The so-called N-word has been voted Sweden's most unpleasant word, in a survey conducted by Novus on behalf of Language Magazine.
"The fact that attitudes towards the word have changed quite quickly also reflects changes in society. For many young people today, the N-word is unequivocally racist and derogatory", says Anders Svensson, editor-in-chief of Language Magazine in a press release.
However, the differences between generations are significant. Among Swedes aged 18-34, 65 per cent think the word is the worst thing you can say, but only 5 per cent of those aged 65-84 share the same opinion.
The second most unpleasant word in Swedish is considered to be "whore", according to 21 per cent, followed by "little whore" with 17 per cent and "cunt" with 11 per cent. However, young people do not think the words are as offensive as older people do.
Overall, insults related to ethnicity, sex, and gender are considered worse, while traditional swearwords like "damn", "hell", and "bloody" all received under 1 per cent in the survey.
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N-ordet (N-word), 32 per cent
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Hora (Whore), 21 per cent
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Horunge (Kid of a whore), 17 per cent
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Fitta (Cunt), 11 per cent
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Svenne (condescending word for Swede), 5 per cent
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Kuk (Cock), 1 per cent
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Idiot, 1 per cent
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Jävlar (Motherfuckers), 0 per cent
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Fan (Damn), 0 per cent
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Helvete (Hell), 0 per cent
In total, 1,000 participants responded to the survey.
