'Crap'

[Tdol]

A student today asked if 'crap' was a swear word. I said it wasn't. Is it colloquial, slang or is it a swear word?

 

[dduck]

Thomas Crapper's name is inevitably linked with the toilet. "T. Crapper Brass & Co., Ld." was emblazoned on toilets all over England. It was the American soldiers stationed in England during World War I who returned to the US using his name as a euphemism for the toilet. Crapper died in 1910 at the age of 73, although his company lived on until 1966 -- 105 years in business. (However, the company has been resurrected and is again alive and well (see below).

http://www.toiletology.com/history.shtml

 

[RonBee]

IMO, it's a mild oath. It's a substitute for something that would be considered stronger, more offensive.

 

[Willbut]

I'd say that in British English it isn't even a mild oath. It's companion beginning with 's' is still a little rude, but 'crap' could be used anywhere outside formal English, IMO. I wouldn't hesitate to use it in front of my grandmother, which is my test for acceptability.

 

[RonBee]

American English:

• "I won't take that crap from anybody."

Do the British use it like that?

 

[Tdol]

Yes, we say that. Things like films are often described as 'crap', people can be 'crap at' the jobs, etc. ;-)

 

[RonBee]

So, we do have something in common.

:wink: