From en.wikipedia.org:
[Vulgar term] [Italic title] [the vulgarism] [C***] [pp-semi-indef] [pp-move]
[date=May 2024] [date=May 2024]
_CUNT_ ([audio=En-us-cunt.ogg]) is a vulgar word for the vulva<!-- (or vagina)
--> in its primary sense, and it is used in a variety of ways, including as a
term of disparagement. It is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for
a woman in the United States, an unpleasant or objectionable person
(regardless of gender) in the United Kingdom and Ireland, or a contemptible
man in Australia and New Zealand.[1][2][3][4] In Australia and New Zealand, it
can also be a neutral or positive term when used with a positive qualifier
(e.g., "He's a good cunt").<ref name="slate" /><ref name="spinoff" /> The term
has various derivative senses, including adjective and verb uses.
** History
The earliest known use of the word, according to the _Oxford English
Dictionary_, was as part of a placename: an Oxford street called Gropecunt
Lane, [1230], now by the name of Grove Passage or Magpie Lane. Use of the
word as a term of abuse is relatively recent, dating from the late nineteenth
century.[5] The word was not considered vulgar in the Middle Ages, but became
so during the seventeenth century,[6] and it was omitted from dictionaries
from the late eighteenth century until the 1960s.[7]
** Etymology
[section] The etymology of _cunt_ is a matter of debate,[8] but most sources
consider the word to have derived from a Germanic word (Proto-Germanic
_*kuntō_, stem _*kuntōn-_), which appeared as _[non]_ in Old Norse. Scholars
are uncertain of the origin of the Proto-Germanic form itself.[9] There are
cognates in most Germanic languages, most of which also have the same meaning
as the English cunt, such as the Swedish, Faroese and Nynorsk _[sv]_; West
Frisian and Middle Low German _[fy]_; another Middle Low German _[gml]_;
Middle High German _[gmh]_ (meaning "[en]"); modern German _[de]_; Middle
Dutch _[dum]_; modern Dutch words _[nl]_ (same meaning) and _[nl]_ ("butt",
"arse"); and perhaps Old English _[ang]_.
The etymology of the Proto-Germanic term is disputed. It may have arisen by
Grimm's law operating on the Proto-Indo-European root _[*gen/gon]_ "[en]" seen
in gonads, genital, gamete, genetics, gene, or the Proto-Indo-European root
_[*gʷneh₂/guneh₂]_ "[en]" ([el], seen in gynaecology). Similarly, its use in
England likely evolved from the Latin word _cunnus_ ("vulva"), or one of its
derivatives French _con_, Spanish _coño_, and Galician/Portuguese _cona_.[10]
Other Latin words related to _cunnus_ are _[la]_ ("[en]") and its derivative
_[la]_ ("[en]", (figurative) "[en]"), leading to English words such as
_cuneiform_ ("[en]"). In Middle English, _cunt_ appeared with many spellings,
such as _[enm]_, _[enm]_ and _[enm]_, which did not always reflect the actual
pronunciation of the word.
The word, in its modern meaning, is attested in Middle English. _Proverbs of
Hendyng_, a manuscript from some time before 1325, includes the advice:[11]
[[enm] <br /> (Give your cunt wisely and make [ your ] demands after the
wedding.)]
** Offensiveness
*** Generally
The word _cunt_ is generally regarded in English-speaking countries as
profanity and unsuitable for normal public discourse. It has been described
as "the most heavily tabooed word of all English words",[12][13] although John
Ayto, editor of the _Oxford Dictionary of Slang_, says "nigger" is more
taboo.[14]
*** Feminist perspectives
{{multiple image
| align = right
| total_width = 350
| image1 = Labia pride activist street art.jpg
| caption1 = Flyposting of the activist platform Courageous Cunts on an urban wall
| image2 = Womens-march-santa-cruz-2017-_01.jpg
| caption2 = Santa Cruz Women's March 2017
}} Some American feminists of the 1970s sought to eliminate disparaging terms
for women, including "bitch" and "cunt".[15] In the context of pornography,
Catharine MacKinnon argued that use of the word acts to reinforce a
dehumanisation of women by reducing them to mere body parts;[16] and in 1979
Andrea Dworkin described the word as reducing women to "the one essential –
'cunt: our essence ... our offence'".<ref name="Lacombe" />
Despite criticisms, there is a movement among feminists that seeks to reclaim
_cunt_ not only as acceptable, but as an honorific, in much the same way that
_queer_ has been reappropriated by LGBT people and _nigger_ has been by some
African Americans.[17] Proponents include artist Tee Corinne in _The Cunt
Coloring Book_ (1975); Eve Ensler in "Reclaiming Cunt" from _The Vagina
Monologues_ (1996); and Inga Muscio in her book, _Cunt: A Declaration of
Independence_ (1998).[18]
Germaine Greer, the feminist writer and professor of English who once
published a magazine article entitled "Lady, Love Your Cunt" (anthologised in
1986),[19] discussed the origins, usage and power of the word in the BBC
series _Balderdash and Piffle_, explaining how her views had developed over
time. In the 1970s she had "championed" the use of the word for the female
genitalia, thinking it "shouldn't be abusive"; she rejected the "proper" word
vagina, a Latin name meaning "sword-sheath" originally applied by male
anatomists to all muscle coverings (see synovial sheath) – not just because it
refers only to the internal canal but also because of the implication that the
female body is "simply a receptacle for a weapon".[20] But in 2006, referring
to its use as a term of abuse, she said that, though used in some quarters as
a term of affection, it had become "the most offensive insult one man could
throw at another"[21] and suggested that the word was "sacred", and "a word of
immense power, to be used sparingly".[22] Greer said in 2006 that ["']cunt' is
one of the few remaining words in the English language with a genuine power to
shock."<ref name="Balderdash & Piffle sacred" />
** Usage: pre-twentieth century
_Cunt_ has been attested in its anatomical meaning since at least the 13th
century. While Francis Grose's 1785 _A Classical Dictionary of The Vulgar
Tongue_ listed the word as "C**T: a nasty name for a nasty thing",[23] it did
not appear in any major English dictionary from 1795 to 1961, when it was
included in _Webster's Third New International Dictionary_ with the comment
"usu. considered obscene". Its first appearance in the _Oxford English
Dictionary_ was in 1972, which cites the word as having been in use from 1230
in what was supposedly a London street name of "Gropecunte Lane". It was,
however, also used before 1230, having been brought over by the Anglo-Saxons,
originally not an obscenity but rather an ordinary name for the vulva or
vagina. Gropecunt Lane was originally a street of prostitution, a red light
district. It was normal in the Middle Ages for streets to be named after the
goods available for sale therein, hence the prevalence in cities having a
medieval history of names such as "Silver Street" and "Fish Street". In some
locations, the former name has been bowdlerised, as in the City of York, to
the more acceptable "Grape Lane".[24]
The somewhat similar word 'queynte' appears several times in Chaucer's
_Canterbury Tales_ (c. 1390), in bawdy contexts, but since it is used openly,
does not appear to have been considered obscene at that time.[25] A notable
use is from the "Miller's Tale": "Pryvely he caught her by the queynte." The
Wife of Bath also uses this term, "For certeyn, olde dotard, by your leave/You
shall have queynte right enough at eve .... What aileth you to grouche thus
and groan?/Is it for ye would have my queynte alone?" In modernised versions
of these passages the word "queynte" is usually translated simply as
"cunt".[26][27] However, in Chaucer's usage there seems to be an overlap
between the words "cunt" and "quaint" (possibly derived from the Latin for
"known"). "Quaint" was probably pronounced in Middle English in much the same
way as "cunt". It is sometimes unclear whether the two words were thought of
as distinct from one another. Elsewhere in Chaucer's work the word _queynte_
seems to be used with meaning comparable to the modern "quaint" (curious or
old-fashioned, but nevertheless appealing).[28] This ambiguity was still being
exploited by the 17th century; Andrew Marvell's _... then worms shall try /
That long preserved virginity, / And your quaint honour turn to dust, / And
into ashes all my lust_ in _To His Coy Mistress_ depends on a pun on these two
senses of "quaint".[29]
By Shakespeare's day, the word seems to have become obscene. Although
Shakespeare does not use the word explicitly (or with derogatory meaning) in
his plays, he still uses wordplay to sneak it in obliquely. In Act III, Scene
2, of _Hamlet_, as the castle's residents are settling in to watch the
play-within-the-play, Hamlet asks his girlfriend Ophelia, "Lady, shall I lie
in your lap?" Ophelia replies, "No, my lord." Hamlet, feigning shock, says,
"Do you think I meant _country matters_?" Then, to drive home the point that
the accent is definitely on the first syllable of _country_, Shakespeare has
Hamlet say, "That's a fair thought, to lie between maids' legs."[30] In
_Twelfth Night_ (Act II, Scene V) the puritanical Malvolio believes he
recognises his employer's handwriting in an anonymous letter, commenting
"There be her very Cs, her Us, and her Ts: and thus makes she her great Ps",
unwittingly punning on "cunt" and "piss",<ref name="Silverton" /> and while it
has also been argued that the slang term "cut" is intended,[31] Pauline
Kiernan writes that Shakespeare ridicules "prissy puritanical party-poopers"
by having "a Puritan spell out the word 'cunt' on a public stage".[32] A
related scene occurs in _Henry V_: when Katherine is learning English, she is
appalled at the _gros, et impudique_ words "foot" and "gown", which her
teacher has mispronounced as _coun_. It is usually argued that Shakespeare
intends to suggest that she has misheard "foot" as _foutre_ (French, "fuck")
and "coun" as _con_ (French "cunt", also used to mean "idiot").[33]
Similarly, John Donne alludes to the obscene meaning of the word without being
explicit in his poem _The Good-Morrow_, referring to sucking on "country
pleasures". The 1675 Restoration comedy _The Country Wife_ also features such
word play, even in its title.[34]
By the 17th century, a softer form of the word, "cunny", came into use. A
well-known use of this derivation can be found in the 25 October 1668 entry of
the diary of Samuel Pepys. He was discovered having an affair with Deborah
Willet: he wrote that his wife "coming up suddenly, did find me embracing the
girl con [with] my hand sub [under] su [her] coats; and endeed I was with my
main [hand] in her cunny. I was at a wonderful loss upon it and the girl also
....."[35]
_Cunny_ was probably derived from a pun on _coney_, meaning "rabbit", rather
as _pussy_ is connected to the same term for a cat. (Philip Massinger
(1583–1640): "A pox upon your Christian cockatrices! They cry, like
poulterers' wives, 'No money, no coney.'")<ref name=ship>Ship, Joseph Twadell.
_The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European
Roots_, JHU Press, 1984, p. 129. Because of this slang use as a synonym for
a taboo term, the word "coney", when it was used in its original sense to
refer to rabbits, came to be pronounced as [ˈ] (rhymes with "phoney"), instead
of the original [/ˈkʌni/] (rhymes with "honey"). Eventually, the taboo
association led to the word "coney" becoming deprecated entirely and replaced
by the word "rabbit".<ref name=ship/>[36][37][38]
Robert Burns (1759–1796) used the word in his _Merry Muses of Caledonia_, a
collection of bawdy verses which he kept to himself and were not publicly
available until the mid-1960s.[39] In "Yon, Yon, Yon, Lassie", this couplet
appears: "For ilka birss upon her cunt, Was worth a ryal ransom"[40] ("For
every hair upon her cunt was worth a royal ransom"[41]).
** Usage: modern
*** As a term of abuse
Merriam-Webster states it is a "usually disparaging and obscene" term for a
woman,<ref name="Cunt 1"/> and that it is an "offensive way to refer to a
woman" in the United States.<ref name="Cunt 2"/> In American slang, the term
can also be used to refer to "a fellow male homosexual one dislikes".[42]
Australian scholar Emma Alice Jane describes how the term as used on modern
social media is an example of what she calls "gendered vitriol", and an
example of misogynistic e-bile.[43] As a broader derogatory term, it is
comparable to _prick_ and means "a fool, a dolt, an unpleasant person – of
either sex".[44][45] This sense is common in New Zealand, British, and
Australian English, where it is usually applied to men[46] or as referring
_specifically_ to "a despicable, contemptible or foolish" _man_.[47]
During the 1971 Oz trial for obscenity, prosecuting counsel asked writer
George Melly, "Would you call your 10-year-old daughter a cunt?" Melly
replied, "No, because I don't think she is."[48]
In the 1975 film _One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_, the central character
McMurphy, when pressed to explain exactly why he does not like the tyrannical
Nurse Ratched, says, "Well, I don't want to break up the meeting or nothing,
but she's something of a cunt, ain't she, Doc?"[49]
*** Other usage
In informal British, Irish, New Zealand, and Australian English, and
occasionally but to a lesser extent in Canadian English, it can be used with
no negative connotations to refer to a (usually male) person.[50] In this
sense, it may be modified by a positive qualifier (funny, clever,
etc.).[51][52][53] For example, "This is my mate Brian. He's a good
cunt."[54][55] In Welsh, [cy] (the Welsh equivalent) is sometimes used as a
term of endearment, such as the phrase [cy] ([okay cunt]) in Caernarfon.[56]
It can also be used to refer to something very difficult or unpleasant (as in
"a cunt of a job").[57]
In the Survey of English Dialects the word was recorded in some areas as
meaning "the vulva of a cow". This was pronounced as [kʌnt] in Devon, and
[kʊnt] in the Isle of Man, Gloucestershire and Northumberland. Possibly
related was the word _cunny_ [kʌni], with the same meaning, in Wiltshire.[58]
The word "cunty" is also known, although used rarely: a line from Hanif
Kureishi's _My Beautiful Laundrette_ is the definition of England by a
Pakistani immigrant as "eating hot buttered toast with cunty fingers",
suggestive of hypocrisy and a hidden sordidness or immorality behind the
country's quaint façade. This term is attributed to British novelist Henry
Green.[59] In the United States, "cunty" is sometimes used in cross-dressing
drag ball culture for a drag queen that "projects feminine beauty"[60] and was
the title of a hit song by Aviance.[61] A visitor to a New York drag show
tells of the emcee praising a queen with "cunty, cunty, cunty" as she walks
past.[62]
Rapper Azealia Banks is known for her frequent usage of the word,[63] and her
fans are known as the Kunt Brigade.[64] She's said in one interview:[65]
[text="To be cunty is to be feminine and to be, like, aware of yourself.
Nobody's fucking with that inner strength and delicateness. The cunts, the
gay men, adore that. My friends would say, "Oh you need to cunt it up! You're
being too banjee ."]
In the 2020s, the phrase "serving cunt" (or to "serve cunt") became popular as
a term for acting in a powerfully and unapologetically feminine manner.[66]
*** Frequency of use
Frequency of use varies widely. According to research in 2013 and 2014 by
Aston University and the University of South Carolina, based on a corpus of
nearly 9 billion words in geotagged tweets, the word was most frequently used
in the United States in New England and was least frequently used in the
south-eastern states.[67][68] In Maine, it was the most frequently used "cuss
word" after "asshole".[69]
** Examples of use
[section]
*** Literature
James Joyce was one of the first major 20th-century novelists to put the word
"cunt" into print. In the context of one of the central characters in
_Ulysses_ (1922), Leopold Bloom, Joyce refers to the Dead Sea and to
{{blockquote|... the oldest people. Wandered far away over all the earth,
captivity to captivity, multiplying, dying, being born everywhere. It lay
there now. Now it could bear no more. Dead: an old woman's: the grey sunken
cunt of the world.[70]}} Joyce uses the word figuratively rather than
literally; but while Joyce used the word only once in _Ulysses_, with four
other wordplays ('cunty') on it, D. H. Lawrence later used the word ten
times in _Lady Chatterley's Lover_ (1928), in a more direct sense.[71]
Mellors, the gamekeeper and eponymous lover, tries delicately to explain the
definition of the word to Lady Constance Chatterley: "If your sister there
comes ter me for a bit o' cunt an' tenderness, she knows what she's after."
The novel was the subject of an unsuccessful UK prosecution in 1961 against
its publishers, Penguin Books, on grounds of obscenity.[72]
Samuel Beckett was an associate of Joyce, and in his _Malone Dies_ (1956), he
writes: "His young wife had abandoned all hope of bringing him to heel, by
means of her cunt, that trump card of young wives."[73] In 1998, Inga Muscio
published _Cunt: A Declaration of Independence_. In Ian McEwan's novel
_Atonement_ (2001), set in 1935, the word is used in the draft of a love
letter mistakenly sent instead of a revised version and, although not spoken,
is an important plot pivot.[74]
Irvine Welsh uses the word widely in his novels, such as _Trainspotting_,
generally as a generic placeholder for a man, and not always negatively, e.g.
"Ah wis the cunt wi the fuckin pool cue in ma hand, n the plukey cunt could
huv the fat end ay it in his pus if he wanted, like."[75]<ref name="Irvine
Welsh"/>
*** Art
[Vagina and vulva in art] The word is occasionally used in the titles of works
of art, such as Peter Renosa's portrait of the pop singer Madonna, _I am the
Cunt of Western Civilization_, from a 1990 quote by the singer.[76] One of the
first works of Gilbert & George was a self-portrait in 1969[77] entitled
"Gilbert the Shit and George the Cunt".[78] The London performance art group
the Neo Naturists had a song and an act called "Cunt Power", a name which
potter Grayson Perry borrowed for one of his early works: "An unglazed piece
of modest dimensions, made from terracotta like clay – labia carefully formed
with once wet material, about its midriff".[79] Australian artist Greg
Taylor's display of scores of white porcelain vulvas, "CUNTS and other
conversations" (2009), was deemed controversial for both its title and
content, with Australia Post warning the artist that the publicity postcards
were illegal.[80]
*** Theatre
Theatre censorship was effectively abolished in the UK in 1968; prior to that,
all theatrical productions had to be vetted by Lord Chamberlain's Office.
English stand-up comedian Roy "Chubby" Brown claims that he was the first
person to say the word on stage in the United Kingdom.[81]
*** Television
**** United Kingdom
Broadcast media is regulated for content, and media providers such as the BBC
have guidelines which specify how "cunt" and similar words should be
treated.[82] In a survey of 2000 commissioned by the British Broadcasting
Standards Commission, Independent Television Commission, BBC and Advertising
Standards Authority, "cunt" was regarded as the most offensive word which
could be heard, above "motherfucker" and "fuck".[83] Nevertheless, there have
been occasions when, particularly in a live broadcast, the word has been aired
outside editorial control:
- _The Frost Programme_ , broadcast 7 November 1970, was the first time the word was known to have been used on British television, in an aside by Felix Dennis . <ref name="Silverton" /> This incident has since been reshown many times. [84]
- Bernard Manning first said on television the line "They say you are what you eat. I'm a cunt." [85] [86]
- _This Morning_ broadcast the word in 2000, used by model Caprice Bourret while being interviewed live about her role in _The Vagina Monologues_ . [87]
The first scripted uses of the word on British television occurred in 1979, in
the ITV drama _No Mama No_.<ref name="Silverton" /><ref name = "Indy"/> In
_Jerry Springer – The Opera_ (BBC, 2005), the suggestion that the Christ
character might be gay was found more controversial than the chant describing
the Devil as "cunting, cunting, cunting, cunting cunt".[88] In 2016, the BBC
announced that there was "strong editorial justification" for airing
especially profane dialogue from a 1978 Derek and Clive sketch in the BBC Four
documentary _The Undiscovered Peter Cook_; containing 12 uses of "cunt" and 15
uses of "fuck" over its 70-second duration, the clip was named "almost
certainly" the "most profanity riddled rant ever broadcast on British TV" by
the _Radio Times_, and its broadcast was only allowed after BBC head of
television Charlotte Moore gave her clear approval.[89]
In July 2007 BBC Three broadcast an hour-long documentary, entitled _The 'C'
Word_, about the origins, use and evolution of the word from the early 1900s
to the present day. Presented by British comedian Will Smith, viewers were
taken to a street in Oxford once called Gropecunt Lane and presented with
examples of the acceptability of "cunt" as a word.[90] (Note that "the C-word"
is also a long-standing euphemism for cancer; Lisa Lynch's book led to a BBC1
drama, both with that title.[91])
The _Attitudes to potentially offensive language and gestures on TV and radio_
report by Ofcom, based on research conducted by Ipsos MORI, categorised the
usage of the word 'cunt' as a highly unacceptable pre-watershed, but generally
acceptable post-watershed, along with 'fuck' and 'motherfucker'.
Discriminatory words were generally considered as more offensive than the most
offensive non-discriminatory words such as 'cunt' by the UK public, with
discriminatory words being more regulated as a result.[92]
**** United States
The first scripted use on US television was on the _Larry Sanders Show_ in
1992, and a notable use occurred in _Sex and the City_.<ref name="Silverton"
/> In the US, an episode of the NBC TV show _30 Rock_, titled "The C Word",
centered around a subordinate calling protagonist Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) a
"cunt" and her subsequent efforts to regain her staff's favour.[93] Characters
in the popular TV series _The Sopranos_ often used the term.[94] Jane Fonda
uttered the word on a live airing of the _Today Show_, a network broadcast-TV
news program, in 2008 when being interviewed by co-host Meredith Vieira about
_The Vagina Monologues_.[95] Coincidentally, nearly two years later in 2010,
also on the _Today Show_, Vieira interviewed a thirteen-year-old girl said the
word twice to describe the contents of text messages she was privy to that
were central to a well publicised and violent assault. Meredith gently
cautioned the girl to choose her words more carefully. As this was a live
broadcast on the East Coast, the slurs already were already broadcast, but the
producers removed the audio for the Central, Mountain, and Pacific feeds as
well as online. Like the Fonda incident, Vieira issued an apology later in
the show.[96] Media Critic Thomas Francis commented on what he perceived to be
hypocrisy in the media industry:
{{Blockquote |text= Isn't it interesting how the national media licks its
chops over this story, delighting in every gory detail, only to caution a
13-year-old girl to be "careful about our language"? <br/> <br/> Why should
she be careful, Meredith? Because there are 13-year-old girls in the audience?
There's so much violence and vulgarity in modern American culture, words like
_cunt_ are like so many deck chairs on the _Titanic_.[97] }}
In 2018, Canadian comedian Samantha Bee had to apologise after calling Ivanka
Trump, a White House official and the daughter of US President Donald Trump, a
"feckless cunt".[98]
*** Radio
On 6 December 2010 on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, presenter James
Naughtie referred to the British Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt as "Jeremy
Cunt"; he later apologised for what the BBC called the inadvertent use of "an
offensive four-letter word".[99] In the programme following, about an hour
later, Andrew Marr referred to the incident during _Start the Week_ where it
was said that "we won't repeat the mistake" whereupon Marr slipped up in the
same way as Naughtie had.[100]
*** Film
<!-- Additions here will need verifiable sources to avoid original research
problems--> The word's first appearance was in graffiti on a wall in the 1969
film _Bronco Bullfrog_.[101] The first spoken use of the word in mainstream
cinema occurs in _The Boys in the Band_ (1970) where it is used four times,
including the insults "real card-carrying cunt," "truly super-cunt," and "çunt
— that's French with a cedilla." The next year, it appeared in _Carnal
Knowledge_ (1971), in which Jonathan (Jack Nicholson) asks, "Is this an
ultimatum? Answer me, you ball-busting, castrating, son of a cunt bitch! Is
this an ultimatum or not?" In the same year, the word was used in the film
_Women in Revolt_, in which Holly Woodlawn shouts "I love cunt" whilst
avoiding a violent boyfriend.[102] Nicholson later used it again, in _One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest_ (1975).[103] Two early films by Martin Scorsese, _Mean
Streets_ (1973) and _Taxi Driver_ (1976), use the word in the context of the
virgin-whore dichotomy, with characters using it after they were rejected (in
_Mean Streets_) or after they have slept with the woman (in _Taxi
Driver_).[104]
In notable instances, the word has been edited out. _Saturday Night Fever_
(1977) was released in two versions, "R" (Restricted) and "PG" (Parental
Guidance), the latter omitting or replacing dialogue such as Tony Manero (John
Travolta)'s comment to Annette (Donna Pescow), "It's a decision a girl's gotta
make early in life, if she's gonna be a nice girl or a cunt".[105] This
differential persists, and in _The Silence of the Lambs_ (1991), Agent
Starling (Jodie Foster) meets Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) for the
first time and passes the cell of "Multiple Miggs", who says to Starling: "I
can smell your cunt." In versions of the film edited for television the word
is dubbed with the word scent.[106] The 2010 film _Kick-Ass_ caused a
controversy when the word was used by Hit-Girl because the actress playing the
part, Chloë Grace Moretz, was 11 years old at the time of filming.[107][108]
In Britain, use of the word "cunt" may result in an "18" rating from the
British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), and this happened to Ken Loach's
film _Sweet Sixteen_, because of an estimated twenty uses of "cunt".[109]
Still, the BBFC's guidelines at "15" state that "very strong language may be
permitted, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the
language, its frequency within the work as a whole and any special contextual
justification".[110] Also directed by Loach, _My Name is Joe_ was given a 15
certificate despite more than one instance of the word.[111] The 2010 Ian Dury
biopic _Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll_ was given a "15" rating despite containing
seven uses of the word.[112] The BBFC have also allowed it at the "12" level,
in the case of well known works such as Hamlet.[113]
*** Comedy
In their Derek and Clive dialogues, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, particularly
Cook, used the word in the 1976 sketch "This Bloke Came Up To Me", with "cunt"
used 35 times.[114] The word is also used extensively by British comedian Roy
'Chubby' Brown, which ensures that his stand-up act has never been fully shown
on UK television.<ref name = "Chubby"/>
Australian stand-up comedian Rodney Rude frequently refers to his audiences as
"cunts" and makes frequent use of the word in his acts, which got him arrested
in Queensland and Western Australia for breaching obscenity laws of those
states in the mid-1980s. Australian comedic singer Kevin Bloody Wilson makes
extensive use of the word, most notably in the songs _Caring Understanding
Nineties Type_ and _You Can't Say "Cunt" in Canada_.[115]
The word appears in American comic George Carlin's 1972 standup routine on the
list of the seven dirty words that could not, at that time, be said on
American broadcast television, a routine that led to a U.S. Supreme Court
decision.[116] While some of the original seven are now heard on US broadcast
television from time to time, "cunt" remains generally taboo except on premium
paid subscription cable channels like HBO or Showtime. Comedian Louis C.K.
uses the term frequently in his stage act as well as on his television show
_Louie_ on FX network, which bleeps it out.
In 2018, Canadian comedian Samantha Bee had to apologise after calling Ivanka
Trump a cunt on American late night TV show _Full Frontal with Samantha
Bee_.<ref name="Mahdawi" />
*** Music
The 1977 Ian Dury and The Blockheads album, _New Boots and Panties_, used the
word in the opening line of the track "Plaistow Patricia", thus: "Arseholes,
bastards, fucking cunts and pricks",[117] particularly notable as there is no
musical lead-in to the lyrics.[118][119]
In 1979, during a concert at New York's Bottom Line, Carlene Carter introduced
a song about mate-swapping called "Swap-Meat Rag" by stating, "If this song
doesn't put the cunt back in country, nothing will."[120][reason=this is a fan
site] However use of the word in lyrics is not recorded before the Sid
Vicious's 1978 version of "My Way", which marked the first known use of the
word in a UK top 10 hit, as a line was changed to "You cunt/I'm not a
queer".[121] The following year, "cunt" was used more explicitly in the song
"Why D'Ya Do It?" from Marianne Faithfull's album _Broken English_:
{{blockquote|Why'd ya do it, she screamed, after all we've said,<br /> Every
time I see your dick I see her cunt in my bed.[122]}}
Earlier, in 1972, the Rolling Stones' "Casino Boogie" (on _Exile on Main St._)
contains the lyric "Kissing cunt in Cannes", sung by Mick Jagger.[123] Its use
of "cunt" initially went generally unremarked on.[124] The author Gina Arnold
believes this is because "probably hardly anyone understood it", given
Jagger's garbled syntax when delivering the line.[125]
The Happy Mondays song, "Kuff Dam" (i.e. "Mad fuck" in reverse), from their
1987 debut album, _Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic
Face Carnt Smile (White Out)_, includes the lyrics "You see that Jesus is a
cunt / And never helped you with a thing that you do, or you don't". Biblical
scholar James Crossley, writing in the academic journal, _Biblical
Interpretation_, analyses the Happy Mondays' reference to "Jesus is a cunt" as
a description of the "useless assistance" of a now "inadequate Jesus".[126] A
phrase from the same lyric, "Jesus is a cunt" was included on the notorious
Cradle of Filth T-shirt which depicted a masturbating nun on the front and the
slogan "Jesus is a cunt" in large letters on the back. The T-shirt was banned
in New Zealand, in 2008.[127]
Liz Phair in "Dance of Seven Veils" on her 1993 album _Exile in Guyville_,
uses the word in the line "I only ask because I'm a real cunt in
spring".[people=Liz Phair ]
The word has been used by numerous non-mainstream bands, such as the
Australian band TISM, who released an extended play in 1993 _Australia the
Lucky Cunt_ (a reference to Australia's label the "lucky country"). They also
released a single in 1998 entitled "I Might Be a Cunt, but I'm Not a Fucking
Cunt", which was banned.[date=January 2022][date=January 2022] The American
grindcore band Anal Cunt, on being signed to a bigger label, shortened their
name to AxCx.[128]
*** Computer and video games
The 2004 title _The Getaway: Black Monday_ by SCEE used the word several times
during the game.[129]
In the 2008 title _Grand Theft Auto IV_ (developed by Rockstar North and
distributed by Take Two Interactive), the word, amongst many other expletives,
was used by James Pegorino who, after finding out that his personal bodyguard
had turned states, exclaimed "The world is a cunt!" while aiming a shotgun at
the player.[130]
** Linguistic variants and derivatives
Various euphemisms, minced forms and in-jokes are used to imply the word
without actually saying it, thereby escaping obvious censure and censorship.
*** Spoonerisms
[Spoonerism]
Deriving from a dirty joke: "What's the difference between a circus and a
strip club?"- "The circus has a bunch of cunning stunts...".[131] The phrase
_cunning stunt_ has been used in popular music. Its first documented
appearance was by the English band Caravan, who released the album _Cunning
Stunts_ in July 1975;[132] the title was later used by Metallica for a
CD/Video compilation, and in 1992 the Cows released an album with the same
title. In his 1980s BBC television programme, Kenny Everett played a vapid
starlet, _Cupid Stunt_.[133]
*** Acronyms
There are numerous informal acronyms, including various apocryphal stories
concerning academic establishments, such as the _Cambridge University National
Trust Society_.[134]
*** Puns
The name "Mike Hunt" is a frequent pun on _my cunt_; it has been used in a
scene from the movie _Porky's_,[135] and for a character in the BBC radio
comedy _Radio Active_ in the 1980s.[136] "Has Anyone Seen Mike Hunt?" were the
words written on a "pink neon sculpture" representing the letter C, in a 2004
exhibition of the alphabet at the British Library in collaboration with the
International Society of Typographic Designers.[137][138]
As well as obvious references, there are also allusions. On _I'm Sorry I
Haven't a Clue_, Stephen Fry once defined _countryside_ as the act of
"murdering Piers Morgan".[139]
*** Derived meanings
The word "cunt" forms part of some technical terms used in seafaring and other
industries.
- In nautical usage, a CUNT SPLICE is a type of rope splice used to join two lines in the rigging of ships. [140] Its name has been bowdlerised since at least 1861, and in more recent times it is commonly referred to as a "cut splice". [141]
- The _Dictionary of Sea Terms_ , found within Dana's 1841 maritime compendium _The Seaman's Friend_ , defines the word CUNTLINE as "the space between the bilges of two casks, stowed side by side. Where one cask is set upon the cuntline between two others, they are stowed _bilge and cuntline_ ." [142] The "bilge" of a barrel or cask is the widest point, so when stored together the two casks would produce a curved V-shaped gap. The glossary of _The Ashley Book of Knots_ by Clifford Ashley , first published in 1944, defines CUNTLINES as "the surface seams between the strands of a rope." [143] Though referring to a different object from Dana's definition, it similarly describes the crease formed by two abutting cylinders. [144]
- In US military usage personnel refer privately to a common uniform item, a flat, soft cover (hat) with a fold along the top resembling an invagination, as a CUNT CAP . [145] The proper name for the item is garrison cap or overseas cap, depending on the organisation in which it is worn.
<!-- commented out pending sourcing
- In hot-metal printing , a CUNT LEAD (pronounced like the soft metal) was a term that was formerly used to describe a small additional inter-line gap, usually of less than 1 pt . The term is derived from the term leading which describes more generally inter-line gaps (from the strips of lead that were used to provide the separations).
-->
- CUNT HAIR (sometimes as red cunt hair) <ref name="Dickson" /> has been used since the late 1950s to signify a very small distance. <ref name = "Morton"/>
- CUNT-EYED has been used to refer to a person with narrow, squinting eyes. [146]
** See also
- Scunthorpe problem
- Seven dirty words
- Sexual slang
- Terminology of transgender anatomy , including several meanings of _cunt_
** References
[reflist]
** Further reading
- "Lady Love Your Cunt", 1969 article by Germaine Greer (see _References_ above)
- "Vaginal Aesthetics", re-creating the representation, the richness and sweetness, of "vagina/cunt", an article by Joanna Frueh Source: _Hypatia_ , Vol. 18, No. 4, Women, Art, and Aesthetics (Autumn–Winter 2003), pp. 137–158
- [first1=Eve ]
** External links
- [wiktionary inline]
[Sexual slang]
Category:Pejorative terms for women Category:Pejorative terms for men
Category:English profanity Category:Slang terms for sex organs Category:Vulva
Category:Australian slang