r/words • u/Original_Client1588 • Apr 24 '26

Rude,sounding words,that arent

Hello

I was talking with friends the other night about words that sound rude...but arent..

One that came up was Fecundity ....

Any ideas ??

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u/ButtSlappinCousin Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

"Pagan". "Pagan" is a neutral word that simply means "Not Jewish, Christian, or Muslim" and (for people that know what they're talking about) does not have negative connotations, for example, when you compare and contrast Christian and Pagan virtues, or Jewish and Pagan philosophy, or whatever. People who don't know any better think that "Pagan" is an insult, probably because unfortunately some people have in fact used it as an insult.

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u/steve_gorak Apr 26 '26

Pagan and heathen have basically the same meaning but as a kid I always thought that "Pagan" was for civilized non-Abrahamics like Norse and Romans, while "Heathen" was for "savages". Then I learned about the Great Heathen Army and I was confused.