201 ways to say F

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Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Welcome back true seeker. What a story for Father's Day,
June 15th, 2025. CNN has this in the top
headlines. 201 ways to say fuck what 1.7 billion words of online

(00:22):
text shows about how the world swears.
I almost feel like this story was made just for our community.
What do you think? I mean really 201 ways.
I think you're going to love thethe ticker down below.
It's two O 100 and verse. Let's let's see what's in this
article by Martin Schweinberger,the University of Queensland and

(00:46):
Kate Burridge Monash University.The conversation.
Our brains swear for good reasons to vent, cope, boost our
grit and feel closer to those around us.
Swear words can act as social glue and play meaningful roles
in how people communicate, connect and express themselves

(01:07):
both in person and online. In our new research published in
Lingua, we analysed more than 1.7 billion words of online
language across 20 English speaking regions.
We identified 597 different swear word forms, from standard
words to creative spellings likearseholes to acronyms like WTF.

(01:33):
The findings challenge a familiar stereotype Australians,
often thought of as prolific. Swears are actually outdone by
Americans and Brits, both in howoften they swear and how many
users swear online. Facts and figures Our study
focused on publicly available web data such as news articles,

(01:56):
organizational websites, government or institutional
publications, and blogs, but excluding social media and
private messaging. We found vulgar words made-up
Point O3, 6% of all words in thedata set from the United States,
followed by Point O2, 5% in the British data and Point O2 two,

(02:17):
2% in the Australian data. Although OGRE language is
relatively rare in terms of overall word frequency, it was
used by a significant number of individuals.
Between 12% and 13.3% of Americans, around 10% of Brits
and 9.4% of Australians used at least one vulgar word in their

(02:40):
data. Overall, the most frequent
vulgar word was fuck. With all its variants, it
amounted to a stunning 201 different forms.
We focus on online language thatdidn't include social media
because large scale comparisons need robust, purpose built data
sets. In our case, we use the Global

(03:02):
web-based English corpus, which was specifically designed to
compare how English is used across different regions online.
So how much were our findings influenced by the online data we
used? Telling results come from
research happening at the same time as ours.
One study analyzed the use of fuck in social networks on X,

(03:23):
examining how network size and strength influence swearing in
the UK, US, and Australia. It used data from 5660 networks
with more than 435,000 users and7.8 billion words and found what
we did. Americans use fuck most
frequently, while Australians use it the least but with the

(03:45):
most creative spelling variations.
Some comfort for anyone feeling let down by our online swearing
stats. Teasing apart cultural
differences, Americans hold relatively conservative
attitudes towards public morality, and their high
swearing rates are surprising. The cultural contradiction may
reflect the country's strong individualistic culture.

(04:06):
Americans often value personal expression, especially in
private or anonymous settings like the Internet.
Meanwhile, public displays of swearing are often frowned upon
in the US. This is partly due to the
lingering influence of religiousnorms which frame swearing,
particularly religious based profanity, as a violation of
moral decency. Significantly, the only

(04:27):
religious based swear word in our data state dam was used most
frequently by Americans. Research suggests swearing is
more acceptable in Australian public discourse.
Certainly, Australia's public airing of swear words often
takes visitors by surprise. The long running Rd. safety
slogan If you drink then drive if you're a bloody idiot is

(04:50):
striking such language as rare and official messaging
elsewhere. Australians may be comfortable
swearing in person, but our findings indicate they dial it
back online, surprising for a nation so fond of its
vernacular. In terms of preferences for
specific forms of vulgarity, Americans showed a strong
preference for variations of asshole.

(05:10):
The Irish favoured feck, the British preferred cunt and
Pakistanis lean toward butt hole.
The only statistically significant aversion we found
was among Americans, who tended to avoid the word bloody.
Folk wisdom claims the word is blasphemous, being fluent and
swearing. People from countries where
English is the dominant language, such as the US,

(05:32):
Britain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand and Ireland, tend to
swear more frequently and with more lexical variety than people
in regions where English is lessdominant, like India, Pakistan,
Hong Kong, Ghana, or the Philippines.
This pattern holds for both frequency and creativity and
swearing. But a Singapore ranked 4th in
terms of frequency of swearing in our study, just behind

(05:52):
Australia and ahead of New Zealand, Ireland and Canada.
English and Singapore is increasingly seen not as a
second language, but as a nativelanguage and as a tool for
identity, belonging and creativity.
Young Singaporeans used social swearing to push back against
authority, especially given the government's strict rules on

(06:16):
public language. One possible reason we saw less
swearing among non-native English speakers is that it is
rarely taught. Despite its frequency and social
utility, swearing alongside humor and informal speech is
often left out of language education.
Cursing comes naturally. Cultural, social, and
technological shifts are reshaping linguistic norms,

(06:37):
blurring the already blurry lines between informal and
formal, private and public language.
Just consider the Aussie contributions to the July Oxford
English Dictionary updates. Expressions like to strain the
potatoes to urinate. No Wuckers and no wucking
theories from No Fucking Worries.
Swearing and vulgarity aren't just crass or abusive.

(07:00):
While they can be used harmfully, research consistently
shows they serve important commutative functions.
Colorful language builds rapport, expresses humor and
emotions, signals solidarity, and eases tension.
It's clear that swearing isn't just a bad habit that can be
easily kicked, like nail biting or smoking indoors.
Besides, history shows that telling people not to swear is

(07:22):
one of the best ways to keep swearing alive and well.
Well, how about that, you guys? Did you know there were 201 ways
to say F? Yeah.
I just didn't know what to say about that, but I had to share

(07:42):
it. Until next time.
She was sicker.