Is cunt a popular word in Ireland?

We use the word in a different way in the UK/Ireland. It's still seen as The Worst Swearword but can also be used almost as a term of endearment.

What R1 said. Depends on the company. It's still very shocking when used in most polite company and the connotation of female sex organs isnt that recognised.

We use it similarly to the Irish and British here in Australia too.

In the film it seems to be used mostly as an insult.

I use it fairly frequently on my trips home to Canada. It gets attention. They're such pearl-clutchers there. It's fun to shock those cunts.

Do people in the UK really call their friends cunts? That would shock Americans!

R4 Having no idea what film you're talking about, I have no idea of the context. There's a definite difference between UK/Irish/Aus use of the word and that of the US/Canada. As R2 rightly says, we don't tend to use it to refer specifically to a woman's bits or even as a horrible word to call a woman. You're more likely to hear the word used like "You silly cunt" or "You daft cunt" or "You soppy cunt" with a ruffle of the hair.

But at the same time, you wouldn't go around using the word in the workplace or at the dinner table.

When SotL was shown on TV back in the 90s, Miggs famous line was changed to "I can smell your scent" but when other films/programmes used the word in the more 'friendly' way it was seen as fine.

[quote]Do people in the UK really call their friends cunts?

It's all in the tone and the closeness of the friendship. A really good friend might easily say if someone makes an idiotic mistake and owns up to it, 'You silly old cunt.' It can be said with affection and exasperation.

As against that, it's still the go-to nuclear word in hostile situations for conveying absolute contempt: 'You stupid cunt.' Stakes raised, no way back.

I’ve heard it used openly towards service workers in Naperville, Illinois so yes it is....

Don't they spell it coynte? Someone does, I forget who.

Not in Ireland, but in Caernarfon - a town in North Wales - ‘cont’ is used as a regular term of endearment.