Medieval swear words

If you opened a school textbook from the 15th century, you might be surprised to see how some familiar actions and parts of the anatomy are described. Though words like fart and s would be considered too crass, medieval swear words, or even silly, to educate children with today, in those days they were simply an acceptable part of language. And if you time traveled back to medieval Medieval swear words, you might stumble across some curious street names, too.

Welcome to a thrilling journey through time as we explore the fascinating world of medieval curse words and profanities. Profanities have always been a part of human language and have evolved over time, with offensive language in the Middle Ages being no exception. In this section, we will delve into the use of historical profanities and examine how they provide a unique insight into the language and culture of that era. Medieval curse words were not simply vulgar expressions but rather had cultural significance and served a range of purposes. They were used to insult and curse, to express anger and frustration, or to bring harm to others.

Medieval swear words

Swear words are a constant, but their ability to cause offence is in flux. In the s, today's obscenities were mundane. British Library Board. What follows will be explicit because it is about expletives; it may also seem offensive, because it is about how words have become so. I stumbled upon this question as a historical consultant for a new drama set in the 16th century, when I needed to assess whether certain curse words in the script would have been familiar to the Tudors. In the Middle Ages, the worst words had been about what was holy; by the 18th century they were about bodily functions. The 16th century was a period when what was considered obscene was in flux. Damn and hell were early modern variations of such blasphemous oaths bloody came later , as were the euphemistic asseverations, gad , gog and egad. Many words we consider, at best, crude were medieval common-or-garden words of description — arse , shit , fart , bollocks , prick , piss , turd — and were not considered obscene. But the scatological was starting to become obscene. Sard , swive and fuck were all slightly rude words for sexual intercourse. Frig and jape were also on the cusp of offensiveness. Cunt was also starting to move from being the most direct word to describe a part of the anatomy into obscenity. Bugger remained a non-explicit word for anal sex. Today many of these words have an admirable grammatical flexibility for which the Tudors had no clear substitute.

Related Articles. Ah yes, I slightly misspelled it.

What were bad words in the Middle Ages? In her chapter on medieval England, Mohr explains that people back then did not have much of an issue with describing bodily functions in ways that we might find less appropriate. Open a medieval textbook to teach reading to children and you might find the words arse, shit or fart. Records from the year refer to a man named Roger Fuckebythenavele who lived in Chester — see The earliest use of the F-word. Here are a couple of examples of words that we might not use when chatting with our parents, but seem to have been okay in a medieval setting:. Sard — Before the word fuck existed, sard was the word people in medieval England used to describe having sex. If you were in town looking for a prostitute, you might get directed to Gropecuntelane.

Swear words shock and offend. They also have a physiological impact on us: we blush, our heart races, and our brain is stimulated. The words that have this power vary over time and space. The history of swear words really drives home the idea that the past is a foreign country. Swearing is almost entirely context-dependent; swears are constantly being invented, downgraded, or escalated in our collective mind. Still more have the same meaning but have entirely lost their power. So what sweeping, historical trends undergird the ebb and flow of obscenity? This episode belongs in our series about context, which is part of our year-long mega series about the 5 Cs of history. Content Warning: This episode and transcript includes uncensored strong language and brief references to sexual violence.

Medieval swear words

John Spurr examines profanities and oaths in the 15th—18th centuries and tells us what they reveal about society at the time. Instead Hotspur demanded a good mouth-filling oath. The oaths of the Tudor and Stuart centuries, the era of Shakespeare — , still jump out at modern readers from plays, courtroom testimonies and countless other sources.

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Also, in nautical language a "pintel" is one of the upward facing spikes that attaches the rudder to the hull via the "gudgeon," a ring that fits over it. Meg had a muff and it was rough, Twas black without and red within, An' Duncan, case he got the cauld, He stole his highland pintle in. Mohr notes:. The Latin cuniculum may not have originated as a diminutive, but it sure looks like one and I assume it would have felt like one to essentially all Latin speakers. Many words we consider, at best, crude were medieval common-or-garden words of description — arse , shit , fart , bollocks , prick , piss , turd — and were not considered obscene. The use of vulgar expressions and profanities remained widespread among the lower classes, who saw such language as a way to express their frustration and anger towards their social superiors. Medieval curse words were not simply vulgar expressions but rather had cultural significance and served a range of purposes. This episode goes into great detail about swearing and its social function. The prevalence of offensive language during this era was also a response to the strict societal norms and religious doctrines that governed everyday life. Though words like fart and s would be considered too crass, or even silly, to educate children with today, in those days they were simply an acceptable part of language. Records from the year refer to a man named Roger Fuckebythenavele who lived in Chester — see The earliest use of the F-word. People believed that uttering certain words or phrases could bring misfortune or invoke the wrath of supernatural entities. Despite their prevalence, the use of profanities in ancient times and the Middle Ages was not without consequences. Frig and jape were also on the cusp of offensiveness. Curses and insults were considered to be sinful and were viewed as a threat to the divine order.

Profanity , also called cursing , cussing , bad words , swearing , bad language , abusive language , foul language , obscenity , expletives , vulgarism , or vulgarity , involves the use of notionally offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion, as a grammatical intensifier or emphasis, or to express informality or conversational intimacy.

But the point is it wasn't a taboo word as the modern equivalent is. While the profanities of that time may not be the same as what we use today, the desire to express oneself with offensive language has remained consistent throughout history. However, the extent to which it was used and the types of words that were used varied across cultures, regions, and time periods. Are we more sensitive than our medieval counterparts; or were they just less refined? They ranged from insults to curses to blasphemous language. Some general observations on why people were more upset about swearing false oaths than about the above sort of impolite expressions: Mohr explains: these words were offensive for two reasons. The Magazine Shop. The impact of offensive language was not limited to interpersonal relationships. Sard — Before the word fuck existed, sard was the word people in medieval England used to describe having sex. However, it was essential to understand the context in which certain words were used, as they could have different meanings depending on the situation.