I may have heard it for the first time in the movie Harry and Tonto (1974). Harry’s grandson (iirc) Norman meets his aunt, Harry’s daughter, for the first time. When they part, aunt tells nephew, “I like you, Norman.” “I like you too, Aunt Shirley, but I think you’re a cunt.”
Hm, the quotes page on IM Db has “bitch”, which does not fit my dim memory of Mom trying to explain the line to my 10yo sister.
Edited by Tamfang
🍊orange fursona🧡
Is it time to look for a new image? Given what Kesha had been through, I feel like we need a new one.
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Is this word really that bad? Perhaps I'm suffering from Values Dissonance here (I grew up in Santa Cruz, California, USA), but cunt seems like an every day insult far from the "top of the line". It's perhaps number 4 on my go to list of insults, or something like that. I'm having a hard time imagining a world in which it's actually as offensive as this article makes it out to be. If you compare it with the word "nigger", for instance, it's just not even close in harshness.
Edited by DeaThShiNoBi Hide / Show Replies
As someone born in the Midwest, I'm a bit perplexed as well. I always considered it to be the Distaff Counterpart of calling some guy a dick. I would think just about any derogatory slur attacking one's race or sexual orientation would be way harsher.
Edited by CloverGoldngreen
I have been churning my brains trying to figure it out... Please someone respond?
I think the reason why some people (including myself) are having trouble figuring out what the heck that "acronym" is referring to is related to the fact that I know exactly zero people who pronounce "in" as "en".
Edited by DeaThShiNoBi
Is the Unfortunate Implication of "cunt" really any different than that of "pussy"? I'd say no. I'm not really sure that "pussy" is "cute," either. It's used to either refer to female genitalia or a slur. In this case, I'd say the fact that the slur is aimed at males by relating them to female genitalia has for more of an Unfortunate Implication. To the sexist, there's nothing more offensive to the male than putting him on the same plane as the female. To compare him to the "most female" part of the female is just taking it up a notch.
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There is a huge difference in the American vernacular, "you pussy" doesn't nearly carry the same potential to insult as "you cunt." As for other languages and vernaculars of English, in many it's no different in level of insult than "asshole" or "dick."
As for the whole gender politics bit: as far as I can see from American media calling a man a cunt isn't that offensive, calling a woman cunt on the other hand is treated like the worst kind of profanity- so that whole "most female insults men" theory falls out. The Unfortunate Implications I can make out is that "dick" (the male) is treated like a synonym for selfish and rude behavior, while "cunt/pussy" (the female) is treated like a synonym for cowardice.
Only "pussy" is a synonym for cowardice. "Cunt" seems to be used the same way as "dick" is for males, only it's much stronger.
I'm sad now cos i couldn't make an internal link to "spoonerism" using the words Cunning Stunt. I had to make it an external one.
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No discussion about how people with European accents accidentally say cunt instead of can't, as depicted when the Mother Superior asks Maria "What is it you can't face?" in the Sound of Music?
bigmuzz
you forgot to mention the song by australian band TISM - I Might Be A Cunt, But I'm Not A Fucking Cunt! :P
So that's what this does
I got's to tell ya, I didn't know this word existed until I was 17 and by that time, the idea of it as the ultimate insult to women had gone over my head. I thought it was bitch. lol. Turns out, this word is the You-Know-Who of insults.
Previous Trope Repair Shop thread: Misused
, started by Twentington on Mar 1st 2014 at 4:09:28 AM
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