Quote:
Originally Posted by samhy
Some of my housemates were from England and New Zealand. The word "bloody" seemed powerful to them (they used it a lot, but warned me to not over use it - maybe a men-women thing). Whereas the American guy thought the word was funny  |
I have two friends who also warned me away from using "bloody" whatever. One guy was from Australia. The other might have been from there or New Zealand; I forget. That was 20 some years ago. Bloody Hell just doesn't sound all that damning to me.
But I get the idea. There's a word that is local to where I grew up that roughly translates to "little goats" and people have been fired for using it. Yet if you used the word in the context of actual little goats, it's not a swear word. And if you said it outside of that region or called someone that, they'd probably think you were a loon.
Some words take on an almost mythical dimension past the actual meaning of the word.