Is this counted as a swear word?

It's not exactly a swear word but it is vulgar and the use of it interchangeably with 'bottom' indicates a certain crassness. It's not 'nice' usage. Kirsty Alsopp wouldn't use it to Phil, would she?

They have classes called bums and tums (I gather), not bottoms and stomachs

I imagine that bum is simply a contraction of bottom so if bottom is acceptable then why does removing the 'ott' make it unacceptable??
As for Kirsty Alsopp, well who knows what she would say if she slipped over backwards!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEsfd3MRDgA

Titter ye not! But I defy anybody to remain po-faced (see what I did there?)

How silly being offended by the word bum. We've all got one

My parents just said it as it was, fart, arse and the rest. When my kids were at home no subject was taboo I much preferred to speak openly about things with them. Although most things were spoken about at the table whilst eating the main meal I did find it rather entertaining to have certain conversations but maybe not the one about which of the local teens were giving Bj's

I'm not offended julia333 but surprised . I want my granddaughters to know how to behave and when to say the right word at the right time to the right people. To say we've all got one is a bit simplistic , after all there are several vulgar phrases for male and female genitalia . As we all have them are you ok with an eleven year old using them , even on tv ? Are you ok with people using them ?

My yoga teacher says "bum" in instructing us. I don't think it's a swear word.

Farts are (still) known as 'botty burps' in our house .....

I wouldn't have dared use the word bum when I was a child, it was definitely a no-no, along with belly, as Swanny notes. I don't regard it as a swear word now, I recently saw an advertising campaign for a well-known company using the word bum so it's mainstream now!

The word fanny has its complications, depending on whether you're in British or American company. We once had dinner with a posh American couple and nearly fell off our seats when the wife declared at the end of the meal that she was going to sit elsewhere as she had 'fanny fatigue'!

I think if you make words taboo that makes them all the more desirable to use, I think if you think bum is a vulgar word for an 11 year old you are basically out of touch i bet your 11 year old little girls know much worse than bum unless they are very sheltered Bum is a perfectly acceptable word to use, arse would be considered less desirable but why I wonder?
Why is bottom considered acceptable and bum not so much and arse a no no, after all they are all just words, funny isnt it I wonder if its a British class thing The lower class had arses the middle class bums and the upper crust botties
The American fanny thing is very funny as in 'wheres my fanny bag gone'

Yes you're right moobox, I go to a class at my gym called 'legs, bums and tums'.

Better than the American version - fanny

Funny, isn't it, how 'arse' is still frowned upon this side of the Atlantic, but 'ass' is freely used by most Americans?

Flanders and Swan on the subject.

Going back to the olden days, my Gran used to call a chamber pot (under the bed) and arkle. Short for article.

Just had a chuckle: read the discussions this morning re:"bum: and just flicked through the "How to Wear s Cardigan" on the front of today's Gransnet -DON'T wear a style that ends at an unflattering part of the body often the BUM or hips" .
So, it is an official Gransnet word!

Seriously, not an offensive term, arse/ass more aggressive and, personally, I do not use them or like the use.

Bum is defined in the Oxford Concise Dictionary as a "slang term for buttocks" - slang not swear word.

Thank you annodomini! I enjoyed that, and stayed to watch Tom Lehrer's 'When you are old and gray'too. Ouch!

I was just re- calling that when i saw your link Annodomini.
'Ma's out, Pa's out, lets talk rude!
Pee, poo, belly, bum drawers'
They don't write 'em like that any more! Marvellous!

I thought Fascinating Aida had done it too but couldn't find it. I am old enough to have seen Flanders and Swan live.

Bum is not rude at all... arse, yes. That made me laugh. Made me think about the phrase, being bummed out?

I hear and see boobs referred to in print by healthcare professionals/writers. Why the dumbing down? They are breasts!

Oh, and pee... hear that all the time now in adverts. Health warnings... is there blood in your pee? These are grownups, what is wrong with saying urine? It's a health message.

Pampers has an advert now that states you will wonder where all the pee went. Thought as it was about little ones, they would say wee.

Do you say to others, I need a wee or I need a pee? Just curious!

OK, that's my beef (is that a bad word?)

I probably use wee more than pee or maybe even a piddle but i wouldn't say piss although i would if someone was being sarcastic ie 'taking the piss'
Words are great aren't they? who d have thought all these opinions about a bum haha

I wonder what the OP says for 'wee' and 'poo'...? Those are the words my family all use (although I might say 'urine' if discussing a problem with a doctor or similar).

Don't think of it as a swear word, but don't use it and neither do my DC's or DGC's. When I was a primary teacher, I didn't like hearing other teachers telling children to 'sit on their bums'.

No problem at all with the word bum, however I dislike the expression 'time to change your bum' always want to say 'surely you're changing his nappy'?