I should add, that here in Scotland; “Oryt ya cunt?” is a perfectly acceptable social greeting amongst friends … 
In some parts of Scotland, the word cunt is basically used as punctuation.
So true.
Hmmm…in Berlin it´s “Alter!”, in France it´s “putain!”, in Poland it seems to be “Kurrrrrrrrrrrwa!”…
It seems like there´s a universal need for “punctuative swearing”.^^
Thanks Robert. Berta, I already knew them. I think I understand what you are getting at. It is still true, however, that many native speakers simply do not talk like that. I don’t hear other teachers here where I am teaching use them, for example. This could be because we are teaching at a Christian school, but whatever the reason, I don’t see how using this kind of language makes anyone’s speech ‘unnatural’. I have never said that other people are not free to use such words in their everyday language.
ad Corin and Colin: To be honest, the c-word is a red line for me I prefer not to cross, not even in the most casual setting. But each to his own 
I also think that it is much stronger than an expression like “joder” in Spanish. I can easily imagine a Spanish politician using that word even in an interview (with very little connotation of vulgarity left in this expression), while I can’t imagine a British politician using the c-word, at least not while the mic is on
Of course, I know that there are regional preferences and some words are predominantly used by certain age groups. A young Canadian tried to convince me years ago the c-word was completely non-offensive, well, even if that were the case I have to admit I’d never use it.
It is good to know and understand it, but I prefer to stick to a bit more traditional vocabulary. Again, I think the words used in the Spanish conversation were not even getting close to the connotation of words such as the c-word.
But as Gingko58 said, we all ought to use words we feel comfortable with. I don’t like swearing and vulgar language in German either, especially not if people use swearwords indiscriminately in any context whatsoever.
ad Gingko58: (…) … I don’t hear other teachers here where I am teaching use them, for example. This could be because we are teaching at a Christian school, but whatever the reason, I don’t see how using this kind of language makes anyone’s speech ‘unnatural’. (…)
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating swearing per se. By “unnatural” I did not mean that you need to use four-letter words to sound natural but I do believe that in certain situations words that might be frowned upon when you talk to your parents or your teachers, might actually be completely acceptable in other settings.
Let me give you an example: Red nicht so einen Blödsinn daher.
I can easily imagine saying that to one of my siblings and the word “Blödsinn” would not really be considered offensive (of course, it also depends on how aggressive you sound while saying that sentence). However, I would never ever use such a sentence with my parents because it would be utterly disrespectful.
While I’d use the word “Schaß” in German with my friends and siblings (here the word is a colloquial expression for “Blödsinn”, while it also has a different meaning in a different context) like in “Red nicht so einen Schaß daher” and this would not be considered offensive or vulgar (while you are obviously expressing strong disagreement with whatever the other person said), it would be totally out of place to use that word with anybody you don’t know very well (and you would have to be friends with, otherwise you’d sound offensive).
There are certain words in German I won’t use in any context no matter what because I simply find them too offensive or vulgar. Most lyrics in German rap songs are way too violent and vulgar for my taste for example.
I think you may sound “unnatural” if you confuse colloquial expressions with vulgarity and the line between these two is not always as clear as we may think. At the end of the day, however, we all have to decide which expressions to use and if in doubt I’d also prefer sounding a bit “unnatural” to sounding vulgar and offensive.
Absolutely. It’s different in every country though. Personally I see know harm in swearing unless it’s intended to insult. I hate it how prissy the BBC are about certain words, and whether they are offensive or not. Like with anything, I think it’s fine until it starts being misused and or overused. In certain countries like Denmark and The Netherlands (I believe) they don’t have any real restrictions on swearing on TV. I like this mindset more
ad Corin: (…) … In certain countries like Denmark and The Netherlands (I believe) they don’t have any real restrictions on swearing on TV. I like this mindset more (…)
I think there should be some restrictions especially with programmes not intended for an adult audience. I don’t think 6 or 8 year old children should hear the c-word or the f-word used indiscriminately on TV (or anywhere else for that matter).
I might be a bit old-fashioned in this respect but I prefer going easy both on insults and swearwords (I know these are basically two different things but I just try to keep conversations “civilised” or I prefer not talking at all to people; however, I do swear when I’m alone and when people really piss me off;-)).
Mild swearing may be quite funny,however. Generally, I’d say - as you mentioned too - it all depends on the situation you are in, the people you talk to and your intentions.
In German I like the expression “Leckomio”. It is used in the sense of “holy sh.t” and sounds kind of funny.
I sometimes also just use the abbreviation “LMAA”. We pronounce every letter separately when we say it. Or “Du kannst mich mal” with the rest of the sentence being implied, so you don’t have to add the vulgar part and you’d still get your message across.
Leckomio, das ist ein super Auto.
Younger people most likely would say “das ist ein geiles Auto” (I still can’t get used to the way “geil” is used today since it had a completely different meaning when I grew up. It has kept the original meaning but is now used mostly to mean “great, super, fantastic, awesome” in colloquial speech. Every time I hear kindergarten kids say “wow, das ist geil” it sends a shiver down my spine …).
Ah, taboo words are an interesting topic 
I actually go through them with some of my language partners (only with those who ask me to do so and who are older than 18 though - don’t want to get into trouble ;-)).
I think it is useful to know them but you should be extremely careful when using them in a foreign language. Actually, I think it is best to not use them actively. I mostly content myself with knowing what they stand for.
I might be wrong, but I somehow got the impression that British people in general swear a lot more than the Americans or Canadians I have met so far. Of course, it all depends on the actual environment these people live in but I remember how surprised I was when I stayed with an English family during a summer language course in the 80ies and both parents would use quite strong language in front of their kids. The f-word was one of the less vulgar ones…
It is certainly interesting. It’s weird that many swear words are sexually related ( the “c” word, the “f” word, dick, a-hole,… and more) something which is a perfectly wonderful natural process… and yet we use words like “torture” to describe the traffic, or “dead” to describe feeling very tired… Stephen fry talks about this in this video “- YouTube”
he’s pretty much saying what i’ve just said… or maybe I’ve just copied what he’s said
I ADORE Stephen Fry! He’s just the BEST!