So I work in retail and today my supervisor called me out for using the expression “you’ve buggered it” to light-heartedly point out that someone messed up. I understand in the past the word was more severe but I was under the impression that today it was a pretty tame word.

So what does everyone think about the word bugger? Is it inappropriate?

32 comments

  2. It’s tame, but in a work environment, people are asked to be careful not to offend people who might have different boundaries.

    If you work in retail, then that will presumably involve customers in the enviornment, and one should be extra careful not to say things that might offend a customer. Even if you said it out of the hearing of customers, your manager was right to ask you to be “extra tame”.

  4. If something is broken, it can be described as ‘its buggered’. Thats fine.

    Anything else – still holds its original meaning. I would not like to slip it in normal conversation…😳

  5. Personally, no. It’s barely on the inappropriate scale and if this was says to me, it wouldn’t even register.

  6. I mean it still means to take it up ones arse…so I’d be careful using it in front of customers

  9. The only time I heard used beyond old tv shows was during a safeguarding session where a police officer stated a man groomed and ‘buggered’ a nine year old girl. Since then it’s made me feel uncomfortable.

  10. If talking to customers, not good. Has many meanings, some of which will eventually be taken offensively by someone.

    It’s just a bit rough in general.

  12. If you think about the literal meaning then yeah. You probably wouldn’t say “you’ve fucked it up the arse.” However, most people don’t fall into the spiral when you say “you’ve buggered it,” so I think your manager has made a buggery mess of it.

  13. Fine amongst adults. But my 6 year old has just started saying it, and I don’t like that at all…

  15. To be fair, although it often means sodomy as a verb, that’s not necessarily what it means in all cases. The definition is expansive:

    Bugger
    noun
    1. A collector of bugs or insects; an entomologist.
    2. One guilty of the crime of bestiality: vulgarly used as a general term of contumely, without reference to its meaning.
    3. One guilty of buggery or unnatural vice; a sodomite.
    4. A wretch; — sometimes used humorously or in playful disparagement.
    5. A heretic.
    Someone who commits buggery; a sodomite.
    6. A foolish or worthless person or thing; a despicable person.
    7. A situation that causes dismay.
    8. Someone viewed with affection; a chap.

    So it means both “to fuck an animal” (or “animal-fucker”) and simply a “nice bloke”.

    Tell your boss you meant the situation caused dismay and they were the ones who brought sodomy into it.

  16. To me I just think if it was good enough for my Nan in her 70’s and 80’s in polite conversation (and she pretty much never swore, and had no time for it) it’s good enough for me.

    I’d say long enough ago it was less severe, “you little bugger”, “cheeky bugger” was a lighthearted comment.

    EDIT: though subtly different than buggered after reading other replies, I definitely heard “buggered” used a lot more when I was younger in the 70’s/80’s in more general conversation with no deliberate sexual meaning.

  17. I read somewhere that in England there’s something of a North/South divide on this — that it’s considered a stronger word in the South than in the North (and vice-versa for “bastard”).

  18. Vaguely related story: I once called a couple of my coworkers “you bastards” on Teams for forgetting to do X for me before sloping off for a fag. For context, this is incredibly tame language for this particular software development team, with F bombs flying around left and right, as well as all of their other friends.

    One of the bastards was new and English was not his first language; I guess he looked it up and was offended. Sent out emails to line managers, including the dictionary definition, making a formal complaint.

    Blah blah, worked out fine for me in the end and the “chat” wasn’t particularly worth retelling. However, I am still proud of managing to get this one in nice and early: “just so everyone is aware, my mum isn’t married and I don’t know who my father is”.

    Anyway


  20. I think the issue here isn’t necessarily that you’ve said ‘buggered’, it’s that you’ve blamed the customer, which is a massive no-no in retail.

    Saying “you’ve messed it up” -> “you’ve buggered it” -> “you’ve fucked it” is a sliding scale of impropriety, but in my view they’re all better than “it’s messed up” -> “it’s buggered” -> “it’s fucked” as none of the latter actually blame the punter.

  21. As long as its not used in an “offensive” way such as get buggerd or bugger off.

    Otherwise I would say its a normal apart of British culture and can be used when appropriate.
    Would be part of a normal conversation if you used it with me.

  22. It’s the ‘swear’ word I use the most, I mean I’ll even use it in front of my mother.
    I know what it used to mean, but I don’t use it to mean that, I use it if I drop things, or bang my elbow, or something. I mean back when I was young queer was a huge insult/‘bad’ word, my cousin (who’s less than a decade younger than me) has got his MA in queer history. Words change their meaning over time

  23. Jesus. It’s totally tame. You can look up the definition in the dictionary basically means “broken” or “tired”. In America calling kids “little buggers” is common.

  24. They meant they would prefer you to refer to it as “f$cked”. Hope that clears things up.

    J/K

    Doesn’t bother me but people can be touchy so keep it clean.

  25. Offence is taken, not given. It doesn’t matter who it was aimed at, if a third party overhears it and gets upset it’s on you for upsetting them. It’s not on them for being offended.

    ​

    At the same time, bugger that person that got that upset over what’s now a relatively tame word.

  26. It’s a bit crass to use that in a conversation with a customer. Just keep it to use with friends and family. Like someone else said, it has connotations to criminalised anal sex, so for that alone it’s a bit of a strange one to bring up with customers


  27. It depends on the workplace, but in general it’s best not to swear at all except among colleagues you’re definitely friendly with. Don’t swear at customers at all, obviously

  29. Was this in front of customers? Probably best to avoid even slightly salty language.

    But if your grown-up supervisor is upset by swear words then I am truly sorry for you, that relationship is going to be a nightmare.

  31. When saying bugger, think you’re saying ‘arse fuck’ because you pretty much are, then it kinda has more weight to it.

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