Every swear word in the English language has been ranked in order of offensiveness.
The UK’s communications regulator,
Ofcom,
interviewed more than 200 people across the UK on how offensive they find a vast array of rude and offensive words and
insults.
People were asked their opinion on 150 words in total. These included general swear words, words linked to race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, body parts and health conditions, religious insults and sexual references, as well as certain hand gestures.
They were asked to rate words as
mild, medium, strong or
strongest.
And this is what
Ofcom found.
For general swear words, the following words were seen as...
Mild:
- Arse
- Bloody
- Bugger
- Cow
- Crap
- Damn
- Ginger
- Git
- God
- Goddam
- Jesus Christ
- Minger
- Sod-off
Medium:
- Arsehole
- Balls
- Bint
- Bitch
- Bollocks
- Bullshit
- Feck
- Munter
- Pissed/pissed off
- Shit
- Son of a bitch
- Tits
Strong:
- Bastard
- Beaver
- Beef curtains
- Bellend
- Bloodclaat
- Clunge
- Cock
- Dick
- Dickhead
- Fanny
- Flaps
- Gash
- Knob
- Minge
- Prick
- Punani
- Pussy
- Snatch
- Twat
Strongest:
Words rated as
mild were thought to be okay to use around children, whereas
medium words were seen by most to be potentially unacceptable before the 9pm watershed. The vast majority thought the
strong words should definitely be saved for after 9pm.
For sexual insults, most words were rated as
strong.
The only words rated
mild or
medium were:
Bonk
Shag
Slapper
Tart
Words rated
strong were:
Bukkake
Cocksucker
Dildo
Jizz
Ho
Nonce
Prickteaser
Rapey
Skank
Slag
Slut
Wanker
Whore