a 'berk' should be considered much ruder than it is, because it's from the rhyming slang 'berkely hunt'. Again, it's all to do with context and the intentions (perceived or actual) of the user of the word. Also, as Billy Connelly (spelling?) noted, 'cunt' and 'fuck' sound much more aggressive than any of their synonyms... a load of skinheads running around calling people 'mimsy' just wouldn't have the same credibility. Ken said, A friend of mine used to work for a Large Pharmaceutical Company. The IT droids installed a new netnanny system which filtered out pages containing, for instance, the word 'breast'. Some of the breast cancer researchers found this a little inhibiting. Jay -- No, I'm not aware of the word Paki being used in America at all. I had never even heard it until I saw the film Bend It Like Beckham ("Ummm, well, she's crying, so that must mean a bad thing, right?"). Also, the word buggger doesn't seem to carry the same meaning over here. We frequently use it as an innocuous synonym for "annoying person." I didn't learn any other meaning for the word until in college when a friend said it within earshot of an English priest. Also, I love the word "sodding," but it just doesn't seem to sound right in an American accent. Kess said, Not really a swear word as such (not yet anyway), but I'm embarrassed to say I had to look up the meaning of "bukkake" the other day.