) involved the word being used for references to the female genitalia.
  • 2/69 (2.9%) involved the word being used for shock value examples.
  • 13/69 (18.8%) involved the word being used without cultural issues mentioned, and unclear examples.
  • 5/69 (7.2%) involved potholes that did not fall into the above categories, except if the word was used without cultural issues mentioned.
  • 1/69 (1.4%) was an example of an unclear example that doesn't even mention if the word "cunt" was used.

Adding up to 99.7%.

ZCEs overall:

/69 were Zero-Context Examples, including the ZCE folder.

Potholes overall:

30/69 (43.5%), from all folders, involved a pothole of Country Matters.

Analysis

So yeah... The trope's definition is inconsistent, and all the types of examples linking to the trope are inconsistent too.

However, almost all of the examples share something in common. They're referring to the word "cunt". References to a word without a consistent meaning or purpose makes a trope People Sit on Chairs, and Country Matters seems to be going in that direction.

I believe the inconsistent use of Country Matters also stems from its unclear name. The trope name comes from Hamlet. During Act 3 Scene 2, Hamlet asks Ophelia if he could lie in her lap during a performance, which Ophelia questions and refuses. Hamlet tells Ophelia that he only wants to lie his head on her lap and asks if she was thinking of "country matters" instead, which has commonly been seen as a sexual pun, either as a pun of insulting women, or regarding the vulva. It is also seen as an example of comparing rural behaviors (country) with more sophisticated behaviors, but not of the word.

The trope name Country Matters might be a pun on that term from Hamlet, which is already a pun. Country Matters could be read as "this country views this matter (the word "cunt") in a different way", which seems to support what most of the description rambles about. However, given that most people only recognize "Country Matters" as simply a dirty pun on the word "cunt", as seen from the lack of first folder entries, this has resulted in examples being everywhere, making, what I think is, a punny pun title fall flat.

If this trope is about "comparisons between different cultures on the severity of the word "cunt"", and I am wrong on the uncertainty which I had stated way above, then this trope would still have problems, given that most examples (65 uses) would be misuse, and there would only be 4 correct uses.


What can we do to fix this trope?

Initially, before the wick check was completed, I was thinking of proposing the idea of tropes related to the word, such as "the word "cunt" used for shock value and humor". However, a trope about "Precision F-Strike or Atomic F-Bomb, but for the word cunt" would not be tropeworthy, given its redundancy.

However, as a Useful Notes or Media Notes page? Maybe. The "comparisons between different countries" folder brings up examples regarding how offensive this word can come off as in various different countries and towards various different groups, and it is considered one of the most severe of the Seven Dirty Words, the entry of which wicks the word to Country Matters too. Also, Media Classifications, essential in discussions regarding movie and television show distribution, in various countries can treat this word quite differently, especially when used on television. A Useful or Media Notes page could work.

Some suggestions on what could be done to Country Matters, and the likelihood of such happening:

  • Create a trope revolving around using the word "cunt" for shock value, the word (or profanity in general) offending certain characters in-universe, etc.
  • Create a Useful Notes or Media Notes page about the word - If there is enough consensus for the UN page, another crowner should determine the name of the page.
  • Cut Country Matters.
  • Disambiguate Country Matters with the new tropes (if there will be new tropes), These Tropes Should Watch Their Language (The index of profanity tropes), (maybe) Hamlet (The Trope Namer and origin of the term "Country Matters") the Useful or Media Notes page, and/or other pages similar.

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