Me (14y male from Poland) got my english teacher annoyed/disappointed after saying the word “crap”. I’m unsure if this is the right place to ask this question but is saying that word considered bad? I always thought it was pretty mild and not a big deal.
It is fairly mild and not a big deal, but most people probably wouldn’t want their 5 year old daughter saying it to their great aunt Mary.
It’s definitely not mild enough for a 14 year old to say in front of their teacher at school.
It is not an appropriate word to use when talking to a teacher, no. A “pretty mild” swearword is still a swearword.
Context matters, to your friends or friends parents, probably okay. To someone you should be showing respect like teachers, probably never going to go over well.
It was like this. I made a mistake in an excersize and said “oh crap”. Although you are right not to say that to a teacher, but saying it the way I did should be fine, right?
More the location at that point, that’s schoolyard talk not classroom at that point. But out of earshot in the school yard too haha
It’s a little extreme but not unheard of for folks to be upset with, especially in classroom settings.
Knowing that English is a second language for you, she’s probably trying to help you!
Maybe assume that your English teacher knows a bit more about the language and how and when to use it than you.
you should avoid swearing at all in formal settings
Crap isn’t swearing.
It is a little bit. It’s not exactly not swearing
but is it exactly not not swearing?
Same realm as “Dang” and “Darn”. Someone getting mad about it is just trying to tone police.
It’s a slightly less harsh version of “shit”. I don’t know where you’re from, but it’s absolutely considered a swear word in Britain and much less tolerated than “dang” or “darn” lmao
Not sure what part of the UK you’re from, but that’s absolutely not the case (at least in the North West where I’m from).
Crap is a bit of a crude word, but I don’t know anybody who would consider it being an actual swear word. For clarity, I’m using the definition of a swear word where it’s something you’d have to censor on public air.
If someone said “dang” or “darn” around here, you’d get a raised eyebrow and everyone would just think you’re from the US because we just don’t use those words here.
Nah, you’re just gonna get pegged as someone with little language skills who has a bad attitude. It’s one thing if you don’t care but calling everything crap at work, especially if you have customers or a partner in the room absolutely makes a poor impression. You should really use it in a professional setting only when you’ve thought through the impact.
Ok maybe not, but you don’t talk about pooping in class. Crap is the same usage. It not swearing, just not applying to talk about
It’s a less vulgar version of shit. You wouldn’t use it in an email, but when talking it generally isn’t a big deal.
It’s not a bad word, but it’s not a good word either, is it?
It’s always easier to replace a habit than it is to stamp it out, so I try to teach my kid age-appropriate cusses. He’s five, so I encourage him to lean on Adventure Time-style creative un-curses, as:
“Finn, this is dirtballs.”
“Aw figs.”
“This is totally dumptrucks.”
“What the lump?”
And the usual stuff like ‘fiddlesticks’ and ‘dagnabbit’ are reliable.
Crap is already an un-curse though lol.
Edit: I’m a lost American who can’t read the community name apparently, sorry mates, enjoy your afternoon.
You could argue that.
Instead of splitting hairs about what’s a curse and what isn’t, I tend to go by whatever is most cute to hear from a kid.
In the UK it’s considered a slightly less vulgar version of shit.
Maybe an English teacher in England knows better than someone that has English as a second language or an American.
In the US, it is also considered a slightly less vulgar version of shit.
Extremely less vulgar, what are y’all on lmao.
No, not really… there are very few environments where it would not be appropriate to say “shit”, but “crap” would be acceptable. Try it out:
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You are at a job interview and you say, “Excuse me, where is the bathroom? I need to take a crap.”
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You are expressing your condolences about the passing of a friend to their family, and you say, “I have some of their crap I think you might want to keep in their memory.”
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A politician is giving a speech, and wants to emphasize that they’re a man of the people. They emphasize that they “don’t take crap from anyone.”
Pretty cherry picked examples. Telling an interviewer anything specific about what you’re doing in the bathroom is odd, “I need to make a bowel movement” is weird too. Comparing a deceased person’s items to excrement is bad, calling it junk would be bad too but that doesn’t make junk a swear word. The third one isn’t really off-putting because of the word to me and is more about the attitude, even if they said something like “I don’t take flak from anyone” I’d have the same reaction.
The third one isn’t really off-putting because of the word to me and is more about the attitude, even if they said something like “I don’t take flak from anyone” I’d have the same reaction.
Indeed, you’d have the same reaction if they said they don’t take “shit” from anyone.
You are making my point on all three examples: the direct reference to making a bowel movement is vulgar, there’s no situation where “crap” is totally fine and “shit” is not… because crap is only very mildly less vulgar than shit, they are both vulgar references to feces.
I can keep on coming up with examples. The doctor says, “I need a stool sample,” vs. the doctor saying, “I need a sample of your crap, please.” Substitute shit and it is not particularly more shocking; neither works.
Give it a try: what’s an example where “shit” would be shocking, and “crap” would be totally acceptable?
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Maybe crap has different cultural connotations where I’m from because it’s definitely not a slightly less vulgar version of shit. It’s extremely less vulgar. Or maybe you need to go ask that English teacher what the definition of slightly is.
Are you from the UK? Because this is a UK thread.
👀 Whoops.
I wouldn’t use it in formal conversation. It’s not bad per se but it’s something that has a negative connotation and you usually look for kinder language in that setting.
In the US (not UK, sorry!) It is entirely dependent on the family that raised you. In some households it’s just another word, and in others it is a curse word. In my experience the households that consider it a curse are less common.
This caught me off guard when I was roughly your age and got in trouble for it when visiting a friend. I thought it was a regular word and was scolded in front of others for it. I had no clue what was going on because nobody would tell me what word it was for a while.
I don’t know of anyone that doesn’t think of it as a very mild “bad word” in the US, and I’ve lived across most of the country. Growing up in a very permissive household can mask that, but if you look it up in the dictionary you’ll find it labeled “mildly vulgar” or something similar.
I raised my children not on the word, but the intention of the word. When they were saying “crap you” they meant “fuck you”, and once they were made aware of it they stopped (saying it in front of me, anyway lol). So be aware that people will pick up on the intention and not necessarily the word.
My brother and I kinda woke up to the ideology of intention with expletives back when we were coming out of college. We were raised not to swear, so we didn’t for the most part, but then we thought about intention and the true meaning and effect of words and we kinda decided that for us as adults who can read a room and understand intent, we didn’t care about swearing anymore. Most of our social settings it was fine and we knew when to stop for the people around us so they weren’t uncomfortable.
“You’re the English teacher, what word or words should I consider using instead?”
Like others have said, it’s a swear word but pretty mild. boot really appropriate for a classroom.
The funny thing was in my first year going to public school (intermediate) crap would actually get you in trouble lol I thought it was pretty bad for a long time because of that
Try saying “merde” next time in thick French accent.
We used to use that word in year 4 back in the 90s. The teachers didn’t mind, and surprisingly even my super strict parents weren’t bothered by it. It’s pretty mild. I wouldn’t let a younger kid use it, but it’s okay to hear imo.
What was the context you used it in?
I wouldn’t say it’s offensive or anything, its basically just a more family friendly take on ‘shit’.
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