Fuck and shit just ain’t cutting it anymore.

      • LettyWhiterock@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        I’m a novice when it comes to the language as a heads up. But my understanding is that generally most of these incredibly vulgar ways of saying “you” came about because they were originally actually respectful ways of referring to someone. But as time passed, people began using them ironically. So a term that was originally respectfully used to refer to someone of higher status is now only used if you’re basically cursing someone out.

        Japanese doesn’t really have swear words, it’s mostly just words that are incredibly disrespectful or otherwise inappropriate for certain context.

        There’s also 貴様 (kisama) which is basically so comically rude because, to my understanding, saying it implies everyone is inferior to you by default.

        Edit: it’s also worth noting that saying “you” isn’t very common in Japanese in general. Usually you’d just refer to someone by their name. So even otherwise tame versions of you can still be inappropriate in the wrong circumstances. Not to the degree of these though.

      • fodor@lemmy.zip
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        9 hours ago

        The short answer is, “because history”. Like most words, although this often feels like a non-answer.