Is there any "swearword" in English not associated with excrements, the genitals, sexual activity or religion?

Question

SWEARWORD - A popular term for a word or phrase that is obscene, abusive, and socially offensive.

For some reason, all of them seem to be associated with excrements, sex and religion. This question is specific about offenses, not intensifiers. Can you identify any that doesn't follow the rule and tell when and where it originated?

I don't mean mild offenses like "dumb", "idiot", "jackass", "blockhead" or the like, but words or phrases that will shock those who overhear them.

EDIT - It seems my question has been misunderstood by some. I'm looking for swearwords that are not related to excrements, sex or religion, and still might shock someone. I don't expect a list because I believe they are few, and some of them have already been mentioned in the answers below. If I find them together in one answer and there is some reference as to where and when each one originated, I'll accept that answer.

ps. Of course, whether or not we find a word shocking or offensive largely depends on where (and how) we have been brought up, our educational background and elements of culture. I would therefore consider the average man (average income, age, education) as a reference.

Answer 1

• bitch (a female dog)
• bastard (a person born out of wedlock)
• honk(e)y (a white person)
• kike (a Jew)

EDIT
The etymology of bitch, bastard and honky/honkey as provided by the Online Etymology Dictionary

bitch (n.) Old English bicce "female dog," probably from Old Norse bikkjuna "female of the dog" (also fox, wolf, and occasionally other beasts), of unknown origin. Grimm derives the Old Norse word from Lapp pittja, but OED notes that "the converse is equally possible." As a term of contempt applied to women, it dates from c.1400; of a man, c.1500, playfully, in the sense of "dog." Used among male homosexuals from 1930s. In modern (1990s, originally black English) slang, its use with reference to a man is sexually contemptuous, from the "woman" insult. BITCH. A she dog, or doggess; the most offensive appellation that can be given to an English woman, even more provoking than that of whore. ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1811]

bastard (n.) "illegitimate child," early 13c., from Old French bastard (11c., Modern French bâtard), "acknowledged child of a nobleman by a woman other than his wife," probably from fils de bast "packsaddle son," meaning a child conceived on an improvised bed (saddles often doubled as beds while traveling), with pejorative ending -art (see -ard). Alternative possibly is that the word is from Proto-Germanic *banstiz "barn," equally suggestive of low origin.

Not always regarded as a stigma; the Conqueror is referred to in state documents as "William the Bastard." Figurative sense of "something not pure or genuine" is late 14c.; use as a vulgar term of abuse for a man is attested from 1830. As an adjective from late 14c. Among the "bastard" words in Halliwell-Phillipps' "Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words" are avetrol, chance-bairn, by-blow, harecoppe, horcop, and gimbo ("a bastard's bastard").

honky (n.) also honkey, derogatory slang word for "white person," by 1967, black slang, of unknown origin, perhaps from late 19c. hunky "East-Central European immigrant," a colloquial shortening of Hungarian. Honky in the sense of "factory hand" is attested from 1946.

Answer 2

If you're looking for something shocking, the word nigger is shocking in and of itself and if you actually use it as an insult (as some do) it is about as shocking as it gets.

Its etymology according to the online etymological dictionary is:

1786, earlier neger (1568, Scottish and northern England dialect), from French nègre, from Spanish negro (see Negro). From the earliest usage it was "the term that carries with it all the obloquy and contempt and rejection which whites have inflicted on blacks" [cited in Gowers, 1965, probably Harold R. Isaacs]. But as black inferiority was at one time a near universal assumption in English-speaking lands, the word in some cases could be used without deliberate insult. More sympathetic writers late 18c. and early 19c. seem to have used black (n.) and, after the American Civil War, colored person.

Note that reasonable people consider the word incredibly offensive and would never use it. Of those who do, only the most extreme of bigots would actually use it as an insult and not a description but using it as an insult is possible. Of course, whether you would actually be insulting anyone but yourself when using it is debatable.

Answer 3

Bloody - It's often used with 'hell' making it religious. ('Bloody hell! What's she gone and done now?').

But can be used on its own. 'Shut the bloody dog up!'.

Answer 4

Fore diseased & unclean:
"pox-ridden"
"syphilitic"
You could argue that these are venereal diseases, and so are linked back to sex.

There are also sport-related swear words, but the line between swear and insult may be a tad blurry for:
"umpire" or
"Chelsea supporter" [to quote an episode of The Goodies]

Answer 5

The first that came to my mind relate to disability:

• "Retard" denotes a person with intellectual disability, but it has since joined "idiot" (severe ID), "imbecile" (moderate ID), and "moron" (mild ID) as general terms of abuse. This has inspired pledges not to use it; see R-Word: Spread the Word to End the Word.
• "Spastic", denoting a person with cerebral palsy, is offensive in Great Britain and caused recalls of the video games Mind Quiz: Your Brain Coach and Mario Party 8 in parts of Europe.

Answer 6

'Blast!' is one, although it's British. I've been using this word since teenage days, although I don't know how I picked it up. My guess is, growing up in New York City in the '50s there were a lot of British movies around to fill the vacuum left by HUAC's blacklisting of screenwriters. You can hear James Mason shout 'Blast!' in 'Age of Consent'.

Answer 7

Your definition of swearword is an example of how language changes over time. Swearing was once synonymous with blaspheming and profaning, meaning some taboo use of the name of God. Current use blurs the distinction between obscenity or foul language and profanity or swearing.

Answer 8

The difficulty of the question lies in your definition:

... a word or phrase that is obscene, abusive, and socially offensive.

Obscenity is a highly subjective standard. To approach a universal standard would probably require someone to go into issues that people usually keep private (bathroom time, bedroom time, worship time).

Here's a phrase that could be used as a curse or swear that would be considered shocking on a moral level: BABY KILLER. I invite you to give it a try.

While it may be considered an excrement (as well as a euphemism) SNOT is a standby that I often use: You have snot for brains.

Of course, perhaps one of the most well known euphemisms is BLEEP, although it would probably not be considered shocking in any way.

Answer 9

knucklehead

jarhead (spelling?) - term for a U.S. Marine but also used to imply that someone is not too bright.

dumb bunny

Admittedly, these aren't as harsh as "asshole", "dickhead", or my personal favorite, "you wiper of other people's bottoms"*

You didn't mention that politics is out of bounds so you could also use, "Commie Pinko Liberal" "Nazi" "Republican"

Dave

*From Monty Python

Answer 10

"Asshole" works, considering that the entity that it describes is neither a genital, nor excrement itself. Granted, this is playing with a technicality in your question, but it's certainly less likely to get you knocked square on your ass than some of the other suggestions.

Answer 11

Rare on the ground, but: eggsucker, kitten killer (and its like).

Answer 12

Balderdash!

According to Google:

"late 16th century (denoting a frothy liquid; later, an unappetizing mixture of drinks): of unknown origin."

Answer 13

Freaking. As in: "A freaking good time."