Question to native English speakers

[rainsometimes]

I've started to think - a bit late, I know - that maybe I ought to be more responsible about the ratings I give my fics, especially perhaps when I post things outside my private journal on comms or on ffnet (though they have their own rating system over there). But when it comes to swearwords, I still don't think I really know enough about their impact and how it affects the rating. (Nor do I know the MPAA system very well, for that matter - but I'm not expecting an indepth explanation of that.) Should anyone reading this have the inclination and patience to give me a hint, I'd be very grateful - though I understand if no-one feels like it.



For instance, I'm curious about the words "shit" (and "shitty") and "goddamn". Are they generally considered about equally strong, or is one worse than the other? If they were to appear in a fic whose language and content is otherwise all within the G rating, how high should the fic then be rated?

And what about the f-word? Does that generally mean an R-rating? Or maybe PG-13?

I am of course aware that it's very hard to give hard and fast answers on this type of question, and in any case fanfics on LJ is hardly the same as movies. But some general hints would be great, even if they can't help but be rather subjective.

Comments

[zero-dances.livejournal.com]

I should mention I'm also speaking as an American, Canada is differnt as that other person pointed out, and England even more so (one show I watch they can say fuck a couple of times but cunt is always bleeped, etc, it's almost complex to me).

[serrende.livejournal.com]

(nods) Since the US has the most Internet users in the world right now, and also since they have the stricter rules for this kind of thing, it's probably the American standards I need to be the most aware of. Although the British ones tend to feel more natural to me.