Intention is everything

Which one is more insulting: Bobolyne or fustilarian? 12 old curse words

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Dirty words have been around since forever, but what makes a word "dirty," anyway? It’s not as if certain sounds are inherently offensive—they acquire their meaning from culture, context, and taboo. Let’s look at some examples from both the present and the past. Do you use any of these?

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In Tudor times, the word bobolyne was used to mock someone as a fool or simpleton. The term likely comes from the Middle English verb bob, meaning "to cheat" or "to deceive." Interestingly, it resembles the Spanish word bobo, which also means "foolish."

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Shakespeare gave us the insult fustilarian in Henry IV, Part 2, where Falstaff hurls it during a tirade of colorful name-calling: "You fustilarian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe!" The word adds flair to his dramatic outburst.

Though its exact origin is unclear, fustilarian likely evolved from fustilugs, an old term for a fat, slovenly person.

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In the 18th century, fellow writers Laurence Sterne and Tobias Smollett met in Italy for a short trip. Sterne was struck by Smollett’s constant criticism of the places they visited.

After the trip, Sterne wrote A Sentimental Journey and created the grumpy character Smelfungus, inspired by Smollett. The name soon became a label for anyone who always complains, especially while traveling.

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The word damn comes from the Latin damnāre, meaning "to condemn" or "to inflict loss," from damnum ("damage, harm"). It passed into Old French as damner and then into Middle English as damnen.

Originally, it carried the full religious weight of condemning someone’s soul to hell, but by the 17th century, it had also become a mild curse in everyday speech, often used for emphasis rather than literal damnation.

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Long before the F-bomb, there was sard: a 10th-century Old English word used much like today’s more infamous term. It referred bluntly to sexual intercourse.

The word even appears in an Old English translation of Matthew 5:27, rendered as "ne særde oðres monnes wīf" ("don’t sard another man’s wife") instead of "don’t commit adultery."

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In Victorian times, calling someone a zounderkite was a sly way to say they were an idiot. It was a clever insult that didn’t sound too harsh, and it could also describe someone clumsy or prone to bungling things—a perfect little word for a polite jab.

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One of the cruder insults from the 18th century, rantallion was slang for a man whose penis was shorter than his scrotum. It was used to mock and humiliate, usually targeting a man’s masculinity in a particularly vivid (and unflattering) way.

As Francis Grose defined it in his 1785 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: "Rantallion. A man whose parts are so small, that they are not worth the trouble of being named."

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To bescumber something meant to cover or spray it with feces—a vivid way to show disrespect. The term was often used metaphorically to suggest that something was worthless or beneath notice: after all, if you were willing to bescumber it, it couldn’t be worth much.

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Fopdoodle was an old-fashioned way to call someone a foolish nobody—a "dumbass" in vintage form. The word blends fop (a dandy) with doodle (a simpleton), making it a perfect insult for someone all style and no sense.

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While crap doesn’t pack the same punch it once did, its roots are surprisingly earthy, starting in farming.

It comes from Old Dutch krappen ("to pluck off") and Latin crappa ("chaff"). Through Old and Middle French, it became crappe in English, meaning discarded grain or waste.

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Numpty is a slang term used to insult someone’s intelligence, similar to calling them an "idiot" or "stupid." It is still occasionally used in Britain and Scotland, often in a lighthearted or gently mocking way.

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Jelly-belly was a Victorian insult aimed at the upper class, mocking their tendency to be overweight. At the time, obesity was relatively rare among the general population due to hard physical labor and limited access to food, which made heavier aristocrats stand out.

MIND YOUR TONGUE!

"Flibbertigibbet" And 9 More Silly-Sounding Insults For Your Enjoyment!

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A quote often attributed to Oscar Wilde says "A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone's feelings unintentionally." Now, we want to double down on this phrase and say that we should always try to avoid hurting someone’s feelings.

The entries in this article should be only used in jest, and you should only share them with someone who you know won’t be offended by them. In any case, some of these words sound so silly that there’s a pretty small chance anyone will take them seriously.

Keep on reading if you are looking for a new and fancy way to let someone know they are being a little cranky.

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This word sounds almost adorable, but it is actually another way to say one of the most popular insults in the English language. Poltroon is a 16th-century word that was used to call someone a coward, but nowadays, you might call someone a chicken for the same effect. Curiously, both words are connected etymologically: The Latin root to poltroon, pullus is also the root for the English word pullet (a young hen) and, of course, poultry.

Frankly, if Marty McFly had said "Nobody calls me poltroon" at the end of Back to the Future II, we probably wouldn’t quote that line as much as we do.

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We know what you are thinking, but sadly, a crepehanger is not a place to hang delicious, freshly-made crepes. And yes, we were bummed about it too. On the bright side, this is actually a perfect example of what this word means. A crepehanger is a killjoy, a person who always takes a pessimistic view of things.

The origins of this insult are still unclear, but some believe it comes from a mourning practice of sewing black crepe paper onto clothing items like veils and hats. Therefore, a crepehanger would be someone whose pessimistic, and bleak demeanor is fit for a funeral.

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Try saying this word three times fast. As silly as it sounds, slubberdegullion is one of the harshest insults on this list. It is derived from the English dialect word slubber, meaning "stain" or "filth", which in turn comes from an outdated Dutch word that means "to walk through mud." Accordingly, the insult slubberdegullion is used to describe a dirty scoundrel or rascal, or someone as unpleasant as walking through mud.

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Being called a blabbermouth might be a bit harsh, especially when you are trying to lightly tease that chatty coworker with whom you enjoy wonderful talks by the watercooler. Well, you might want to try the word blatherskite next time: it might be as harsh, but it is uncommon enough that your coworker might think you are just trying to sound fancy.

Blatherskite is used to describe a person who foolishly talks too much, and it comes from the Scots compound word blather skate, in which the word skate is used to describe a deplorable person.

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We have all felt cantankerous at times. Waking up extremely early, having no good snacks at home, or having to work late are all things that might make us feel grumpy or cranky. And someone might call us up on that.

They probably won’t use this old-fashioned adjective, but cantankerous is basically an 18th-century way to refer to a difficult person, or someone difficult to deal with. The origins of this word are mysterious, but many believe that it comes from a combination of the Middle English word contack, meaning "contention", and the words rancourous and cankerous.

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Need a cheeky and lighthearted way to call your bald uncle the next Thanksgiving? You might want to try calling him a pilgarlic. This 16th-century word literally means peeled garlic and it is humorously used to describe bald-headed men since a bald head resembles a clove of peeled garlic. Over time, pilgarlic has also been used to describe someone being looked down upon with humorous contempt, regardless of the amount of hair on their head.

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Like the expression "a bull in a china shop", fustilugs is an archaic word used to describe a clumsy person. This word might be derived from the verb "to lug", which means to drag a heavy object like a suitcase around.

So, the next time someone sarcastically claps at you for dropping a plate on your favorite dinner, you might disarm them by loudly embracing your fustilugs side.

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Smatchet sounds like a word straight out of a Dr. Seuss book. Can’t you just picture a colorful creature on the cover of a book called something like "A Smatchet Took My Latchet"? In any case, while this word sounds almost whimsical, it is used to describe a rather unpleasant and rude person.

You can call someone a smatchet if they don’t apologize for bumping into you on the street, or for kicking into your seat during a long flight. Chances are, no one will fault you for it.

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We end this list with the silliest-sounding word we could find and, considering this article includes the word "slubberdegullion", this is no small feat.

Flibbertigibbet comes from the Middle English word flepergebet, which means a gossip or a chatterer. However, the word has evolved to describe a fickle, or flighty person. The one responsible for this connotation to the word might be the Bard himself: Shakespeare used "flibbertigibbet" as the name of a devil in his play King Lear.