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Is "I'm screwed" a rude expression, or can it be used when someone tries to say they made a mistake?

I overheard it from someone who seemed to have failed at his task.

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I think most people who say that don't mean for it to be rude or vulgar, but, when you think about the underlying meaning of the phrase, it might be better to go with "I'm in trouble" in a more professional setting. – J.R. Sep 7 '12 at 9:13
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I would consider it to be moderately rude. That is, it's fine to say to your friends, if that's the type of friendship you have, but I would never say it to my superiors at work, my lecturers or my family. – Nieszka Sep 7 '12 at 9:32
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"I'm screwed" isn't simply used when someone has made a mistake. I take it to mean more, "I'm in trouble" with little hope of it being resolved. The person who failed at their task might get in trouble because of it. They are screwed. – w3d Sep 7 '12 at 10:04
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@w3d: Absolutely. You might have done everything right, but still be screwed because something went wrong that you had no control over. Or maybe you did everything wrong, but that's no problem because you can pin the blame on someone else. – FumbleFingers Sep 7 '12 at 11:15
Used informally, it's not rude; in formal use, it is. – Kris Sep 7 '12 at 12:48

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up vote 6 down vote

It's something you wouldn't say to your grandmother, perhaps, but it is a very common euphemism people use to avoid saying something stronger. It's used in everything from pop songs to commentaries by TV talk show hosts.

Seriously, in most walks of society screwed is considered merely informal these days, not rude.

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It's also been used publicly by presidents, but I must admit I thought that was rather odd. In the UK we don't even require our leaders to be devout Christians, but I certainly wouldn't expect them to use that kind of language. – FumbleFingers Sep 7 '12 at 12:13
up vote 3 down vote

Robusto's response addresses the rudeness aspect of your question.

With regard to the second part, whether I'm screwed is "used when someone tries to say they made a mistake": I think you're confusing I'm screwed (which as the comments tell you means approximately "Aw, jeez, I'm in trouble") with I screwed up, which does mean "I've made a mistake".

Another version of screwed up, made famous in The Right Stuff, is screwed the pooch; this is somewhat intensive, but the conventional intensifier is royal: "I screwed up royally."

Both expressions (and the "stronger" version to which Robusto alludes) may be used in second or third person as well as first, in either the singular or plural, and in any tense, aspect or mood.

Screw up is also frequently used adjectivally ("That's a really screwed-up piece of design") and nominally ("I'm getting tired of Carol's screw-ups"). The nominal version of screw in this sense is more often the gerund screwing than the infinitive screw (which tends to be reserved for the sexual sense); I cannot recall encountering an adjectival use.

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+1 but the speaker may be referring to the fallout from his mistake, in which case I'm screwed may be apt. – bib Sep 7 '12 at 14:49
@bib Quite so; but that's not the same thing as acknowledging the mistake as his. – StoneyB Sep 7 '12 at 15:05
@StoneyB The OP may have simply mistakenly analysed the overheard remark, so explaining the more likely meaning of "I'm screwed" would at least account for the case in which they didn't mishear the words. – SevenSidedDie Sep 8 '12 at 1:10

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