Favorite ways to curse in a fan fic without actually cursing

[Callum MacLeod]

Looking to add a little "flavor" to my stories and looking for ways to curse when situationally appropriate without actually cursing.

Would love some help from the wonderful folks on here. I'll post one of my favorite "curses" as an example.



“Frak me sideways with a photon grenade and call me a Ferengi.”

 

[Gibraltar]

I often figure you're dealing with dozens of Federation member species, most (or all) of them having their own 'colorful metaphors'. You can use whatever made up words you like for Andorian, Tellarite, Orion, or any other species' curse words.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

In my first fan fic, I went with the "classic" Picard swear word, merde. This word was used in TNG episodes on-air, in "The Last Outpost" and in "Elementary, Dear Data," where the English translation would not have been allowed, so I think it at least arguably qualifies.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

The classic prime time television way to do this is to end the scene on an expletive: Chief Engineer Johnson dropped his tools and shouted as they clattered to the floor, one of them striking his foot: "FFFuuuu....."

Can't tell you how many times I've seen that on prime time TV where it fades to black before the character in question finishes pronouncing the curse.

A variation would be to show it from the POV of another character who is leaving the room - then the doors close behind the character before the curse is complete. Or you could have a character outside the room only catching part of the conversation then walk in and say, "Exactly why are you so tired of this ship?"

 

[Callum MacLeod]

I know TheLoneRedshirt's Lieutenant Commander Gralt on the Bluefin is fond of "yarliq-brained" and invoking the names of deities. I was hoping that people could post some of their favorite examples that they've seen/that they made of these kinda things

 

[BountyTrek]

As a child of the 90s, Trek was never really a ‘sweary’ show for me. So I tend to keep curses to an occasional PG-13-friendly ‘damn’ or two for the most part.

If I want something stronger, I will definitely lean on the ‘cursing in an alien language trope’. Which means you can have a lot more fun with it than just dropping f-bombs all over the place, while technically being a lot ruder.

From a scene in Star Trek: Bounty - 106 - "He Feedeth Among the Lilies"

Her first response was to utter an untranslatable old phrase in her native Orion tongue, which the quadrant’s foremost linguists had termed ‘the most succinctly offensive curse in history’, due to its ability to crudely question the integrity of three generations of your family while graphically associating them with four different types of livestock in just six short syllables.

 

[PCz911]

The old red dwarf standby by…. Smeg head!

 

[Cobalt Frost]

Here's one of mine:

Gabriel swore softly in Celvan'nath. The Universal Translator didn’t catch it, but Avallios’ eyes widened at Gabriel’s choice of invective. "Lieutenant, destroy those ships."

For context, Avallios is of the race whose language Gabriel is swearing in

 

[Oddish]

I spent 8 years as a mod in swearing-restricted forums, so I got in a habit of not swearing online. And, I came up with a number of substitutes for the practice.
- Asterisk it out (f***, s***, a**hole)
- Comic style ("you're such a #*@$!")
- Use a curse emoji ( off).
- Dispassionate description ("John muttered several rather inappropriate words", or "Joe said two words; the second was 'you'.")
- Break the fourth wall ("Due to this story being rated PG, Ted's response cannot be stated")

 

[BrotherBenny]

People tend to like Colonial swear words on here from nuBSG, or Farscape, frak, frell, etc.

I'm partial to made up alien ones, myself. I like to improvise.

I believe one of the Star Trek writers got away with an Italian translation of one in the first Vanguard book.

 

[Oddish]

I'll bet cursing in Klingon would be incredibly satisfying. All those hard, gutteral sounds probably make it feel like you're saying something really bad.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

Whereas cursing in French is like wiping your a** with silk...

 

[Oddish]

Well, I don't speak French, I don't own any silk garments, and I probably wouldn't use them thus anyway... but when the Merovingian was doing it, it sounded more like an ode to your favorite Parisian café than a storm of potty words. Even later in the movie when Merv was legitimately pissed.

Maybe it's just me, but if I'm going to learn foreign cusswords, I want ones that are more like wiping your bum with sandpaper.

 

[at Quark's]

I'll bet cursing in Klingon would be incredibly satisfying. All those hard, gutteral sounds probably make it feel like you're saying something really bad.

Don't need to, I'm Dutch. Enough hard, guttural sounds at my disposal in my native language.

 

[Robert Bruce Scott]

I'll bet cursing in Klingon would be incredibly satisfying. All those hard, gutteral sounds probably make it feel like you're saying something really bad.

There are no obscene Klingon curse words. Klingons are not afraid of words. They simply say what is on their minds and if you don't like it, that's your problem.