A 10th-Century Old English translation of the Bible contained the immortal phrase: "Don't sard another man's wife." David Discenza says: March 3, 2014 at 9:15 am I’ve always been partial to a curse my late college would use: “You sack of ignorance! A 10th-Century Old English translation of the Bible contained the immortal phrase: " Don't sard another man's wife ." It's in the school of bits-of-God swearing, except this one is a shorthand version of "God's wounds" — one of the more serious curses of the medieval era. Our website, podcast and Youtube page offers news and resources about the Middle Ages. Along with the modern swear words that lived on, here are a few distinctly Medieval curse words that didn’t make the cut-1. ", No prizes for guessing that this one's about God, but "budlikins" is a bit trickier to pin down. Sample sentence: "Bloody Nora, mate. Approximately … The English language has a rich and varied tradition of swearing which dates back to the early Medieval times, when English as we know it today was first spoken. These were local lords at the bottom of the lordship hierarchy. This will also allow our fans to get more involved in what content we do produce. Swearing by God’s nails, God’s blood, God’s bones etc., were far more insulting and shocking to medieval English folk than “fuck”, “cunt” and “shit”. Use the code MEDIEVALIST-WEB for 25% off a subscription to Medieval Warfare magazine. Partially, this is because of religious standards. It can't really get clearer than that. The following is a short history of two of the most used swear words in the English language: fuck and shit. History of Swear Words 2021 TV-MA 1 Season TV Comedies Nicolas Cage hosts this proudly profane, funny and engagingly educational series about the history and impact of the most notorious English swear words. Focusing on medieval England, Mohr immediately recognizes that people back then did not have much of an issue with describing bodily functions in ways that we might find less appropriate. In her book, Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing, Melissa Mohr takes a look at curse words from the ancient Romans to the modern day.Like with many aspects of medieval society, the way they swore was much different than ours. We aim to be the leading content provider about all things medieval. For example,  when the 10th century monk Aldred made an Old English translation of the Bible, and came to Matthew 5:27 (“Audistis quia dictum est antiquis non moecharberis”), which says that one should not commit adultery, he writes it as “Gehered ge fordon acueden is to ðæm aldum ne gesynnge ðu  [vel] ne serð ðu  oðres mones wif’, which in modern English means, “You have heard that it was said to them of old, don’t sin, and don’t sard another man’s wife.”, Cunt – Mohr notes that during the Middle Ages, this was the word typically used to describe a woman’s vagina, even appearing in medical texts. They served the superior lords in a military position. Contrary to what how we curse today, bodily functions were not the worst of the worst for medieval people when it came to swearing. But ever since the Victorians clamped down on anything that vaguely referred to a human body in case ladies fainted, our swearing exclamations have become, regrettably, rather boring. English words first attested in Chaucer, or special manuscript words of Chaucer, are a set of about two thousand English words whose first use found in existing manuscripts is credited to Geoffrey Chaucer. Although the medieval times took place hundreds of years ago, the words used during the time period aren't all that foreign. We're being evicted!". Okay, I nearly snorted coffee through my nose just reading this phrase. Focusing on medieval England, Mohr immediately recognizes that people back then did not have much of an issue with … Humans have been stellar swearers throughout history. There's also a vast regional difference in what counts as extreme or obscene language. ", Sample sentence: "Gadsbudlikins, I just hit a cat.". Knave is a classic insult for someone of the male sex, and it’s no wonder: it makes you scrunch up your nose just saying it.. Become a member to get ad-free access to our website and our articles. The word “sard” has a peculiar origin. 3. 1. We have Old English to thank for one of the most commonly used swear words in the United States. The silly putty of the English language, our most malleable swear word can refer to sex, rage, confusion, excitement and a whole lot more. All rights reserved. That word was “sard”. It is assumed that fuck has a Germanic background (like many other English swear words), but the Oxford English Dictionary states that its ultimate etymology is uncertain. Not all are English — some came from other languages to English-speaking slang — but all, if written down, would be rendered by ye olde books as "£$%*>!" Less an all-purpose swear word than an exclamation of horror, pity, or sorrow, this is from Scots Middle English, though I highly discourage you from trying to say it in a Scottish accent. 1. The Oldest English Swear Words, Visualized. Swear word generator This generator will give you 10 random words and phrases, which can be used as swear words, insults and other forms of swearing. Anathema: A condemnation of heretics, similar in effect to major excommunication. English-speakers nowadays swear mainly by sex, body parts and their associated functions – fuck, cunt, arse/ass, shit – Medieval English people swore using religion. If you really want to get “all Medieval”, try a phrase such as “by God’s nails”. Note: you may have to try several times to get a good one, as there are currently a lot of combinations possible. To learn more, see this video of Melissa Mohr talking about her book Holy Sh*t: See also The earliest use of the F-word discovered, Top Image: Photo by Laurent Blondeau /Flickr. Try tossing some of the words listed above into a text message or gossip session today, and see how your friends react. Our favourite four-letter words have a fascinating history. There's no question, of course, that people cursed, but we only have records of elite writing. Hither (here): Come hither! And in swearing anybody could say these magic words that could tear Christ’s body part. 11. There simply isn't much profanity recorded. the Victorians clamped down on anything that vaguely referred to a human body, politicians can say basically anything aside from the C-word, an ultra-embellished form of "God's wounds". What were bad words in the Middle Ages? Godly English Protestants became increasingly intolerant of any form of swearing outside the law courts, and some, Baptists and Quakers most notably, even refused to swear in court. Carucate: A measurement of land in the Danelaw, equivalent to a hide. There's a wide variety to pick from, some swears work best as insults, others as exclamations and others as expressions of disappointment. In her book Holy Sh*t: A Brief History Of Swearing , obscenity expert Melissa Mohr tracks examples from ancient Rome and the hyper-uptight world of early Christianity. Read on to discover 8 fantastic English swear words that, I think we can all agree, should definitely make a huge comeback to our daily lexicons! This somehow found its way into Wild-West-style English, but its origins are obscure. You can't deny that it has a certain silly charm. Geoffrey Chaucer wouldn’t have known what a butt was, but he’d laugh if you asked, “Who farted?” By John Brownlee 1 minute Read. This was one of the most shocking – and dangerous – things a person could say in this era. Sard- “Sard” was the medieval version of the F-word. This sounds charming and a bit Errol-Flynn-ish, but is actually far less swashbuckling and more serious than it seems. It’s a gut reaction to an unexpected event, whether hitting your thumb with a hammer or witnessing Ned Stark’s demise on Game of Thrones. The closest guess is that it's a corruption of God's body or "bodikins. S1, Ep2 5 Jan. 2021 We all know from our history lesson that the medieval society is divided into the aristocracy, the middle class tradesmen, and the peasantry all keen in using the lower social rank to insult the other. "). Can also be used to mean bothered ("Can't be arsed") or acting the fool ("Stop arsing about! Medieval swearers had to obfuscate their swearing in a hilarious pudding of rhyme and allusion, but modern-day television channels won't so much as bleep it out. The majority of them can fit easily into any conversation that you're having in the current day and age. Sample sentence: "Consarn it! The history of curse words and profanity was part of spoken words in the medieval era. Ye olde worlde A-Z of English swearing ANCHOVY: A term for vagina which would have earned you a slap if you spoke it in the 18th Century. Calm down.". Nora, alas, did not actually exist, and was not some Edwardian equivalent of Jack the Ripper. Privy (restroom): Where is the privy? Cunt. It was first attested in 1475, but may be considerably older. People’s favorite swear and curse words change over time, and this sadly means that some truly great curse words have been lost to history. It actually means "God's hooks" — as in the nails that kept Jesus on the cross. In her book, Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing, Melissa Mohr takes a look at curse words from the ancient Romans to the modern day. In England, "bloody" is still quite racy, but in Australia, politicians can say basically anything aside from the C-word in Parliament. This term was used to describe an estate that would range between a … A long time before one of the most famous curse words (the f-word) appeared in the 15th century, there was another verb used for expressing the same action. Therefore, if you swore false oaths, you were making God out to be a liar! It's only Scandal. So this was a kind of terrifying language that people were tremendously worried about, and so if you wanted to you insult someone or express joy or you stubbed your toe and wanted to relieve the pain, those were the words that you were going to use because they had this tremendous power.”. Don't you only deserve the best? The word originally meant either a peasant, a servant, or a young boy, as in the common medieval expression “a knight or a knave.” In Shakespeare’s time, though, the word meant something more like a liar, a cheat, or a con artist. The amount of land that could be tilled in a year using a team of eight oxen. A guaranteed way to be obscene in medieval language was to make oaths based on bits of God or Jesus's body. or "God Almighty!" Modern English to Medieval Translator. This was a German phrase which was adopted into English at some point, and translates as "upon my soul." Cacafuego. 21 amazing forgotten curse words we need to bring back. 1. It was the nickname of a ship captured by the Pirate Sir Francis Drake, who is presumably the braggart referenced by the word. (That bunch of swearing symbols, incidentally, is called a grawlix . It could have come from "concern," or, less likely, some variation or flattening of "goddamn." knave. The use of solemn oaths as tests of political loyalty ran counter to this growing Protestant suspicion of swearing. Sample sentence: "Well, potzblitz, I could have sworn I bought noodles.". The second reason was that swearing was so important was that people believed if you would swear by God’s bones, or by Christ’s fingernails, you were actually affecting their bodies up in Heaven. If you were in town looking for a prostitute, you might get directed to Gropecuntelane. It was first mentioned in a 10th century Old English translation of the Bible made by a monk called Aldred. We hope that are our audience wants to support us so that we can further develop our podcast, hire more writers, build more content, and remove the advertising on our platforms. This one is reputedly from the 17th Century, and is probably an ultra-embellished form of "God's wounds" (more on that later). English swear words are recognized all around the world, used in movies, literature, and TV shows. Sample sentence: "Zooterkins! Send. What were bad words in the Middle Ages? Just use it judiciously so you don't sound like you're mocking hillbillies. Photo via Flickr. A guide for the bewildered. #1 Churl/Churlish. Medieval swearing – By God’s Nails. It's perfectly acceptable to say "Jesus Christ!" Isn't that adorable.). Instead, they took it much more important when people swore oaths. With that in mind, here are a few medieval words and phrases you can use that are at once practical, and nowadays quite amusing — life would probably be a lot better if we walked around using these words. Shit. Waesucks. Arse, arsehole – n., variants of ass and asshole. The silly putty of the English language, our most malleable swear word can refer to sex, rage, confusion, excitement and a whole lot more. without anybody threatening you with a heresy charge. Fief. This word originated from the old English word “ceorl” which is a derogatory term to describe the lowest social class. 2021 Bustle Digital Group. I forgot to buy Coachella tickets.". This does not necessarily mean that he was the person to introduce these words into English, but that the earliest extant uses of these words are found in Chaucerian manuscripts. Even some names, like Rogerus Prikeproud or Thomas Turd, seem to have acceptable to medieval men and women. Like with many aspects of medieval society, the way they swore was much different than ours. Fuck. This word, which means “braggart,” is Spanish in origin, literally translating as “shitfire.”. Sample sentence: "Your dog's dying? Mohr explains, “these words were offensive for two reasons. So here's a collection of the nine best swear words fished from the outposts of history and reinstated as they deserve. 2. However, not everyone was ready to use this word – in the early 16th century John Stanbridge wrote a book that translated the names of parts of the body from Latin to English. A 10th-Century Old English translation of the Bible even contained the phrase: “Don’t … It literally translates as "woe's sakes," but woe does suck. If you're storing it up for your next trip to Berlin, it's exceedingly old-fashioned, so don't expect to intimidate anybody with it. This is a London Cockney slang variant of "flaming horror," where somebody with little time mangled the "h" off the front of "horror" and the "g" off the end of "flaming." In other words, it is a formal register written by a socially privileged group. If you saw ants crawling around you would most likely call them ‘pisse-mires’. Rather than being written in manuscripts by monks, we find them used by normal people and preserved in surprising places like place names, personal names, and animal names and they reveal more about our medieval past than just attitudes towards sex and body parts. It's tricky to mince words here: "Sard" was the medieval period's F-word. Thank you for supporting our website! While he did write about arse hole, piss and “a man’s yard (penis)” when it came to the term locus ubi puer concipitur, he writes it as “the place where a boy is conceived.”, While medieval people may have seen these words as somewhat impolite, they rarely found them obscene. I drank too many Bud Light Platinums. 12. Death’s head upon a mop-stick. Modern English speech will be turned into Medieval speech! It’s one of the first English words most people learn before they properly learn English!Unlike German swear words or Spanish curse words, learning how to curse in English will help you be understood almost everywhere you go.. With over 1.5 billion English speakers around the globe, you … Four-letter words are all well and good, but they're a bit tired, and lack that, well, sparkle. This one's a bit nasty. Mohr explains, “generally, people of medieval England did not share our modern concept of obscenity, in which words for taboo functions possess a power in excess of their literal meaning and must be fenced off from polite conversation…Medieval people were, to us, strikingly unconcerned with the Shit.”, 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 (it started to be used by the 15th century), sard was the word people in medieval England used to describe having sex. Isn't it time you used something more spectacularly, historically offensive to demonstrate your shock, surprise, or resignation? Sample sentence: "Oh zounds, it's the IRS.". It's tricky to mince words here: "Sard" was the medieval period's F-word. The surviving records of Old English are relatively prudish. It was heretical and shocking, and thus tended to be obscured a bit into words like this one. Sample sentence: "Gadzooks, you frightened the living hell out of me!". Open a school textbook for teaching children how to read and you might find the words arse, shit or fart. Going into a city you might find a street called ‘Shitwell Way’ or ‘Pissing Alley’. We've created a Patreon for Medievalists.net as we want to transition to a more community-funded model. A Glossary of medieval terms ... Welsh political and administrative division, similar to English shires. Swear Like a Viking – A (Very) Short History of Early Medieval Swearing We all swear sometimes, it can’t be helped. Sample sentence: "You can go sard yourself and the horse you rode in on.". Mohr notes, “to us it doesn’t make any sense.. but in makes sense as a sort of Catholic Eucharist, where a priest said some words and makes God’s physical body which he then breaks and eats, and shares among the congregation. In case you want something to soothe you after all your swearing, there is a Bloody Nora cocktail. The real medieval “swear words” were religious oaths. Behold, the most colorful and profane insults from the lawless middle ages to annoy (and impress) your friends. Partly because from how sincere oaths were supposed to work, so when you swear sincerely what people in the Middle Ages believed they were doing was asking God to look down from heaven and guarantee that your were true and according to covenants he made with the people of the Bible he actually is almost required to do that.”. Here are some of the most common words and middle ages vocabulary: Vassals. A phrase such as “ shitfire. ” that you 're mocking hillbillies majority of them can fit easily into conversation! `` woe 's sakes, '' or, less likely, some or. My soul. bottom of the most common words and profanity was part of spoken words in the day... Question, of course, that people cursed, but we only records. 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Swear words fished from the lawless middle ages to annoy ( and impress ) your react! Land that could tear Christ ’ s nails ” one of the lordship hierarchy register written by a privileged. A lot of combinations possible and shocking, and translates as `` upon my.. Of God or Jesus 's body into English at some point, and translates as upon!