TIPs to Swearing in the FR setting

[Considerate_]

TIPs to Swearing in the Forgotten Realms Setting

Having noticed the subject being brought up on the forums recently, I decided to make a little quick beginners guide about it and I sincerely hope the creative community of Baldur’s Gate will assist me in expanding it with their own ideas and suggestions. I’ll try to update it with your comments as frequently as I can =)

Reasons behind the topic

First and foremost: it’s against the rules and rating of the server.
Secondly: I, personally, find it immersion breaking to hear modern day swearing used in the Forgotten Realm setting.

I’m aware that many of our wonderful players might not be so active on the forums, but I believe that if we start to apply this in practice then the idea will spread in the community like rings in the water, shoot me I’m an dreamer =P

Feel free to post your own good examples and I’ll include them in the original topic, constructive critique and clarification questions are most welcome! =)

Quick explanation of how to read this guide:

Structure:
"Swear word/phrase" (Situations it applies for)

Example:
“By the Nine!” (S, E)

Abbreviation list:
E = Exclamation
I = Insult
R = Refusal
S = Surprise
T = Threat

- = Elaboration of the abbreviation, eg. I-orc would mean Insult about Orcs


Without further ado I'd like to present TIPs:

The Infamous Phrases!

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Common/Human:

"Blood and ashes!" (E, S)
"Bloody Hells!" (E, S)
"Goodness!" (E, S)
"By the Seven Heavens!" (E)
"Blast it!" (E, S)
"By the Nine (Layers of Baator)!" (E)
"Gods Blood!" (E, S)
"Ilmater's Patience" (E)
"By the (Greater) Mercies!" (E)
"Under Tyr's blind eye." (E-unjust)
"You've caught/put me beneath a Dragon's Toe!" (E-, S-awkward)
"Beshaba's Curse!" (E-bad luck)
"thankful for the Small Mercies" (E-relief)
“By the Nine!” (E, S)
“Gods above and fiends below!” (E, S)
"Hogwash" (E-false)
“Go kiss a troll” (I)
"Rotter / Pile or Rot. Bloody Rotter) (I)
"I met an ogre lad/lass, she was prettier than you" (I)
"Oh look, a coat hanger, just what I need" (I-tiefling)
"Were you spawned by trolls?" (I-Half Orc)
"The turnip fields are still waiting." (I-sailor/adventures)
"Your book is written in red ink" (I-questionable/suspect)
"Pig" (I-orc)
“little man” (I-dwarves)
"A mighty fine beard you have there gnome." (I-dwarves)
"Dwarves, the two-legged barrels smelling worse than orcs." (I-dwarves)
"Knif-ear / Pixie licker" (I-elves)
"Treehugger" (I-elves/rangers/druids)
“Orc snack” (I-inexperience)
“Bad blood” (I-family)
“Demonspawn/Scamp” (I-troublemakers/tieflings)
“Harpy/Wench/Harlot” (I-women, I-prostitute))
"Lackwit" (I-witless)
"(S)he's been hit in the head too often" (I-witless)
''Half-pint'' (I-for anything smaller than a human)
"Send you to the Nines!" (T)
"I can cut yer ears shorter." (T-elves)
"May you find yourself in Myrkul's warm embrace." (T)
"Rot in the Hells) (E, I)

---

Drow

“(by) Lolths hairy legs!” (E, S)
“Spider Kisser” (I-Lolthites)
"Light Upon You!" (I, T - drow)
"Darkness Take You!" (I, T - non-drow)

---

Dwarven:
"Shards!" (E)
"fair unbearded" (E-reckless)
“You got me by the beard” (E, S-awkward)
“(by) Clangeddin's stones!” (E, S)
“(By) Moradins beard/Hammer!” (E, S)
“Sandstone!” (E-unusuable)
“I’d rather shave my beard!” (R)
“Troll dung” (I)
“No-beards / unbearded one” (I)
"dainty" (I)
"Perfumed" (I)
"craftless" (I)
"gibbering" (I)
"elf-kisser" (I)
"halfling's-armpit" (I)
"cave-fungus" (I)
"oath-breaker" (I)
"snotling-fondler" (I)
"snot-chewing" (I)
“Goldnose” (I-arrogant, I-elves)
“Short beard” (I-dwarves)
“curlbeard” (E-bitter/disgusting)
“full-unbearded” (I-mad dwarf)
"Swiner / pig face" (I-orcs)
"Too tall / longshanks / overbreeder" (I-human)
"Clanless" (I-dwarves)
"Bugger off!" (E)

---

Gnome

“(by) Gond’s gears!” Surprise, exclamation

---

Elven:

“(by) Hanali’s Golden Heart!” (E, S)
“Until the stones forget” (T)
“Go kiss an orc” (I)
“You smell like a human” (I)
"Dwarf-beard" (I)
"Your nothing more then an albino drow" (I-restless / young)
"Round-ear" (I-human)
"It is better to have a bad knife than a good dwarf" (I-dwarves)
“You smell like an orc” (I-serious)
“(S)he got rotten roots” (I-family)
“Much wind blows from your mouth” (I-conversational skills)

---

Orcish:

“By the One-Eyed!” (E, S)
Pinkskin (I-human, elves)
“Elfson” (I)

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Rules for submissions to the Infamous List:

- No translations to other languages! Swearing isn’t allowed just because we run the words through a language generator to Drow, Elven, Scandinavian, or similar fictional languages.

- Do not post the modern swear word/phrase you feel it represents, this list is meant to be creative, not just give new names.

Credit given to the following, for their creative submissions:
Gwynn (2)
Ithilan (1)
LeslieMS (29)
rokranon (3)
mute83 (1)
ZabelSword (18)
VinnytheSquid (1)
BlueHero45 (2)
Simian Approbatur (9)
GharThurion (2)
Yasif (2)
Bobthehero (1)
(you can be on this list too!)

[wuha]

Drow

"Vith"

Dwarf

"Fark" the most worthless stone known to dwarfkind, petrified goblin poo -- my dwarf says this all the time but no one has ever called him on it

[Xanfyrst]

Frak you!

Oh, wrong setting. Move along!

[Considerate_]

I'm cruel, I got rules for my submission list =P

Rules for submissions to the Infamous List:

- No translations to other languages! Swearing isn’t allowed just because we run the words through a language generator to Drow, Elven, Scandinavian, or similar fictional languages.

At the very least the drow word is covered by the rule, uncertain as to whether the dwarven one doesn't as well?

[Simian]

Aye rite, bugger.

This might come to you as something of a shock, but Scandinavian languages are not fictional languages outside the Finnish borders.

Now, I'm not sure if I dare post a list of terms I've used thus far.

[Gwynn]

A couple more drow insults/threats that I ran across online at one point and occasionally use:

"Light Upon You!" (I, T - drow)
"Darkness Take You!" (I, T - non-drow)

[Considerate_]

Hmm, well stating that languages are not fictional in a fictional country only adds to the credibility, right?

Two good ones, thank you Gwynn =)

[Ithilan]

Very classic dwarven: "By Moradins Hammer" as well, as his beard. (E, S)?

Very nice thread Considerate.

[mute83]

good topic.

One i have used goes something like this. "I think you have been hit to hard on the head by *insert something (giant?)*"

bah, i recall there where others, just cant think of them, maybe "you smell like a troll"

[Katzenjammer]

Another hint on how to swear creatively in the FR setting is to think about how your insult/exclamation in question can be translated into the setting itself. Most modern curses are distillations, possibly because we are in a much greater hurry in the modern world. Taking your own sweet time to insult someone properly can be an exercise in artistic expression, and usually hilarious. There are other FR related curse words out there, but at the moment I cannot find them.

[Candide]

Ok so not exactly FR based insults but the FR is really a high-medieval based society. These are shaksperian insults so come a little after the high middle ages but they can be "FRised" easily and are more fitting than normal swearing...

"All that is within him does condemn itself for being there"

"It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"

"Whose horrible image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs"

"You should be women and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so"

"She speaks yet she says nothing"

"Thy head is as full of thoughts as an egg is full of meat"

"You ratcatcher"

"A plague on both your houses"

"Hang cur, hang, you (germbag), insolent noisemaker"

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here"

"Watch out he's winding the watch of his wit, by and by it will strike"

"Most wicked sir, whom to call brother would even infect my mouth"

"There's small choice in rotten apples"

"If I be waspish, best beware my sting"

"You heedless joltheads and unmannered slaves"

"You (germbag) cullionly barbermonger"

"Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood"

"foul fiend"

"Thou art a traitor, false to thy gods, thy brother and thy father"

"From the extremest upward of thy head to the descent and dust beneath thy foot, a most toad spotted traitor"

"You blocks, you stones, you're worse than senseless things"

"What rubbish, what offal"

"Where will thou find a cavern dark enough to mask thy monstrous visage"

"vile"

"You showed your teeth like apes, and fawned like hounds"

"Frailty, thy name is woman"

"a puffed and reckless libertine"

"My two schoolfellows. Whom I shall trust as I will adders fangs"

"She's the kitchen wench, and all grease ; and I know not what use to put her but to make a lamp of her and run her from her own light. I warrant, her rags and the tallow in them will burn a Poland winter. If she lives till doomsday, she'll burn a week longer than the whole world."

"There's many a man hath more hair than wit"

"No longer from head to foot than from hip to hip, she is spherical, like a globe, I could find out contries in her"

"Pray you, stand farther from me"

"Slave, souless villain, dog ! O rarely base!"


That should give you all some new ideas or you could change some of them to fit in the FR setting. Hope it helps.

[DM Sword]

Some more dwarven insults (dwarves are very insulting).

Swiner, pig face - Insulting terms used against orcs/half-orcs
Pixie licker, knife ears - Insulting terms used against elves
Too tall, longshanks, overbreeder - Insulting terms used against humans

Some general dwarven insults (most can be used by anyone):

clanless, dainty, perfumed, craftless, gibbering, elf-kissing, halfling's-armpit, cave-fungus, (goblin, orc, troll, elf)-friend, tree-hugging, oath-breaker, troll-barf, steaming heap of troll dung, snotling-fondler, snot-chewing.

Ok thats enough for now

[VinnytheSquid]

There's always insults from the literary genre. I have one character that swears a lot and it's all from various books I've read. For example:

"Blood and ashes" (Wheel of Time series)

[BlueHero45]

Ardavanshee, an elven curse word meaning, Restless young ones

Albino Drow. As in, your nothing more then an albino drow.

[Considerate_]

Gods above and fiends below, what have I started! :O *starts writing swear phrases down*