Scatological vs Bawdy: What’s the Difference?

The difference at a glance

Scatological refers specifically to excrement-related humor. Bawdy refers to ribald, suggestive, or sexual humor.

What does Scatological mean?

adjective · /ˌskæt.əˈlɒdʒ.ɪ.kəl/

Relating to or characterised by an interest in excrement and excretion — used academically to describe a genre of humour, literature, or cultural preoccupation with bodily functions and dirt. The word makes toilet humour scholarly.

Scatological in a sentence

Aristophanes wrote scatological comedy two and a half thousand years ago. The genre predates civilisation's self-image.

Jonathan Swift was deeply scatological — his poetry includes what is possibly the most famous defecation poem in English literature.

What does Bawdy mean?

adjective · /ˈbɔː.di/

Dealing with sexual matters in a comical or irreverent way — indecent but humorous, coarse but cheerful. Bawdy is the register of the pub, the Chaucer, the Shakespeare who loved a double entendre. It is sex laughed at rather than hidden.

Bawdy in a sentence

The medieval mystery plays were surprisingly bawdy — religious themes and dirty jokes coexisted comfortably.

Shakespeare's bawdy is legendary: he wrote over a thousand puns on genitalia.

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