Two vulgar words I know have five letters but I've been told they are considered four-letter-words in spite of it. The explanation I got was that in such cases vulgarity matters more than the number of letters. Is that so ?
asked Mar 30, 2014 at 15:20
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1 Answer
A red carpet, literally, is a carpet that is red. A red carpet, figuratively, can be a carpet that is actually blue, or no carpet at all, just some pavement painted red.
A four-letter word, literally, is a word with exactly four letters. A four-letter word, figuratively, is a swear word.
Literally, literally, means "literally". Literally, figuratively, means "virtually".
You get the idea.
So the question remains whether the figurative use of four-letter word to mean "swear word with any number of letters" has any traction. In my neck of the woods, it does not, and neither does it according to Wikipedia. But that does not mean it just never can be used figuratively anywhere ever. Any word at all can. The speaker/writer merely needs to understand, and admit, that his usage is figurative.
answered Mar 30, 2014 at 15:48
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Your answer loses the plot when you get into the literally/figuratively distinction. The short answer is 'yes, all four letter words contain four letters'. 'Bitch' and 'Asshole' are not four letter words. Commented Oct 16, 2014 at 0:44
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I agree your statement concisely captures Reg's answer, and according to him "bitch" is not a 4LW. That said, round here, we do apply the term 4LW to "bitch" and all other vulgar expletives, as well as (humorously) in phrases like "At this company, management is a four-letter word" (using 4LW as a stand-in for vulgarity, the pun being management, in a literal sense, has 10 letters).– Dan BronCommented Oct 16, 2014 at 9:58