Regarding alternative to swear words

[Agentt]

Being a goody two shoes, I don't write certain exclamations in my works.
This doesn't mean I am blantly *** the words, nor am I forcing the characters to remain shut in contrast to their personalities,

My characters are as goody two shoes as me, never indulging themselves in words like frick.

However, there are certain times when a simple scream doesn't do justice.

For example, if you see a cockroach, its normal to say, "AHHHH!"

However, if you see an alien shooting people, a simple scream wouldn't really fit well. A disaster of this level requires something like, "the fri-the frick is that!?"

Same when, say, mc meets his best friends after years.
Now, things like, "Friends, we meet again," sure sounds cool, but nothing beats the homey feeling of, "Damn you mother frickers, come here!" and then going for a group hug.

The only alternative I have at the time is Jesus Christ and its derivatives, like
Jesus Chritus
Jesust Christus
Jesus Christus All Mightitus

How, how would you replace swear words?

 

[SailusGebel]

You can use bloody.

 

[TotallyHuman]

For loud exclamations indicating surprise you can cut stuff: "what the fu- " "did you see that?" "That's so crazy"
You can cut stuff anywhere, really: "come here and give me a hug, you motherfuc-" "Aleeeec! We missed you so much!"
Then, you can use other words, and that's pretty much it.
Though, there are plenty of ways to utilising it. I like verbosity when a short swear is due, because it adds to the comedic effect, for example.
While these unshaven, unbathed, unwashed, unclean, uneducated, unapologetic, rude and, frankly, barbaric young men threatened me with physical violence, I could only blink in bewilderment as the weight of the situation began to truly sink in. H-how could these... These, evil disgusting leeches with faces of gorrilas say s-such things? This was f- physically painful to process

 

[SailusGebel]

Just use another word and give it a meaning. But you would need to establish it from the start. 'Merlin's beard' from Harry Potter is a good example of what I mean. You can do the same thing.

 

[Viator]

Being a goody two shoes, I don't write certain exclamations in my works.
This doesn't mean I am blantly *** the words, nor am I forcing the characters to remain shut in contrast to their personalities,

My characters are as goody two shoes as me, never indulging themselves in words like frick.

However, there are certain times when a simple scream doesn't do justice.

For example, if you see a cockroach, its normal to say, "AHHHH!"

However, if you see an alien shooting people, a simple scream wouldn't really fit well. A disaster of this level requires something like, "the fri-the frick is that!?"

Same when, say, mc meets his best friends after years.
Now, things like, "Friends, we meet again," sure sounds cool, but nothing beats the homey feeling of, "Damn you mother frickers, come here!" and then going for a group hug.

The only alternative I have at the time is Jesus Christ and its derivatives, like
Jesus Chritus
Jesust Christus
Jesus Christus All Mightitus

How, how would you replace swear words?

This solution depends on the story setting, but you can always create swear words based on fictional or mythological references. I once had a druid sailor character in D&D who would swear profusely based on the D&D pantheon. Phrased like "Umberlee's frozen tit!" or "Tyr's bloody stump!" Were quite common.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Or just *insert god's name* 's *insert naughty bits*.

For instance, I used Eiar as the minor goddess of Spring, so the curse is "oh, for Eiar's tits!"

Or just go Zero Punctuation's mingle and mix, like cockswagger, fuckstain, titsmcgee, tittytoss.

Or you can have the MC just ask about the opposition's female relatives. "Does thou mother's flesh pocket looser than a year old stocking?"

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Being a goody two shoes, I don't write certain exclamations in my works.
This doesn't mean I am blantly *** the words, nor am I forcing the characters to remain shut in contrast to their personalities,

My characters are as goody two shoes as me, never indulging themselves in words like frick.

However, there are certain times when a simple scream doesn't do justice.

For example, if you see a cockroach, its normal to say, "AHHHH!"

However, if you see an alien shooting people, a simple scream wouldn't really fit well. A disaster of this level requires something like, "the fri-the frick is that!?"

Same when, say, mc meets his best friends after years.
Now, things like, "Friends, we meet again," sure sounds cool, but nothing beats the homey feeling of, "Damn you mother frickers, come here!" and then going for a group hug.

The only alternative I have at the time is Jesus Christ and its derivatives, like
Jesus Chritus
Jesust Christus
Jesus Christus All Mightitus

How, how would you replace swear words?

God’s bones!!!

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Being a goody two shoes, I don't write certain exclamations in my works.
This doesn't mean I am blantly *** the words, nor am I forcing the characters to remain shut in contrast to their personalities,

My characters are as goody two shoes as me, never indulging themselves in words like frick.

However, there are certain times when a simple scream doesn't do justice.

For example, if you see a cockroach, its normal to say, "AHHHH!"

However, if you see an alien shooting people, a simple scream wouldn't really fit well. A disaster of this level requires something like, "the fri-the frick is that!?"

Same when, say, mc meets his best friends after years.
Now, things like, "Friends, we meet again," sure sounds cool, but nothing beats the homey feeling of, "Damn you mother frickers, come here!" and then going for a group hug.

The only alternative I have at the time is Jesus Christ and its derivatives, like
Jesus Chritus
Jesust Christus
Jesus Christus All Mightitus

How, how would you replace swear words?

i remember reading a story where a character literally was unable to say cuss words cuz as a Unicorn it was against her nature, so every time she tried to swear she would instead be forced to replace the word with the name of a flower. You can do the same, just replace the words with something else.

or go the Flanders route and be all, "well I'll be a monkey's uncle." You know, be really old-school Christian white male about it. "Oh, bananas!"
Or "Ah, fudge!"

 

[Amok]

Frag, frig, snazmabuck, blasted, blast, damn, dangit, blooming, drat, and smeg.

 

[FeetforThoughts]

"Bloody hell!" is my general go to, followed closely by "What the heck?" Or “flip sake”

 

[BlackKnightX]

Being a goody two shoes, I don't write certain exclamations in my works.
This doesn't mean I am blantly *** the words, nor am I forcing the characters to remain shut in contrast to their personalities,

My characters are as goody two shoes as me, never indulging themselves in words like frick.

However, there are certain times when a simple scream doesn't do justice.

For example, if you see a cockroach, its normal to say, "AHHHH!"

However, if you see an alien shooting people, a simple scream wouldn't really fit well. A disaster of this level requires something like, "the fri-the frick is that!?"

Same when, say, mc meets his best friends after years.
Now, things like, "Friends, we meet again," sure sounds cool, but nothing beats the homey feeling of, "Damn you mother frickers, come here!" and then going for a group hug.

The only alternative I have at the time is Jesus Christ and its derivatives, like
Jesus Chritus
Jesust Christus
Jesus Christus All Mightitus

How, how would you replace swear words?

How do I replace swear words? Well, I don’t. I don’t replace it. It comes as natural to me—not very proud of it though; just accept it as it is.

Anyway, you said it yourself: your character doesn’t like swearing just like you, so maybe you can just look at yourself. Like, how will you exclaim when something happens—though, I doubt you’d say, “T-The frick is that!?” when seeing an alien shooting people.

Anyway, if the character’s just like you, then it will be easy; just base them on yourself and let them talk the way you talk.

 

[Nane]

I find this thread very educational.
*writes down notes frantically*

 

[Redemit]

While I typically believe the intent behind the word is what makes it a swear word more so then the word itself I personally always enjoyed the funny alternatives of which there's too many to count

 

[Daitengu]

IIRC Aaron Hanson of game grumps said that being forced to not curse caused him to get creative with his name calling.

And boy did he lol.

 

[kiplet]

My grandmother always used to say, "Oh, spit!" instead of, well, you know. —And you should hear the spin my mother can put on the word "person" when she's yelling it at a driver who just cut her off. And Isaac Asimov got a lot of mileage out of unprintable: "I will do such unprintable things to your unprintably sorry self," that sort of thing. And never discount such old-fashioned expletives as "blast" and "rot." Walk the walk, and people will meet your talk halfway.

 

[Agentt]

How do I replace swear words? Well, I don’t. I don’t replace it. It comes as natural to me—not very proud of it though; just accept it as it is.

Anyway, you said it yourself: your character doesn’t like swearing just like you, so maybe you can just look at yourself. Like, how will you exclaim when something happens—though, I doubt you’d say, “T-The frick is that!?” when seeing an alien shooting people.

Anyway, if the character’s just like you, then it will be easy; just base them on yourself and let them talk the way you talk.

I do actually say "what the frick is that" irl, same with Jesus Christus

 

[Motsu]

You can be true to yourself and add disclaimers about strong language, or dedicate yourself to finding a bunch of carbon copies. But, y'know, I dunno anyone who adds 'fuck' every time they speak—sounds like a nut case.

 

[K5Rakitan]

You can use medically appropriate words instead:
Feces, Coitus, Scrotum, Anus, Vulva, Penis, Intercourse

 

[Cipiteca396]

Sooo. A curse can be divided into a few different types. You can replace a swear word with something that seems innocuous to you, but it would still be a swear word.

'Jesus Christ' is a great example. That's blasphemy. Any swear that uses the 'Diety' + 'reference' is blasphemy. The reader might not care, but the characters SHOULD. Don't use a swear based on a god unless you want to show that your character is an atheist or extremely immoral.

Next is anything referencing 'naughty bits'. Whether the term is scientifically accurate or not... It's not something that's normally talked about in public. Actually, anything body related might count, like the 'spit' mentioned above. It's either gross, or embarrassing, or whatever. The intent is to upset 'polite folk'. These words show the character is a crass and uneducated, possibly immature person. Or that they really don't like nobles. Or your mother. Then again, maybe they like her too much.

Last is an actual curse. You are condemning someone, actively wishing harm on them. 'Damn you', 'fuck you', and 'kill yourself'. 'Devil take you.' Cursing yourself or fate is bad too. These swears show malevolent intent, and often draw karmic retribution, especially when they WORK, as they perhaps should in a fantasy setting. Even if they don't work, the character is tempting fate, mocking death, whatever. Using a genuine curse in vain shows a disregard for consequences, atheism, or just a lack of regard for others in general.

Having said all that, I've spent too long on the internet. I often curse without really thinking about it, and when I do think about it, I just... Stop. So if you want to 'curse without cursing', just have the character pause awkwardly in the middle of the sentence. In an exclamation, you get things like "Holy- Ahem, that surprised me."

Alternatively, you can substitute genuinely harmless words... As long as you're sure they genuinely ARE harmless in your setting. Don't let someone get accidentally 'blast'ed by a fire mage, and don't accidentally curse someone with a case of diarrhea because you said they were 'crap at fighting'.

Just try to remember your character, and the words they curse with should make themselves apparent. Do they CARE about the words they use?

You can be true to yourself and add disclaimers about strong language, or dedicate yourself to finding a bunch of carbon copies. But, y'know, I dunno anyone who adds 'fuck' every time they speak—sounds like a nut case.

I agree, I am a nutcase. But that's not relevant!

 

[BlackKnightX]

I do actually say "what the frick is that" irl, same with Jesus Christus

Then, just use that in your story. It shouldn’t feel unnatural to you if you do that. Aight, have fun~