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Why Are Bad Words Bad?

Vsauce | April 9, 2025



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EXTRA INFO & LINKS BELOW!

Music by http://www.youtube.com/JakeChudnow

Marchex Institute study: http://blog.marchex.com/2013/05/15/marchex-data-reveals-ohioans-curse-the-most-in-the-country-washingtonians-the-least/

Canada’s most vulgar city: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/01/23/canadas-most-vulgar-city_n_1224323.html

“Bad” etymology: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bad

“Grawlixes”: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1673017/quimps-plewds-and-grawlixes-the-secret-language-of-comic-strips

Mort Walker – The Lexicon of Comicana: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lexicon-Comicana-Mort-Walker/dp/059508902X

First use of grawlixes: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2457

Slate’s Lexicon Valley: “A Brief History of Swearing”: http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2013/06/lexicon_valley_on_profanity_and_obscenity_with_holy_shit_a_brief_history.html

1 Kilohertz censor beep: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleep_censor

Steven Pinker lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S1d3cNge24

Swearing history: http://www.salon.com/2013/05/11/the_modern_history_of_swearing_where_all_the_dirtiest_words_come_from/

remembering taboo words: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?rep=rep1&type=pdf&doi=10.1.1.217.220

Swearing in the brain:

http://blog.scienceinsociety.northwestern.edu/2013/02/a-special-place-in-the-brain-for-swearing/
http://www.howstuffworks.com/swearing4.htm

no words should be banned? http://bigthink.com/against-the-new-taboo/no-words-should-be-banned

Mythbusters’ Swearing Test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp5hNhHp3Ew

Coprolalia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolalia

Lalochezia: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/lalochezia

7 dirty words: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_dirty_words

Swearing is changing:

http://www.thetakeaway.org/story/305603-swearing-changing-and-s-good-thing/
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_good_word/2013/07/swear_words_old_and_new_sexual_and_religious_profanity_giving_way_to_sociological.html

Swearing in the future: http://io9.com/http-0-media-cdn-foolz-us-ffuuka-board-tg-image-1374-1463056139

Swearing behaviour on Twitter: http://www.business2community.com/infographics/swearing-behavior-twitter-comedic-value-big-data-infographic-0616586

McKay Hatch – The No Cussing Club: http://nocussing.com/

N.W.A. F*ck Tha Police: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2YgZX9Thm0

Written by Vsauce

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