Swearing the the Grim, Dark future

[Rising Chaos]

I was trying to flesh out some of the NPC`s in my dark heresy game, and realized one vaguely startling fact. Obviously the inhabitants of the 41st milenium aren`t all pious and virtuous people, and yet I only know of two or three swear words in 40K.

I was just wondering if anyone knew any that weren`t planet exclusive. All I know is `frak`from the Ciaphas Cain books but that`s a Valhallan swear word. I also just realized I don`t know how to count since I said above I knew two or three.

Long story short, can anybody help me out here :D

[chromedog]

There's 'Feth' and 'throne' that I know of.

Dan Abnett has characters throwing "bollocks" around as well.

[WereWolf_nr]

Well, 'frak' is old as dirt and older than 40k (or WFB). 'Throne' or 'Emperor' in place of 'God' in various curses. I'm pretty sure 'damn' is used once in a while.

You can always grab a British (or Austraillian) curse and use it in America (or vice-versa) and probably get away with it sounding different enough.

[Etriagn]

Grox-lover, Grox-brain or something similar, also muddy or dirt crawler from a character born on a starship or space station ( i.e. Voider) when h e is talking to folks from a planet.

A Navigator or Psyker might insult non-Psyker by referring to them as "flickering" , "deaf" or "numb".

[Franek_Dolas]

Don't forget about "gak".

[sway]

I made a few comedy stories and they replaced "Frak" with "Frag" or "Fraggin hell", they still use other things from nowadays like "Stump" to mean idiot... I do have the 4th edition Guard codex which has these in it: (It's not all swearing but can be used in a hostile way)

Blunt - Psyker term for non psychic
Plank, Bone 'Ead - Dumb, Idiot
Catachan Kiss - Headbutt, Between the eyes
Do a Yarrick - Take a trophy from a slain enemy
Emperor's Benediction - Mercy Killing
Freak, Brain, Bolt Magnet - Derogatory term for psykers
Gun-Baby - Whiteshield or conscript
Savlar - Thief or drug addict
Scrambled - Insane
Toy Soldiers, Glory boys - Storm Troopers
Twist - Mutant

There just out o the codex but theres heaps, black library novels are a good start, especially Guard one's, and yes damn is still used, its in waiting death a far bit

[ElectricPaladin]

I imagine that a lot of people probably swear by the Emperor and his various body parts and attributes. "Emperor's Sword!" "Emperor's Wounds!" "Emperor's Gaze!" for the moderately pious, "Emperor's Balls!" for the less so. Don't forget that the Imperial Cult includes lots of other saints and demigods, so you might also here, I don't know "Katherine's Tits!" As in "Katherine's tits, that's a big Tyranid! Run for it, boys!"

[Bootskum]

you could try "youz worze dan a squigherder, youz Gitz" I hear that one's popular

[Nabterayl]

I'm not aware of any universal swear words on 40K, which is to their credit. The Imperium's too big for that. Although "frak" is certainly an old fake swear word, it's totally sensible for that to be Valhallan-specific, just like "feth" is Tanith-specific (and actually a religious curse, not a reference to sex).

So I think the most realistic way to go is to make up your own curses. As I observe, people only really use two things as curse words: references to deity (and to a lesser extent, saints) and things that are vaguely shameful. There are all sorts of variations on the Emperor and saints you can work with ("Throne" is common in 40K lit, but I think "God's Throne" or "Tell him he can suck the Emperor's putrescent gold testicles" fit just as well). And then I would ask yourself what things your NPC's culture finds vaguely shameful. Sex, butts, primary sex organs, and bodily waste dominate the list in English-speaking countries. If that's true for your NPCs, you can make up new words to express that. But maybe their list is different. Maybe their swear words are about open wounds, sweat, and elbows. If the words you make up are still foreign to the players, it could be an interesting bit of culture to find out out when the PCs finally ask, "So what does 'gezsh' actually mean, anyway?"

[Psychosplodge]

We also blaspheme, isn't that why the french called us the *******s?*
wtf the filters set for blasphemy but i can say wanker?

*god damns

[Nabterayl]

Yeah, but that's only blasphemy for peculiar religious reasons. God damn is just a plain old prayer, asking God to smite your enemies in a particular way; it's only blasphemy because of the god in question. I bet Imperials say god damn all the time and hardly even consider it profane. The Emperor is not shy about damning people after all.

[Denzark]

Whatabout Judge Dredd as resource?

I give you drokk/drekk.

[Psychosplodge]

If you're stealing them, take frikk* from scrubs...

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzcpz3sy0K1r4b6v4o1_500.png

*spellings may vary

[Gotthammer]

Most made up swearing sound ridiculous and for me breaks immersion as it is devoid of context. For instance calling someone a grox turd or saying "by the Emperor's great golden balls" makes sense in universe as an analogue of real world swearing. Things like frak and so on just sound twee - I mean is coal seam gas mining particularly offensive in the future or something?

The TV series Deadwood shot a few scenes with period accurate cursing and they scrapped it as it sounded out of place and more humorous than threatening or offensive, so they went with contemporary swearing. If you want to say ****, say **** and get it over with - we all know what you mean anyway - or if that's too rude for your group don't swear at all.

[eldargal]

Agreed. Also if they are speaking Gothic (or eldar or Tau or whatever) then treat the text like a translation. They won't actually be saying f*** but that is the direct translation.

[Nabterayl]

Most made up swearing sound ridiculous and for me breaks immersion as it is devoid of context. For instance calling someone a grox turd or saying "by the Emperor's great golden balls" makes sense in universe as an analogue of real world swearing. Things like frak and so on just sound twee - I mean is coal seam gas mining particularly offensive in the future or something?

The TV series Deadwood shot a few scenes with period accurate cursing and they scrapped it as it sounded out of place and more humorous than threatening or offensive, so they went with contemporary swearing. If you want to say ****, say **** and get it over with - we all know what you mean anyway - or if that's too rude for your group don't swear at all.
I generally agree with this. My default practice is to have the characters' culture(s) use vernacular swearing, and only use foreign or made-up swearing from cultures that the PCs themselves would find foreign or made-up sounding.