mastodon 4.7.3Sweary stuff about swearing from a group of linguists, lexicographers, and language lovers. Posts by @stancarey@mastodon.ie
Ever wanted to read Beowulf's introduction and big fight scene translated into modern rural Western Canadian English, with lots of rude language? You're in luck!
Here's Wolf-boy versus Grinder, by @sesquiotic@mstdn.social:
https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2026/05/19/wolf-boy-versus-grinder-the-bow-valley-beowulf/
"This is not about encouraging rudeness or bad behaviour, but rather celebrating diversity and just acknowledging that swearing is, for a lot of people, a day-to-day part of life"
Linguists at University of Sheffield study regional insults and swear words:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/15/swearwords-census-regional-dialects-language-britain
#swearing #insults #dialect #research #linguistics #dialectology
"He did have a nickname, but it's a bit rude for me to tell you. Well, I'll tell you, but you're not gonna be able to air it. He was just called— Do you want me to tell you?"
We won't spoil the surprise.
'Swearing remains "one of the least documented parts of regional languages" and could be an important marker of identity'
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-25/swearing-insults-offensive-words-change-over-time/106711220
#slang #dialect #AustralianEnglish #Australia #swearing #linguistics #insults
Global Swearword, local ideologies: The Re-semiotization and indexical field of Fuck in Taiwan
https://languagehat.com/global-swearword-local-ideologies/
#linguistics #swearing #pragmatics #fuck #Taiwan #language #research
Corentin Moutet: an agent of chaos both in and out of the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7DddmB-76c
Security researchers tricked Apple Intelligence into cursing at users. It could have been a lot worse:
https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/09/security_researchers_tricked_apple_intelligence/
#Apple #security #research #cybersecurity #swearing #AppleIntelligence #AI #LLM
"To spell it with the apostrophe is a thing novelists do." @sesquiotic@mstdn.social deconstructs "Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards":
https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2026/04/07/open-the-fuckin-strait-you-crazy-bastards/
Arnold Zwicky's notes on the slang terms "wazoo" https://arnoldzwicky.org/2026/04/24/hows-your-old-wazoo/
and "bust a nut" https://arnoldzwicky.org/2026/04/28/vulgar-slang-is-busting-out-all-over/
"Cornhole" is the name of a game but also a term of sexual slang. That may not be coincidence, writes @Wordorigins@mastodon.sdf.org in a new post about the word's etymology:
Nela Tshuma on her research into euphemisms for the vulva, and why they matter for women's sexual and reproductive health care in Zimbabwe:
https://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/euphemisms-for-the-vulva-why-words-matter-for-womens-sexual-and-reproductive-health-care-in-zimbabwe/
via @karenyin@mstdn.social's Conscious Language Newsletter
#euphemisms #SexualHealth #healthcare #Zimbabwe #words #gender #development
"While the game of cornhole is played in earnest, I would not be entirely surprised if the name was coined as a kind of inside joke"
@Wordorigins@mastodon.sdf.org on the ludic, and sexual, senses of "cornhole":
https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2026/04/13/cornhole/
"Remember when vulgarity in American politics still seemed almost surprising?"
@sesquiotic@mstdn.social analyzes Trump's "Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards", in a new post on the Strong Language blog:
https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2026/04/07/open-the-fuckin-strait-you-crazy-bastards/
Crimes of Passion (dir. Ken Russell, 1984)
John Davidson: "Tourette’s can make my body or voice do things I don’t mean, and sometimes those tics land on the worst possible words."
https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/john-davidson-tourettes-tics-bafta-n-word-interview-1236671850/