Swearing for Fun & profit

A priest, a merchant and a miner walked into a bar, then walked out again to get away from you.

In Araea, the art of insults straddle a line between simple expression and popular past time. Those who wield their wit with skill are highly regarded, and the crude mudslinger ostracized. As with many things in Araea, it is not just a question of how but also knowing when.

Battle of Wits

You've brought a knife to a swordfight, friend.
Insults, swearing and jabs in Araea depend on far more then nasty words and boorish behavior. A good insult rely on creativity and context to target the other, and the most popular Araean insults hold elements of Laconic wit and dry humor. Insults between friends are common as displays of how well they know each other and the barbs exchanged between tight-knit Kaia teams can become very creative indeed. A trait you should try for, sometime.
Imagination and context are prized as the signs of an agile mind. Rote repetition and crass insults invite only scorn.

Breaking the Rules

As you've demonstrated, not everyone has the required mind to engage in the higher levels of insulting each other in Araea. There are those who simply want to get an emotional response from their victim, to raise their heckles and generally be unpleasant arseholes. Doing so is not considered a victory, but the sign of a rank amateur and one unworthy of consideration. They're sometimes called "rocks"; dense and dull. Much like your last joke.
In public settings and especially during Spars, such behavior tend to lead to a crash course in imaginative punishment in both word and deed for the amateur in question.

Fun and Games

At least no one will lose an eye here, unless you really fuck up. Wear goggles.
The Spar are sometimes hosted as public or private events as entertainment. Particularly skilled rakes will square off with one another, taunts and slander often building upon one another in an escalating war of words and wit. Should the rakes find their host to be a bore or lout, they have been known to set their differences aside and focus entirely on the host. This is typically greatly appreciated by the audience, but not always the victim.
During these sorts of events and sometimes during Spar, the rakes may sometimes give explicit consent to cross some of the off-limit topics, but that is usually limited to spars between close friends.
But being able to take a barb is as important as delivering one. Since it is difficult to do when tempers flare and personal achievements are likened to a particularly ripe pile of mushroom compost, no one is expected completely unscathed (if they did, you need to try harder). But being able to roll with the punches is praised. The most popular rakes are the ones who jest as much about themselves as their chosen target.
When faced with a Rock (See the above if you already forgot) however, no one is expected to sit and take their clumsy attempts at wit.

Hurt Feelings, Bruised Egos

But it isn't all fun and games. Lazy workers, incompetent overseers and unpleasant Rocks are all reasons for the average person to fell a few choice words. The same standards generally apply with what is and is not considered a good insult, even if the language can sometimes get more colorful.

"He who knows how to speak, knows also when."

The Spar

No weekend evening at the tavern or other social setting is complete without a Spar, a friendly (or less friendly, in some cases) exchange of barbs, insults and witticism.
The Spar contains certain loose rules and a certain structure: take turns, respect the limits set out and the loser typically has to buy a round for everyone there. I hope you brought coin, then.

A Course in Coarse Words

Some topics are considered off-limits for insult and swearing. Sexual preference, gender and other immutable facts are things that the target cannot change and as such not particularly funny to besmirch. There are few exceptions to this rule, one being that there's no limit to making fun of yourself for the sake of advancing a barb, if done skillfully.
Action and deed are preferred. During an proper Spar, these rules are expected to be followed. There's a difference between mocking a man for being poor and having made himself poor. One might be misfortune or circumstance, but the second can be really funny.