rdfs:comment
| - Sometimes a writer will use "international" slang to make a character seem more salty and "regional" (frequently American versus British usage of a word). Sometimes, however, an expression is still considered vulgar elsewhere. When words like "bollocks" or "wanker" appear in a work whose language is otherwise PG, it creates dissonance for those who are familiar with them. (Though it varies according to region, age, and circumstances, "bloody" is about as strong a curse as "damn", and "bloody hell" is about the same as "goddamn". It refers to "God's blood" as an oath. Maybe.)
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abstract
| - Sometimes a writer will use "international" slang to make a character seem more salty and "regional" (frequently American versus British usage of a word). Sometimes, however, an expression is still considered vulgar elsewhere. When words like "bollocks" or "wanker" appear in a work whose language is otherwise PG, it creates dissonance for those who are familiar with them. (Though it varies according to region, age, and circumstances, "bloody" is about as strong a curse as "damn", and "bloody hell" is about the same as "goddamn". It refers to "God's blood" as an oath. Maybe.) This is also used intentionally, to the opposite effect: unfamiliar or foreign swear words may be used where an equivalent local expression would be inappropriate. This trope covers any confusion or hilarity arising from foreign swear words, not just in the US. Since international expletives are often "G-rated" on American TV, "arse" and "shite" can be family-friendly ways of getting "ass" and "shit" past the radar. In Britain, "ass" can freely be used before the Watershed, while "arse" is used conservatively. Gestures may be similarly misunderstood, such as the vee finger sign that means "peace" in America but is not nice at all in some other countries. See this trope's Super-Trope, Did Not Do the Research. Also, Separated by a Common Language. Examples of Did Not Do the Bloody Research include:
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