Would I ever use any of these words... No, not most. Would an author? Probably not. There is nothing wrong with using swear words in writing. And if you are in a publication that you can't use them then you probably need to just explain or skip the exacts:

  • Son of a Biscuit
  • Son of a Beach
  • Darn-it
  • Crap
  • Mother Trucker
  • Dagnabit
  • Good grief (Charilie Brown)
  • Dang-it
  • Yo-Yo Ma (Kramer)
  • Serenity Now (George Costanza)
  • Poo Poo head (kindergarteners)
  • Bugger (A Christmas Story)
  • Oh Fudge (A Christmas Story)

Consider using euphemisms as frack, frick, fracking, fricking, freaking.

frack: sanitized replacement for fuck used on Battlestar Galactica

frick: euphemism for fuck

fricking: a Southern and Midwestern slang word used to express excitement or anger without using profanity

freaking: euphemism for fucking

That was so freaking (or fricking) hard!


"That was so fucking hard".

There are lots of non-vulgar replacements. They tend to be a bit flowery:

That was like carrying a horse up a ladder.

That job was tough as nails.

That was like stuffing a ten inch rock into a five inch box. (many variants)

That felt like herding cats.