# How to Use Profanity and Other Raw Talk In Your Fiction



## A. E. Lowan (Dec 26, 2013)

This is a fun article that crossed my desk today - 

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-use-profanity-and-other-raw-talk-in-your-fiction?et_mid=654238&rid=239091525

Writing urban fantasy, we use profanity and, as they put it, vulgarity when called for, and we feel pretty comfortable doing it (not that it's a requirement for urban fantasy, mind you).  But, we also have the modern world to draw on.  Writing in a pure fantasy environment, do you use modern profanity, older terms, avoid it, or make up your own?


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## Caged Maiden (Dec 26, 2013)

I cringe at most attempts to "make up your own".  Most sound like eye-roll worthy attempts to transmute modern conventions into old-world equivalents.  Yuck!

I think certain words easily translate into a fantasy setting and most insults or profanity deal with certain common elements and subjects.

I guess what it boils down to for me, is:  Would my character speak this way... Would this set of circumstances initiate potty-mouthness...  and is the language I used appropriate to the setting, character, and time period.

In certain novels, I use higher-educated characters and in others I typify the scoundrel a bit more.  Their language changes as appropriate, but sometimes, your brainy character uttering a curse word is very effective at showing their current emotional state.  Other times... pages of vulgarity just becomes tedious, even though the character is a pirate and has a mouth that makes grannies swoon.

I think it's a matter of respecting the reader whilst staying true to a character.  Personally, I feel other ways of speaking are more effective than profanity, but that doesn't prevent me using the occasional naughty word in my work.

P.S.  In real life, I swear like it's going out of fashion.  But in polite company, I refrain from embarrassing those around me or making people uncomfortable.  I believe that's the downside of swearing in a novel.  If you do it in public, you can quickly notice you have offended someone and stop from doing it again.  In a novel... you have already done it by the tie the reader opens the cover.  If they are offended, they put you down and never pick you up again.


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## A. E. Lowan (Dec 26, 2013)

Caged Maiden said:


> I cringe at most attempts to "make up your own".  Most sound like eye-roll worthy attempts to transmute modern conventions into old-world equivalents.  Yuck!
> 
> I think certain words easily translate into a fantasy setting and most insults or profanity deal with certain common elements and subjects.
> 
> ...



One thing that's interesting is that in my personal, everyday vocabulary I do swear rather frequently (except when angry - for some reason I see this as an escalation) mostly as a consequence of my background as a Navy brat.  But, two made-up words have worked their way in - "fardles" (and it's related "fardling") which I think I picked up reading Anne McCaffrey, and "farking" which I have no idea where I ran across.

On a related and extremely amusing note, here is Chuck Wendig's perspective on swearing.  Now, obviously, this is Chuck Wendig, so it's *NSFW* -

The Terribleminds Choose-Your-Own-Profanity Generator Ã‚Â« terribleminds: chuck wendig

Just to quote - 


> I hear sometimes that profanity is a sign of reduced intelligence or limited vocabulary — to which I say, bad words are still words, after all, which means they are vocabulary. Profanity is a circus of language. Trapeze stunts! Lions eating lion-tamers! Motorcycles on fire jumping through hoops!


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## Ireth (Dec 26, 2013)

I tend to stay away from it for the most part, though occasionally I'll use a "d*mn", "sh*t(e)" or "b*stard", where appropriate in my works involving modern characters (even in a non-modern setting. I love portal fantasy). For pure fantasy stories, I'll use those, though I'd be less inclined to use words like "h*ll", since most if not all of my medieval characters are non-adherents to Christianity, or simply haven't been exposed to it. My Norse and Norse-Gaelic characters, for instance, would use the name of the goddess Hel (from which comes the word h*ll, IIRC), the realm of Helheim, or Niflheim instead.


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## Feo Takahari (Dec 26, 2013)

I tend to have my characters talk like the people I've encountered who're similar to them. That means the young ones use a lot of profanities. I still tend to keep "****" as something special, though, typically for when someone really loses their patience.

Then again, this was my establishing scene for a childhood bully:



> As much as Ricky despised nerds, he was not without certain nerdy habits--for instance, overuse of words not expected from children of his age. "Neil, you ****er, I had a feeling you were here. Looks like I was ****ing right. Trying to ****ing hide from me? Or do you think I'm too ****ed in the head to know that a ****er like you must have told the teacher that I was cheating on the ****ing homework?"



Childish, I know, but it feels to me like it really lets his personality shine through.

Edit: Damn autofilter! I can't even properly broach the question of how magnets work!


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## ndmellen (Dec 26, 2013)

This is a great topic.

My personal thought is that it depends on the character and who they are as an individual rather than what their role is. My MC is female and has a mouth like a trucker. She was raised by men, but not just any type of men; _hard_ men. Although my supporting male characters use profanity only sparingly, my MC uses profanity as a form of "proving she belongs." It's a little more complicated than that, of course, but her cursing is one of the ways that she uses to try and prove she's just as tough as the boys.


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## ndmellen (Dec 26, 2013)

To ask a question on a further topic, what are your thoughts on gore and viscera?

 I don't believe in blood for the sake of blood, but having grown up in muay thai gyms and worked as a paramedic I know what the various stages of injury and death look like. My novel is dark fantasy and has many scenes of violence. I wrote and detailed each scene the way that I remembered them being/ feeling/ smelling/ to me. I've been told "wow; that's graphic", and "wow; I felt like I was there."

How much is too much?


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## Steerpike (Dec 26, 2013)

Presumably your entire work is written in modern English. Why should the profanity be different?


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## A. E. Lowan (Dec 26, 2013)

ndmellen said:


> To ask a question on a further topic, what are your thoughts on gore and viscera?
> 
> I don't believe in blood for the sake of blood, but having grown up in muay thai gyms and worked as a paramedic I know what the various stages of injury and death look like. My novel is dark fantasy and has many scenes of violence. I wrote and detailed each scene the way that I remembered them being/ feeling/ smelling/ to me. I've been told "wow; that's graphic", and "wow; I felt like I was there."
> 
> How much is too much?



I think it depends on the individual.  I also had a rather gruesome upbringing - my parents are both emergency medical professionals and my father is retired Navy with some very interesting specialties - my experiences with table talk and "how was work?" discussions were vastly different than most.  So I think I share your cavalier "parts is parts" attitude that comes with the territory of dealing with the results of other people's violence, as well as dealing it yourself.

That being said, most people's experience with these things is limited to TV and the movies, and they don't know that death is not the clean, heroic, instant action they see.  They don't understand the charnel house smells, the pleading, the screams of big men reduced to meat.  So, these things will probably be a bit shocking to them.

Now, how much is too much?  That's a difficult question, and one I'm still working on.  There are lines we don't cross in our dark urban fantasy.  For example, we won't write about cruelty to animals.  It's one of our issues and something we feel strongly is not fit for entertainment (see latest blog entry).  We also don't believe in gratuitous anything, and that includes violence.  But we do strive to be a realistic as possible when violence occurs, because we write about a violent sub-culture inhabited by dangerous people.  We go to very dark places - how dark we'll go still remains to be seen.


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## Penpilot (Dec 26, 2013)

A. E. Lowan said:


> Writing in a pure fantasy environment, do you use modern profanity, older terms, avoid it, or make up your own?



I make up my own terms, but it usually comes to me on the fly. I use it before I even really know what it means, if that makes sense. I try to keep it simple, make it similar to something we'd hear on our world but made more old-timey.


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## JRFLynn (Dec 26, 2013)

I use a lot of profanity, which surprised me at first but I find I have a lot of pent up rage  There's a mix in my dark fantasy, most is made up or old-fashioned, including the classics like [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], @rse, some of which may sound watered down but it's pretty strong in their context. Also, based on my world, I have variations akin to Hell and GD.Tends to get heaviest during dire/stressful situations, but I figure at the end of the day people are people regardless of station or creeds. It does help bring them down to earth, lighten them up, even the "noble" kings and so on. Knowing that profanity is mostly filler-fluff though, I try not to use it every other sentence, just during those jewels in time when everything is f***ed...

Honestly, can't say I blame people if they hate it, i'm under a pen name because I know just how my fam would react. I grew up in a very strict religious background so it's quite difficult at times coming to terms with some of the subject matter I wish to cover, and how deeply I should delve into the grit. Can't seem to go around it though, like it or not profanity is a part of life and pretending it doesn't exist doesn't make it any less an aspect of our reality. Hopefully, the way it's delivered won't be too irksome to readers.


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## Philip Overby (Dec 26, 2013)

I've read several authors that use modern profanity in fantasy worlds and I actually prefer that. Richard K. Morgan and Joe Abercrombie both do this without it seeming out of place. While some readers may find it jarring, I prefer that to some other made-up terms I've seen. I don't know, when I read terms made up for a fantasy world they just remind me of The Smurfs. "Where's my smurfing money?"


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## Feo Takahari (Dec 26, 2013)

If it's an issue of modernity, the f-word is at least five centuries old.


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## Ireth (Dec 26, 2013)

Feo Takahari said:


> If it's an issue of modernity, the f-word is at least five centuries old.



I seem to recall it being an abbreviation for "Fornicating Under Consent of the King."


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## Svrtnsse (Dec 26, 2013)

I was brought up in an environment where swearing and cursing was seen as a sign lacking vocabulary and an inability to express oneself properly. It's coloured my perception of profanity in writing. Logically I understand it has its place and that there are places where it can be used to great effect. 
From a more emotional point of view I easily get annoyed by profanity in writing. It's not that the words as such offend me. It's that unless it's done well it cheapens the experience for me - much in the same way bad spelling or grammar would (for probably most of you).

All that said, if I did end up with a character who swears, I would most likely use common, current swear words. Crude as I may find them, I also think they carry a lot more force with a reader than any made up words I could think of would.


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## Penpilot (Dec 27, 2013)

Ireth said:


> I seem to recall it being an abbreviation for "Fornicating Under Consent of the King."



According to Wikipedia that's an urban legend. There are many possible origins for F***. From Dictionary.com it says the origin is 1495–1505;  akin to Middle Dutch fokken  to thrust, copulate with, Swedish dialect focka  to copulate with, strike, push, fock  penis.

There are more possible origins mentioned in the wiki entry.


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## A. E. Lowan (Dec 27, 2013)

Penpilot said:


> According to Wikipedia that's an urban legend. There are many possible origins for F***. From Dictionary.com it says the origin is 1495–1505;  akin to Middle Dutch fokken  to thrust, copulate with, Swedish dialect focka  to copulate with, strike, push, fock  penis.
> 
> There are more possible origins mentioned in the wiki entry.



That's a very interesting linguistic point - scatological words and words referring to copulation don't tend to change much over time, or at least so says my writing partner who studied linguistics tells me.  Case in point, recently I had one of our characters, an 800 year-old half-Sidhe named Etienne, utter the word "merde" under his breath just before a fight broke out (French for "crap," for anyone who doesn't know).  Later it bugged me.  He's half-French, but his human father spoke Old French, a dialect which I am admittedly not that familiar with.  Is this the word that Etienne would use under pressure, the word from his childhood?  Turns out, yes, it looks like "merde" has gone through the centuries unchanged, and even so far back as its Latin roots it has only shifted from "merda."


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## T.Allen.Smith (Dec 27, 2013)

If it's in the character's nature to use profanity, I will do so unabashedly. Some people in our reality cuss like the words have no more importance than "the" or "and". Since I want my characters to feel real, there are some that may represent that segment of the population. In my view, that's just one aspect of characterization.

As far as modern curse words are concerned, I don't try to make them fit into any obsolete pronunciation. I also don't invent my own curses. This is a matter of style, but since I don't write with a bunch of "thees" and "thous", I see no reason to alter any other words, cussing included.

Hopefully, like other stylistic choices, the reader is engaged in the story to the point where they don't even notice these style choices.


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## Caged Maiden (Dec 27, 2013)

I believe in English... as was previously stated the F-word came from "to copulate" ... it also meant to strike.  

The ones I hate most are things like... "By Grabthar's Hammer!" and the like.  They make me cringe and it's just too forced.  I like incorporating certain elements, like in one passage I wrote... "I couldn't break him out of jail.  They had him locked up tighter than a virgin's knickers and..."  Is that an expression we would use?  no.  But in my world... it's completely appropriate and especilly to the person who said it.  Also.. a modern reader wouldn't find anything difficult to understand.  I think coining phrases is alright, especially if your character has a particular way of speaking, but to take "Oh my god, look at that!" and turn it into... "Oh Julianos' beard, look at that!" it just gets painful to read.


On the subject of blood and gore... that's a whole different matter.  I'll put it in another post.


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## Graylorne (Dec 27, 2013)

T.Allen.Smith said:


> As far as modern curse words are concerned, I don't try to make them fit into any obsolete pronunciation. I also don't invent my own curses. This is a matter of style, but since I don't write with a bunch of "thees" and "thous", I see no reason to alter any other words, cussing included.



Ho even! (That's Dutch for 'wait a moment') 
I  write fantasy with a historical flavor, so I try not to use expressions that clearly don't fit. I do not use thees and thous because they're most of the time silly and wrong. For the same reason do I try to use swear words that fit in my story. That is indeed a matter of style.

In my present WIP I have a girl who exclaims, 'Otha! There goes our mission.' Or elsewhere, 'What by Otha's Tits is a dirigible?' These follow logically out of her thinking processes. A Roman swearing 'By Jove' is perhaps unoriginal, but they did say that. And many many latin vulgarities as well.

I recently bought a great book, _Holy Sh*t_, by Melissa Mohr. It gives an explanation of the history of swearing. Very helpful


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## Caged Maiden (Dec 27, 2013)

I tend to be desensitized by the sight of blood.  I've seen it more than most people, I actually enjoy the sight and feel of it, and I've had plenty of other people's on my hands.

I'm not sure what makes peopel nervous about blood.  When my coworker's diabetic leg ulcer exploded at work one day, I carefully helped her to a seat, held her leg up for her, and put pressure on the wound while the manager tried to hand me paper towels with shaking hands.  I told her to go call an ambulance, since the old woman who was bleeding couldn't apply pressure to her own leg.  Nothing about that experience bothered me in the least.  blood washes off and I merely saw a person in need of help.  

I'm not sure whether people are squeamish about touching blood because of fear of disease or whether it's a fundamental instinct signalling danger, but it doesn't affect me.  

That being said, I've also stitched a friend's arm, performed surgery on an insect (yeah, weird I know, but it lived), and treated all kinds of things for my dog when he was alive, including draining an aural hematoma.  For me, medical things are simply things that need to be done.  Sometimes it gets a tad gross, but it's just a part of life.  Personally, bleeding makes me feel alive. Now what I HATE are burns.  Oh man... I'm such a baby if I burn myself.  Ruins my whole day.


In writing, I tend to be as true to injuries as I can be.  My experience with certain things doesn't unfortunately allow for as much knowledge as I need to write other injuries, say, being shot with an arrow.  I've never shot myself and we're too safe at the range to have had any similar injuries for me to observe first-hand.

So I have to rely on things I HAVE witnessed.  When I was younger, I went with a friend to buy a snake from a guy.  It was a 7-foot Burmese python and it attacked the guy who was selling it.  The snake bit into his hand (it's head was about 5-6 inches long) and wrapped around his arm.  My friends (three grown men) worked to try to get the snake off, but you could hear his skin ripping as the snake's teeth slid.  Eventually, after twenty minutes or so of him screaming because the snake was constricting his arm, trying to separate his wrist from his arm.  They eventually got the bath filled with cold water and submerged the snake until the cold weakened its muscles sufficiently to allow them to unwrap it... but it was a pretty tense time.  I've never had an excuse to put a snake attack into a book but I use that experience to inspire other animal attacks.  

The thing is... I figure if it can happen in my life, it can certainly happen in the lives of my more adventurous characters' lives.

I'm not adverse to blood in my writing but I try not to over-do it.  I like to keep it for tense moments and since it takes so long to heal, I keep serious injuries to a minimum.


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## Nihal (Dec 27, 2013)

As long it's not an obvious and unintentional anachronism it's fine. I wouldn't like to read, ahm, for the lack of a better example but not implying it's a curse word, some character exclaiming "Jesus!" in a world without the bible.

I'm going against the stream and say I don't have problems with made up terms either, as long it's well done. A random "By Grabthar's Hammer!" by a random character in a story Grabthar has no importance at all and is only mentioned once or twice is out of place. But if this story clearly shows characters worshipping Grabthar, he comes up in their minds regularly, so is he incorporated in their routine and culture... why not? Not only would be appropriated but readers are less likely to notice. However, it works better if you stay away from names and use only common words.

Examples: 
In A Song of Ice and Fire you have expressions like "Gods be good!" and "Seven Hells!". Joe Abercrombie was mentioned here, and he uses "by the dead!", which doesn't seem to be a common English interjection (correct me if I'm wrong) a lot.

Now, talking of curses specifically, "You're nastier than an orc!" would work better than "You orc!". Comparisons allow you to use made-up elements without drawing too much attention to them by making them the solo star of your offense.


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## Twook00 (Dec 27, 2013)

My answer from a previous post on this subject...

If your characters are going to swear, then by golly they should swear. Swear words communicate and elicit emotion. They resonate. Sure, they can be offensive and off-putting, but they're supposed to be.

And just like in life, there should be some characters who find it offensive in your books. They can use the cheesy alternative swear words (see "by golly" above) or made up fantasy ones.

That said, I completely understand why someone would not read a book with swear words in it. If you find it offensive in life, of course you will in a book. And if you're not accustomed to it, you'll be thrown out of the story.

Maybe publishers should offer censored versions.


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## buyjupiter (Dec 27, 2013)

Twook00 said:


> Maybe publishers should offer censored versions.



Walmart has, in the past, *cough* _edited _versions of novels to take out the objectionable content, which is why I don't buy novels there.


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## Penpilot (Dec 27, 2013)

buyjupiter said:


> Walmart has, in the past, *cough* _edited _versions of novels to take out the objectionable content, which is why I don't buy novels there.



Really? I did not know that.


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## Hainted (Dec 27, 2013)

Curse words are a tricky thing, especially for fantasy. Offensive words rise out of a cultural perspective, and are indicators of what a person, or society finds distasteful, horrible, or repulsive. Take a look at our most common swear words and notice how they all seem to be related to sex, human waste, or family status. These are the things we as Americans still have hang ups about.

In a fantasy setting insults and swearing would have to take into account differences between the culture you write and this culture. Dwarves, for example, being clannish, and underground would have tons of insults and curses revolving around laziness, being alone, or living on the surface.


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## Twook00 (Dec 27, 2013)

buyjupiter said:


> Walmart has, in the past, *cough* _edited _versions of novels to take out the objectionable content, which is why I don't buy novels there.



Yuck.  To do that without informing the reader is very different than what I had in mind.  In my scenario, the author, publisher, and reader are all aware of the censorship, both versions are sold side by side giving the reader the final say.  I think it would be interesting to try at least.


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## Caged Maiden (Dec 27, 2013)

The thing is... when I write, I tend to extend the insult.  So, for instance, rather than have my character shout one absurdly contrived insult... I tend to instead use posturing, insinuation and as a last resort, voicing it, to accomplish the insult.

I believe that a writer helps immerse the reader when the characters act truly human.  Hand gestures, especially rude ones are important, as are implied insults.  You don't need someone to come out and say, "You're a bastard and your mom's a whore..." if you can imply it by saying, "What was your father's name again?"  or "At least I didn't grow up in a house with a red lamp on the porch."

I think little things like implied insults carry more weight and authenticity in certain scenarios.  It really depends. In the heat of the moment, uttered vulgarities certainly fit.  In a calmer setting, I think I try more for using those moments for character-building as well.


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## A. E. Lowan (Dec 27, 2013)

Twook00 said:


> Yuck.  To do that without informing the reader is very different than what I had in mind.  In my scenario, the author, publisher, and reader are all aware of the censorship, both versions are sold side by side giving the reader the final say.  I think it would be interesting to try at least.



Like the "clean" versions of songs?    I find those distasteful, like the music has been gutted.  I always buy explicit versions, because I want the whole song as the artist intended.


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## Twook00 (Dec 27, 2013)

A. E. Lowan said:


> Like the "clean" versions of songs?    I find those distasteful, like the music has been gutted.  I always buy explicit versions, because I want the whole song as the artist intended.



Same here.  BUT, others appreciate it.  A publisher might consider those who find it offensive and take measures to provide them an alternative.  Not saying it's a great idea, but something I'm curious about.


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## Steerpike (Dec 28, 2013)

Seems unlikely Wal-Mart was editing novels, though if they were I'd like to read up on what they did. With music, they won't stock CDs with explicit content. It is up to the publisher to decide if they want to produce a clean version for sale there.


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## A. E. Lowan (Dec 28, 2013)

Steerpike said:


> Seems unlikely Wal-Mart was editing novels, though if they were I'd like to read up on what they did. With music, they won't stock CDs with explicit content. It is up to the publisher to decide if they want to produce a clean version for sale there.



That's interesting.  We've seen romances at Walmart by authors known to write explicit sensuality, as well as Laurell K Hamilton of our own genre fame - trying to edit out explicit content from her later books would result in some very short books, indeed, unless they just redact lines of text like a Top Secret document.   I can't see how an f-bomb here or there makes much of a difference.


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## T.Allen.Smith (Dec 28, 2013)

Was-mart sold the Fifty Shades trilogy. I never read it, but from my understanding if they redacted those books, you'd be left with about 30 pages.


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## A. E. Lowan (Dec 28, 2013)

And, oh yes, let's not even get me started on the social acceptability of graphic violence over sensuality in this culture.   They carry plenty of violent material with apparently NO qualms what-so-ever.


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## buyjupiter (Dec 29, 2013)

The last time I check that Walmart was selling versions that had the explicit content expunged was 8 or 9 years ago. I'd used a Stephen King novel that I'd just finished as a litmus test, and there was a distinct lack of cursing and I remember a few scenes missing. (Not the Stand, as I know there are at least two versions of that. I can't remember what I used.) And nowadays Stephen King is seen as pretty mild. It may have just been the policy at my local Walmart, as I was in a highly conservative area at the time. It may no longer be the policy, as Anita Blake and 50 Shades are really popular and I think corporate bottom line speaks louder than potentially outraged customers. The only concession to proprieties that I can verify is shrink wrapping some of the more erotic content that they sell and not even this is done consistently. (Though, to be honest, I have never seen anything more explicit than a Harlequin romance novel at my Walmart.)


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## Abbas-Al-Morim (Dec 29, 2013)

For my Fantasy world I prefer to use old English profanities over made-up ones. _"Damnation!"_ is a popular one. It sounds a bit gimmicky but it fits well in the world. Not all characters use it though. _"Blast!"_ is a good one for science fiction, I'd say. _"Bloody..."_ remains popular as well. Even _"Curses!"_ is a good one. 

I don't like overly long profanities though. I hate _"By Odin's Beard!"_ or anything in that genre. 

Dan Abnett made up a profanity that I do enjoy. He uses _"fething"_ as an equivalent to our... I thought it was quite clever. I hate seeing the f-word (I actually hate the "f-word" more than the actual word) or the s-word (I hate the "s-word" even more!) in fantasy fiction. It seems so anachronistic to me. It pulls me out of the world and reminds me that it was all written by a (relatively) contemporary author.


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## Hainted (Dec 29, 2013)

Smeg remains my favorite made up curse word.


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## The Dark One (Dec 31, 2013)

Smeg is not a made up word. It's short for smegma...which is not very nice.

Just like in real life, you have your characters say what you are comfortable saying yourself in comparable situations. When my first book came out it included vicious football hooligans, Irish mafia and angry footballers. How did they speak? Exactly as you would expect them to, and my mother cried when she read it. Mind you, she said she couldn't put it down, despite the frequent use of words she'd never heard me utter.

My latest book also has lots of swearing but also lots of sex and drug use. I seriously considered using a nom de plume for that one but decided I'd be stupid not to cash in on my (admittedly small) fan base from the first book. The reason for the nom de plume is that the main character is a (very naughty) lawyer - as am I - and I was concerned that the lawyers group I work for would take a dim view. To my surprise however, lawyers seem to take a perverse pride in the MC's antics and the book has sold quite well in legal circles.


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## MVV (Jan 3, 2014)

I try to use real world profanities when needed (which, in my books, is quite often). However, I always try to think about the ethymology. When the profanity comes from a specifically Christian-influenced language or somewhere too specifically earthly. Yet, this is very tricky. When we set a story in a completely different world (as opposed to alternate Earths and fantasy taking place on 'our' Earth), we usually assume (I think) that the characters are speaking a completely different language which we translate into English or Czech or German or Polish or whatever. And we need to translate it so that it can make the reader feel what the characters feel. Then, it's better to use the profanities the reader is used to read, hear or say in similiar situations. Creating your own profanities, I believe, has only a comical effect - which is good when you want the reader to laugh but it's a bummer when you want them to feel drama, horror, or shock.


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## skip.knox (Jan 3, 2014)

I've been enjoying how Patrick O'Brian handles this. Of course, he did immense research into the Napoleonic era, so he's not making stuff up. But he uses it gracefully and effectively.


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## OlgaGodim (Jan 3, 2014)

I write traditional fantasy and I dislike it when people curse in traditional fantasy the way they do in real life. It seems off somehow. Recently I found a list of Shakespearean insults floating on the internet. It's creative. There are 3 columns, and you combine one word from each column to manufacture your own insults. It's fun to use, the variations are plenty, and the resulting insults fit the medieval fantasy setting. Example: 'You fobbing, fat-kidneyed giglet!' They are not regular profanities either, so the profanity level watchers should be satisfied as well. Take a look, if you like: Creative Insults | Worlds of the Imagination


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## MVV (Jan 4, 2014)

This is quite nice. Yet, I'd be maybe afraid if it won't make the reader laugh instead of feeling what you might expect them to feel.


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## Nameback (Jan 4, 2014)

My fictional world is Greco-Roman inspired, but especially Roman, so there's plenty of cursing. The Romans really did love their profanity, at least based on what they left behind. Of course, they used some terms more than we do today, and some less often. So, for example, I use a lot less "sh*t" than, say, I use it in my life, but a lot more "c*ck" and "c*nt" which aren't as banal in modern America but the Romans used quite often. I think this furthers my goal of evoking a certain time and place with my writing. 

I also use some made-up curses, but they're also actually profane. Again, in the Roman style, I write things like "Politor's c*ck" or "Pona's c*nt" as curses, the names being names of gods/goddesses. I also have a hell-equivalent, which is "infinite hells," or "boundless hells" or some variation thereof. As in, "what in the Infinite Hells is going on here?" 

Roman vulgarity was pretty rough, though; check out some of Catullus' poetry: (NSFW) Latin profanity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm not sure how often I want my characters to be _that_ crude, so I think I tone it down a bit from ancient authenticity in my writing.


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