Apologies in advance if this is the wrong subreddit. They told me to ask here. Here's what I posted originally:
Writing something that takes place in 1000BCE, and I don't want to have the character say "God fucking dammit!" in rage, as it wouldn't really fit. What're some profane words I can use in place? Anything that sounds old (but isn't ridiculous, like whippersnapper), would work fine.
I'm writing something about King David, and when his men come upon Ziklag, they curse and weep. Like I said, "Son of a fucking bitch" wouldn't exactly be appropriate, so what would be more fitting for the time? Or, at least, fitting enough to where major audiences wouldn't be able to tell.
I am not sure what you mean. An ancient Israeli would not have cursed in English, but, unless you want to write the whole thing in Hebrew, you will have to use the English equivalents of those curses. For example, an ancient Roman might refer to something worthless as "merda", a Latin word for "manure" or "shit". The word means exactly the same in modern Portuguese. The poet Martial refers to poor quality food:
Sed nemo potuit tangere: merda fuit.
But no one could touch it: it was shit.
Paraphrasing some cursing from the Bible in Hebrew: "Damned be your seed for all generations". But it seems you want more of an "oh shit" expletive, sorry.