"Bugger" is a very mild expletive here and in the Strine. It's so versatile. You can say "Well, that's a bit of a bugger!" when something goes wrong, or "Bugger!" if something surprises you, or "buggeeer!" if you are annoyed or "Bugger me!" in both situations. There is a Toyota ad here in which "Bugger!" and "Bugger me!" are the nearly the only words used - by the farmer, the farmer's wife and the farmer's dog. And there's another ad where a 5-year-old girl uses it when her shoes are splashed by a car.
It has, I must emphasise, completely lost any sexual deviancy connotations it ever had. Most youngsters these days wouldn't even know that it had ever meant anything else.
And we're damned hypocritical about these words and their usage anyway. Just lately I've noticed an almost complete break down of the inhibitions about using "fuck" in front of women. This is mostly because women tend to use it themselves in mixed company without any self-consciousness at all. Effectively, this word which still offends so many is losing/has lost its sexual connotations as well. Other words have taken over that role. In a documentary on TV the other day about a well-known New Zealand actor, one of the interviewees was telling the story about a bus breaking down, the driver disappearing under the vehicle for a look-see and emerging to announce "Well, the fuckin' fucker's fucked!". Where's the sex in that? I shall, however, treasure its succinct, to-the-point clarity for ever!
