Curses!

The Times of London reports a government source has called Ed Miliband a ” f****** c*** and a copper-bottomed s***”.
Cursing has been top of mind this week and I’ve been thinking a bit about the differences between British and American sensibilities around bad language.
I had just read Threec’s entertaining blog post, “Is ‘bloody’ really a swear word?”, which successfully argues that Americans are just more buttoned-up about bad language than Brits. And then I read this amazing little Daily Beast report about yesterday’s House of Commons vote against military action in Syria:
“Embarrassed by his failure, [David] Cameron’s team lashed out at opponents of the intervention. A government source told The Times of London that Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, was ‘a f****** c*** and a copper-bottomed s***’ for withdrawing support for military action.”
Whaaa? My first thought: Was this quote actually in the newspaper? Did The Times of London really spell out a f****** c*** and a copper-bottomed s*** without the asterisks? I love the color and candor of such a quote! I clicked on the link to the Times story, but sadly it requires a subscription to view in full.
However, it’s safe to say that I can’t see any reputable American newspaper ever publishing that anyone was a f****** c*** and a copper-bottomed s***, with or without asterisks. Can you?
Posted on 30, August 2013, in Culture, News and tagged bad language, British, cursing, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, military action, swearing, Syria, The Times of London. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Apparently they did print it:
http://www.zimbio.com/Syria/articles/GnsFL6mxBDX/Government+fury+UK+Miliband+scuppers+plan
Good to know! Thanks for posting the link!
I dug out another of my posts about my favorite British swear words. Enjoy!
http://britishtelly.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/profanity-uk-style/
Thanks for posting that! And you’re right – “bollocks” is a good one!