Some common sexual references of the time included:
- “Swive” – a term for sexual intercourse (roughly equivalent to modern "fuck")
- “Bum” – referring to the buttocks
- “Piss” – which was considered coarser than today
- “Quim”, “cunny” – vulgar terms for female genitalia
The word “cunt”, which today is one of the most taboo words in English, also existed in the period, though it was often disguised in writing. For instance, a poem titled “The Choice of Valentines” by Thomas Nashe, a bawdy erotic work, uses many indirect references to genitalia and sexual acts. Nashe had to circulate the poem privately due to its content.
While obscenity was less likely to be prosecuted than blasphemy, it could still result in censorship, particularly from the Stationers’ Company, which regulated publications. Books considered lewd or “unchaste” were frequently suppressed, and authors risked their reputations by writing about the carnal.
Swearing and Class: Who Could Curse?
The way people swore often reflected their social class. The nobility and gentry were more likely to swear religious oaths, which were seen as part of their rhetorical flair or masculine bravado. Gentlemen might swear “by God’s body” in courtly dispute or duel. Meanwhile, the lower classes favored earthy, bodily curses—less blasphemous, but more vulgar.
Shakespeare parodies this class distinction in Henry IV, Part 1, where the character of Falstaff swears in comically exaggerated ways, and Prince Hal mimics both noble and common modes of speech. In everyday taverns and markets, one might hear robust curses, while in courtrooms or sermons, the use of “profane swearing” was more sharply policed.
Yet there was also a growing Puritan movement, especially in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, that condemned all forms of idle speech. Puritans believed that any casual use of God's name was sinful, and they lobbied for legislation to restrict profanity across all classes shutdown123