Let’s get to the BOTTOM of this!

I got a question from my Thai friend regarding the word BUM (slang), meaning, in this case, part of the human body that we sit on. I don’t hear this word, used to describe the part of the human body, very often. Frequently, I hear people use the word BUNS (plural) instead. And it is said in a complimentary way. For example, nice buns! Also, there are some other words with the same meaning as BUNS and often used in America such as BUTTOCKS (plural), BUTT and BEHIND. So I did a little research and found that BUM is actually a British English slang. That’s why!

Speaking of the part of the human body that we sit on, TOOSHIE, BOTTOM and HEINE are the words that people normally use when they are around children.

When comparing a degree of politeness, outside of the 3 words above, REAR, REAR END, BACKSIDE and BEHIND are most polite in general. BUTT is not as polite as REAR or BEHIND; however, I see people use it a lot on TV. The word that is least polite compared to others is ASS. So try not to use it much! Btw, I found Slang Map of the Human Body Part which is very cool. You might want to check it out.

I still don’t totally understand why, in English, there are always more than one synonym, invented just for substituting one word. If one word has had only one synonym, it'd have made my life a lot easier. :)

HTH :)