I ask because I played a couple of rounds of tennis last Saturday with my girlfriend. Anyway, I hit one ball too hard and it went over the fence and into the wooded area by the court, where I knew we couldn't find it. The agony of losing a new tennis ball caused me to yell BUGGER at the top of my voice. My girlfriend told me not to shout swear words because their were kids near by. I told her that I thought bugger was not a swear word and it was fine to yell out. Anyway, we agreed to disagree, later she looked it up in the dictionary and showed me and the dictionary said it was a taboo word like C**t or F**K.
Anyway, I asked some people at work and they all agree, bugger is a swear word. I have been using this word in everyday conversation since I was like 5. Have I been swearing all this time?
