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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31374
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/31374
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

First, I would not do the "translation" of your last sentence.

Second, you need to understand that swear words are typically one or two syllables, and the **_audio effect_** needs to be somewhat similar.

Another word for "fuck" is "intercourse", but it is nearly impossible to use "intercourse!" as a swear word, in places where we would normally say "fuck!". "Intercourse you" sounds stupid. "Oh intercourse!" when I stub my toe sounds stupid. "Intercourse off!" sounds stupid. You need the "K" sound. You need a single syllable. That is why "frak" is used, and "frikkin" for the adjective "fucking".

It is why "Damn" is replaced by "Dang" and "Darn", and even "God Damn it" it replaced by "Dag Nab it". It is why "Bitch" is replaced by "Witch"; they have a similar 'mouth feel' when said. The same goes for "God and Gol", as in "Gol dang it" vs "God damn it".

In the current TV series "The Good Place" the characters are magically prohibited from uttering any curses, and can only utter the closest sounding non-curse word. Their replacement for "fuck" is "fork": One syllable, begins with "F" and ends with "K", and it works and is funny: A character in trouble says, "We are so forked."

Made up swear words need the same number of syllables as the words you think they replace, and some of the same starting and ending sounds, or at least they need the same "mouth feel" when uttered (number of muscular movements of the jaw, tongue and lips), and that mouth feel tells people which curse it is.

Hard sounds where the original curse has hard sounds, soft for soft, sibilant where sibilant. "Pussy" and "Wussy" are an example of the last.

You don't have to be quite as obvious as I used for examples, but the principle holds. IMO "Author of life" is not a good replacement for God, even if you somehow explained that it was. It takes too many mouth and tongue movements to say, and drops me out of the willing suspension of disbelief, I cannot imagine myself slicing a finger and saying "Author of life!".

However, the word "Gee" alludes to the first letter of "God" without saying it, and the later "Geez" is a similar reference to "Jesus". I can see a character cutting her finger and saying "Gee!" or "Geez!". They are plausible exclamatories.

* * *

From my comment below, from "The Good Place" (and writing from my memory), how the screenwriters introduced alternatives to swear words.

In the first episode, the MC (Kristen Bell) tries to say 'fuck', as in "fuck that," and it comes out "fork that."

She says, "Fork. Fork. Why the fork can't I say fork? What the fork is wrong with me?"

Another character tells her, "You can't say _fork_ here, all you can say is fork."

MC says, "Well that's a ship rule. Ship. Oh ship! I can't say ship either?"

* * *

A writing lesson to be drawn from that, if you want to introduce alternatives to swear words, make sure the very first usage of each alternative swear word is in a spot where it is unambiguous to the reader what actual swear word should be there. In the context of the first (and on film), no reasonable American adult would expect anything but "Fuck that" in the first instance, Kristen's dismissive facial expression and wave of her hand makes this clear.

The same is true for "Ship" instead of "Shit", it is the only reasonable curse word to fit in the second example, preceding the word "rule" and commonly said after the word "Oh" when a realization is made. (So is 'damn' or 'fuck', but they don't fit with 'rule', and the "shi" is giving us the clue to the intended curse).

Once the reader understands the substitution, then subsequent usage should be consistent with normal usage, but wouldn't have to be quite so obvious.

Original score: 46