So, I have come to one such moment in my fantasy novel where my otherwise really sweet and kind MC is swearing. Originally I went for goat-banger, but was informed "bang" is pretty modern. Plain bastard is a little too plain. Fucker is too harsh and goes against the tone of my novel. Essentially, I need a creative genteel swear word that's also strong, but not too strong So... Go wild, my WF friends! Do your worst And yes, I need a noun.
Well, in my stories I have one slur called Silk Pig.... which is meant to insult people of nobility. Maybe.... Crack Muck.... or Horses behind....
You could use a demeaning job title or activity from your universe as something that's unique. For example, in Star Wars, Leia uses Nerf herder as an insult. You could do something similar and have something that, not only immerses your audience more in the story, but would be seen as very insulting to someone who definitely doesn't want to be that!
Lo and behold, for you I'm getting a look at my swear word list. (Yes I have that. ) How about goat-buggerer? I think bugger is an old and dirty enough word to use, but (correct me if I'm wrong) also very British. Good ol' arsehole maybe? Dumbass? Fuckdog? Or would you rather have no F-bomb at all? Oh, if by creative you also mean odd or obscure, lemme translate some fun German ones: Boghead (Torfkopp) Nitwit (Flitzpiepe) Ass with ears Sod/ Hogdog (Sau/Sauhund) Pipetosser/Pipewanker (Pfeifenwichser) Asscramp (Arschkrampe, very popular where I live) Pissclove (Pissnelke, also translates to dandelion) Arschgeige is a beautiful one, Google tells me it translates to cheese dick, lol (literally: ass fiddle) Less severe: Losel Brick Fopdoodle Hellkite (don't know where that comes from but it's supposed to mean an evil, vicious person)
@Jenissej - Sod and Nitwit are words we also use in the UK - never knew they were German! I love Pipetosser sounds pretty mild without being comical. Asscramp sounds hilarious. So does brick - like "You dense stupid person!" I'm just still wondering if pipetosser isn't too mild... This is a regular adult's fantasy book so I don't want it to sound childish. I can't have it sound funny. I need serious, like motherfucker - except I can't have motherfucker because my book is a little... lyrical and not vulgar at all in tone.
I don't think they're distinctly German, they're just the closest approximation to the German ones I could find. ^^ Pipetosser would literally mean someone wanking off their, well, pipe. Wichser would be a pretty strong insult. I looked it up just now and found "wanker" "tosspot" as equivalents. If your MC is such a sweet person would they maybe struggle to find an appropriatly vulgar word and rather settle for something that sounds harsh but is actually rather mild?
Some less harsh words which implies the f-word are words such as; frell or frick, feck, freck, frack, Some other swear words; Lucifer's arsehole Sard = Medieval form of F-WORD Fornicator = Old word for fucker could use as a suffix to a swearword e.g. Donkey Fornicator. if your fantasy novel has orcs and goblins in it you could use. Orccock Orcturd goblinchud Infact you could put any lesser creatures name as a prefix and then a crude word for a suffix Squidpiss, for sea fairing or pirate folk Donkey turd In medieval times the worse swearwords were those against God as these were blaspheme. So maybe not.
Pus dog Tiny splat of roach puke Ford pickup driver Rubberdick Belieber Badolf Shitler Stiltskin rumpler Throbbing twizzleworm Mouse molester Butt bugler Sewage spooger
Well, he's using this word on the man he feels is responsible for his friend's suicide... which happened that very morning. So it does need to have some venom/strength behind it. And I'm mostly concerned that it would sound ridiculous and end up making the reader laugh, as it's a crucial, climactic scene where my MC and the antag get their first proper confrontation (it's dialogue-based - antag wants my MC to switch sides).
To be honest I probably wouldn't use a made up swear word for something like that. It might come across as disingenuous and therefore humorous like you are worried about. Something on the lines of Bastard would be appropriate or something like son of a bitch. Son of a whore Son of an orc Son of a traitor Something like that maybe?
Ooh son of a whore. That could work. I'm also wondering about piece of shit. This is such a weird and fun conversation.
Yeah, I see how that would put something like fopdoodle out of the question. Maybe add a qualifier to one of the "standard" words like bloody, damn or damned? Bloody bastard sounds appropriately strong to me (with added bonus of alliteration).
Used in Bernard Cornwall's The Last Kingdom and its sequels: Erseling, or its more modern equivelant, Arseling? I've checked - Cornwall didn't come up with it; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4179452/trivia
Fopdoodle oh man you're killing me! Hey, am I right to think you're the same person who's really into archery and was explaining all the ways archery can maim you? I should have my MC call him a rotten egg
I've actually used this one in my WIP; several of the characters are German. I'm sure it's already been said, but if you haven't already found something, I translations of foreign swear words and insults is a good start. German and Icelandic should yield some good ideas.
I guess you are Your threads seem to attract me. And guess what, just yesterday I had a faulty arrow explode into splinters inches from my face. Always check your equipment, kids. Oh, rotten is a nice one too.
Why on earth did the arrow explode? Yeah originally my MC says "you rotten goat-banger" Now he's just a piece of shit
I'd use something in the carrion-eater realm. Something vicious but of low and disgusting habits. My mind is searching for the right adjective to add to vulture, hyena, something like that. My mind reminded me of "Benzedrine puff adder" from Fawlty Towers. All of the Fawlty Towers insults are funny, but they might still be inspiring. Here's a link: http://www.fawltysite.net/misc/insults.htm
People used to say things like “God’s spleen!” If you can would perhaps be worth trying to splice whatever god into the curse. Disgust words are always nice, “you fetid shit-shelf”, “you putrid lie”, “you cesspool”, “you vile stain”, “you murderous goat shafter”, “you puss riddled wretch”, “you slime licker” , “you turd stroker”, “you rancid louse”, “you sick, piss-brewer” etc.,.
Maybe "burst" would have been the better word. The notch (where the string connects) seemed to have had a weak point so it couldn't take the force when the string was released and broke rather forcefully. My notches are not plastic but are cut into the arrow so the shaft split and some finger-length wood splinters flew around.
"Rotten sheep-tupper" would possibly be a good equivalent of that - "tup" is an older english word for having sex; farmers still use that word today, usually to describe sheep making babies.
Maybe goat-stabber, goat-fancier or goat-fondler. Not exactly cutting, but might have the added benefit of highlighting her lack of experience with profanity.
