Polythestic Swearing

[VydorScope]

I have heard plenty of non-religious ones, but that would not fit in this dialogue. I am also trying to avoid anything that sounds like a cope-out. I.e. "Fudge!" or something silly like that.

Maybe , "By Zeus' rich and creamy fudge!" could work? LOL!

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

I have heard plenty of non-religious ones, but that would not fit in this dialogue. I am also trying to avoid anything that sounds like a cope-out. I.e. "Fudge!" or something silly like that.

Maybe , "By Zeus' rich and creamy fudge!" could work? LOL!

What about something utterly made-up and unrelated to what we're used to? I mean, like "By Bogwan's Hairy Ass!" or some equally slightly skewed cursage? (Cursage: cursing with flowers in the shape of a bow). We've seen from myriad shows and books that while people say they want something new, they really want something familiar, or at least something that they can instantly identify and relate to, like "by Jove's Seven Hells," or whatever. If you make it too obscure, readers will scratch their heads trying to figure out what you're talking about; some folks find scatological references (the s**t word, the eFF word, etc.) to be "profane," even though that's not the meaning of the word...and yes, we've seen a trend toward "replacement words" like Frakking and whatever it is they tried on Defiance. {sigh}.

Personally, I say take the tried and true and just twist them a bit. "Zeus' rich and creamy fudge" doesn't really do it for me, but something similar could. A lot also depends on what you need in the rhythm of the dialogue--do you need something that will flow with sentences around it, like "frakking," or do you need standalone cursing? (E.g, Bogwan's Hairy Balls)? I think just using oddball things like "By Haltor's callouses!" can work, depending upon the context (say..meaning, oh, crap, what a lot of labor to do X!) or the Bogwan's Hairy Balls for, say, seeing a young woman with an old geezer who's her husband.

It sounds like fun, truly, making these up. I say, sit around with 4-5 of your closest friends one night, hoist a few and see what you can derive. Total hoot.

Hitch

[Greg Anos]

A good curse needs to be short and sharp, unless the character (or society) requires long and flowery curse.

Are these made up Gods? And note, even in a polytheistic situation, often only one god (the one whose favor or disfavor is appropriate) is usually used.

Also, is this a curse at, or curse by, or an invocational curse?

Curse at - "Your taste is worse than Asgard's Privy. (a direct verbal insult to an existing person)

Curse by - "By Klono's iridium intestines, he'd crack that shell." (E.E.Smith - Lensman series.) (an oath of completion, in this case)

Invocational curse - See examples in Niven and Gerrold's The Flying Sorcerers. "May Elcin blast your home." However, I would be real careful before invoking Elcin's Wrath. (the purpose is to get the god(s) to do something for you.)

[Feher]

I have lived in polytheistic society and in my experience people swear by only one God as Ralph Sir Edward pointed out.
This God would be:
a) The one that particular person worships and thus feels s/he has good rapport with the God - This tells us a bit about the person:
if a person worships God of power - that person desires power
if a person worships God of money - desires money etc

b) God associated with the particular curse or power, e.g:
You would swear by God of thunder to bring thunder or floods etc

c) Sometimes people use names of more than one Gods in this fashion:
May x,y,z burn down your house

In fact it was Game of thrones where i heard the phrase "by all the Gods" for the first time and found it odd.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

What about something utterly made-up and unrelated to what we're used to? I mean, like "By Bogwan's Hairy Ass!"

But that means your character has had to have seen Bogwan's ass to know it's hairy. Um... no thanks.

I'll give you a curse I use when I get pissed... "F'ing Hell!" It works and it relies on no God type personage at all. "Bollocks!" is one used by UKers. But I still like mine better. It gets the your pissed out there more. And you do tend to curse more when angry and it has to be something that sounds like you'd say when angry.

"By Bogwan's Hairy Ass!" just doesn't have that I'm pissed sound to it. Neither does most of what's suggested. If it doesn't have that I'm pissed/angry sound to it, then it falls flat due to being unrealistic. You get pissed and you say something that sounds like you are pissed. So you have to do the same thing for your character to make this utterance work.

Most of what's suggested sounds like it should be said in a He-Man cartoon. "By the power of Greyskull." Stuff like that is not going to work.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But that means your character has had to have seen Bogwan's ass to know it's hairy. Um... no thanks.

I'll give you a curse I use when I get pissed... "F'ing Hell!" It works and it relies on no God type personage at all. "Bollocks!" is one used by UKers. But I still like mine better. It gets the your pissed out there more. And you do tend to curse more when angry and it has to be something that sounds like you'd say when angry.

"By Bogwan's Hairy Ass!" just doesn't have that I'm pissed sound to it. Neither does most of what's suggested. If it doesn't have that I'm pissed/angry sound to it, then it falls flat due to being unrealistic. You get pissed and you say something that sounds like you are pissed. So you have to do the same thing for your character to make this utterance work.

Most of what's suggested sounds like it should be said in a He-Man cartoon. "By the power of Greyskull." Stuff like that is not going to work.

Well, obviously, not knowing anything about the fictional world doesn't help. ;-) All we know is, it's polytheistic; we don't know, really, if it's fantastical or simply an alternate reality, etc. So it could be modern and polytheistic, or it could be something akin to Tolkien or who knows?

I rather like Bogwan's Hairy Balls, myself. And, yes...you can take that however you wish to read it, LOL!

(P.S.: I don't disagree on the Power of Greyskull thing. I also agree that gutteral and/or sharp sounds help with in-line cursing, e.g., "frakking hell." But for invocations or oaths, you need something a bit longer.)

Hitch

[gmw]

I was going to add that when I'm pissed I'm not very articulate ... and then I realised Jon was talking about angry rather than drunk ... and then I thought, I'm often not very articulate when I'm angry either.

... And then I read the previous paragraph and thought, maybe I'm just not very articulate.

All of which supports the idea that such a curse needs to be short and sharp - and easy to say when you're pissed in either senses of the word. There are other forms of cursing, it doesn't always require anger and/or inebriation, and if that was the case then something more elaborate could still fit.

[ScalyFreak]

What becomes swear words in a culture, as someone has already pointed out, are all the words used for things that it's taboo to talk about. Things too crude for civilized company. In the US today that seems to primarily be sexual intercourse and fecal matter. In the culture where I grew up, it's the sulphuric part of Christian mythology. So in a situation where a shocked and startled American drops an F-bomb, a Swede exclaims one of that language's many words for hell or the devil. And while the words mean different things, the message from the speaker is identical.

So back to your character... considering his background and the background of his culture, what words and concepts is he most likely to turn to for cussing purposes? Then use that, and make it sound good.

[crich70]

The idea of a made up curse word isn't new. Larry Niven made one up for his "Ringworld" book. His characters say "Tanj" (i.e. There Ain't No Justice).

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

What becomes swear words in a culture, as someone has already pointed out, are all the words used for things that it's taboo to talk about. Things too crude for civilized company. In the US today that seems to primarily be sexual intercourse and fecal matter. In the culture where I grew up, it's the sulphuric part of Christian mythology. So in a situation where a shocked and startled American drops an F-bomb, a Swede exclaims one of that language's many words for hell or the devil. And while the words mean different things, the message from the speaker is identical.

So back to your character... considering his background and the background of his culture, what words and concepts is he most likely to turn to for cussing purposes? Then use that, and make it sound good.

Most of the characters take the Emperor's name in vain, but this character is from a different culture, just in hiding. Not much information is ever given about hat culture so door is wide open i guess.

[mediax]

Originally Posted by cromag

Ye gods!

I thought this was fairly common - at least, I hear (and use!) it regularly - or is that just a reflection on the company I keep?

[gmw]

I had the impression that "Ye gods!" was a mostly UK expression. (I have a Tom Holt book with that as the title.) I'm very familiar with it here in Australia, but wondered if it was used much in America or elsewhere. Anyone know? (Just curious.)

[VydorScope]

I do not here it around where I live/have lived in America.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

I do not here it around where I live/have lived in America.

Definitely not a US curse. A more modern US aggressive curse - bite me!

[cromag]

Nope, I don't hear it much in the States, but I'd read it and it seemed quick and to-the-point.