Diploma Thesis

MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
USAGE AND ORIGIN OF EXPLETIVES

IN BRITISH ENGLISH
DIPLOMA THESIS
BRNO 2006
SUPERVISED BY:
WRITTEN BY:
ANDREW PHILIP OAKLAND,

AKLAND, M.A.
HANA ECHOV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I should like to thank to Mr. Andrew Philip Oakland, M.A. for his
academic guidance and precious advice he provided me with and thus
helped to accomplish the following thesis.
I would also like to thank to Peter Martin Crossley for all his
patience and kind help.
BRNO, 20th APRIL 2006
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that I have worked on this undergraduate diploma

thesis on my own and that I have used only the sources listed in the
bibliography.
I also give consent to deposit this thesis at Masaryk University in
the library or the Informational system of the Faculty of Education and to
be made available for study purposes.
________________________
________________________
Hana ECHOV
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
............................................................................6
2. WHAT ARE EXPLETIVES?
................................................................ 9
2.1
EXPLETIVES IN GRAMMAR
2.2
EXPLETIVES AS A PART OF SOCIO-LINGUISTICS
3. WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?
................................................12
3.1
WHY DO WE SWEAR?
3.2
IS SWEARING A SIGN OF A WEAK MIND?
4. SWEARING IN HISTORICAL PERIODS

4.1
OLD ENGLISH
4.2
MIDDLE ENGLISH
4.3
THE REFORMATION
4.4
THE RENAISSANCE
4.5
MODERN PERIOD
............................................. 20
4.5.1
PYGMALION (1914)
4.5.2
LADY CHATTERLEYS LOVER (1928, 1960)
4.5.3
OTHER INCIDENTS (1965-2004)
5. SEMANTIC CATEGORIES AND SPEAKERS PREFERENCES ..................56

5.1
HEAVEN AND HELL
5.2
SEX/ BODY AND ITS FUNCTIONS
6. ETYMOLOGY OF SELECTED WORDS ..............................................63

6.1
THE F-WORD
6.2
THE C- WORD
7. BODY LANGUAGE
........................................................................67
8. RHYMING SLANG ...........................................................................71

9. RESEARCH
.................................................................................73
10. CONCLUSION
...............................................................................75
11. SUMMARY/ RESUM
..................................................................77
11.1 IN ENGLISH
11.2 IN CZECH
11. BIBLIOGRAPHY
12. APPENDICES
............................................................................ 79
.................................................................................81
APPENDIX 1-2
RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS CHARTS
APPENDIX 3 7
MALE PARTICIPANTS TABLES
APPENDIX 8 12 FEMALE PARTICIPANTS TABLES

APPENDIX 13
RESEARCH COMMENT
APPENDIX 14
SEMANTIC CATEGORIES AND PREFERENCES
APPENDIX 15
QUESTIONNAIRE
INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION
Expletives, taboo words, bad language, swear words - we all

know these expressions. Some of us use them freely, some of us do not
dare say them, and others tend to faint at the slightest act of profanity
while most of us pretend not to know and not to use them.
This work attempts to present the reader with a general outline
concerning the usage of English expletives, their etymology and
preferences that native speakers of British English make while, if in fact,
they use expletives.
I am perfectly aware of how delicate the selected topic is, as
bad language or taboo words this is how we often refer to expletives

would, by great efforts of many, be banned from the English language
corpus at once (see Chapter 4 Swearing in historical periods). On the
other hand, the actual usage of such disputable terminology by broad
range of speakers proves expletives to be active and I dare say
flourishing part of the language. Even though having been handled
seriously as a matter of socio-linguistic study it still brings out hesitancy
whether to be displayed in an open and public way.
As was already mentioned, expletives are widely used by native
speakers of a various background, education, faith, social status and
gender. The question remains why profanity thrives in some places and
is hardly heard in others. This ambivalent attitude towards the foul
INTRODUCTION
language will be a subject matter of this thesis, based on used literature,

London-Lund Corpus, BBC research Delete Expletives? (2000) and my
own research carried out in London (during summers 2004 and 2005.
See Chapter 9 and Appendices 3-13).
In the following chapters I would like to acquaint the reader
with etymologies of the most frequently used English expletives. As
many of them are taboo words, I am going to list English euphemisms
that are used to avoid speaking the words.
Not much to our surprise many of the words originate in
languages other than Old English or are regarded to be of an uncertain
origin. On the other hand many of them entered other languages mainly
via media such as the Internet, literature and last but not least via film.
I will also discuss those semantic fields or categories in which
expletives tend to occur. Regarded as blasphemy are those expressions
found in Heaven and Hell category, such as Gosh, Cor, blimey etc.,
usually preferred by female speakers according to London-Lund
Corpus.
Another semantic field, listed under Sex/Body functions,
predominantly used by male English speakers, deals with expletives
expressing functions of human body by replacing anatomic and
biological terms by those, say, incendiary ones.
Grammatical categories in which expletives appear are also part
of this work, illustrating morphological and syntactical forms and word
INTRODUCTION
formations. Syntactically, a word can, for example, make an appearance

in a sentence as a noun, an adjective, a verb, an adverb or most
commonly an interjection, and this with or without changing its
morphological form.
Hopefully, this thesis will not be seen as propaganda for
swearing but as an academic piece of writing regarding expletives as one
of many aspects comprising the English language as a whole.
Words viewed as especially offensive and vulgar are not spelled
in full unless they are quotations and I inclined to use the most common
form of showing expletives in the text which is in the asterisk form
where an initial letter is given and so is the suffix in cases of possible
confusion as to which word is actually hidden behind the signs or the
initial letter plus hyphen combination (F*** or F-word).
Also finding a decent and reliable linguistic source for this
rather unusual topic should be taken into account. There are many
articles, books and links concerning bad language but few of sufficiently
scientific and academic nature.
WHAT ARE EXPLETIVES?
2. WHAT ARE EXPLETIVES?

There are two linguistic phenomena in English language that are
referred to as expletives first of them being grammatical and the
second is a term of socio-linguistics.
2.1 EXPLETIVES IN GRAMMAR
The first usage of this term is the one for syntactic filler. The
position of the filler may be taken up by syllables, words or phrases and
by filling the sentence it adds nothing to its meaning. A typical example
is a dummy subject or preparatory it - as shown in:
It was clear, that she had made up her mind about what to do
with her life.

Preparatory it - occupies the place of the subject here and does
not affect the meaning of what is said in the following clause. The entry
is of Latin origin, from the word expltvus1- to fill out. However,
expletives are more common in the language of poetry where they either
From Late Latin expltvus, serving to fill out, from Latin expltus, past participle of
explre, to fill out : ex-, ex- + plre, to fill.

Source: CUSS CONTROL ACADEMY, [online]<http://www.cusscontrol.com/tips1.html>
20.2.2006
10
fill the meter or the sentence for flavour as in: It takes a brave man to
do such a thing.
2.2
EXPLETIVES AS A PART OF SOCIO-LINGUISTICS
So-called expletive attributive, the second usage of the above

mentioned term, is used in linguistics, closely socio-linguistics, to
describe syntactic filler with an attributive meaning and frequently
carrying a negative connotation. In this area we can find words such as
bloody, damn, f***ing, etc.
Within a sentence structure attributive expletive takes up a

position of a noun, an adjective, a verb, an adverb and an interjection.
An expletive in a place of - a noun:
He is an old git, isn t he?
- an adjective:
You bloody fools!
- a verb:
Stop f***in round, would ya?!
- an adverb:
It was bloody marvellous!
- an interjection: Oh Lord! Not her again!

Outside linguistics this term represents any bad language or
profanity used meaningfully or without any particular meaning to add
into the context. Famous quote including the term expletive Expletive
11
deleted appeared for example in Watergate2 tape transcripts to prevent

the committee from being shocked by these terms apparently having
been used by the speakers on the tapes, including the president Nixon
himself.
There are other, though, more common expressions generally
referring to English expletives such as: bad language, profanity,
swearwords, cursing, cussing, foul language, flyting, etc. Preceding
entries are defined in the subsequent chapter.
The Watergate Scandal (19721974) was an American political scandal and constitutional
crisis that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.
Wikipedia [online] < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal> 15.3.2006
WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?
3. WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

The phrase to use expletives actually means to swear. But
before I approach a polemic of why people swear, the term swearing itself
should be explained beforehand. Concise Oxford Dictionary for example
provides a following definition of swearing and related expressions:
swear3 2 use offensive language, especially to express anger.
profanity4 - profane language or behaviour
profane (of language) blasphemous or obscene
blasphemy5 - profane or sacrilegious talk about God or sacred
things
taboo6 (as in taboo words) prohibited or restricted by social custom
When attempting to create a more complex definition of swearing
compelling some parts of those mentioned above we might come to a
definition not dissimilar to one offered by Hughes7: ..swearing shows
a curious convergence of the high and the low, the sacred and the
3
Concise Oxford Dictionary. 10th Edition. OUP, 2001. p.1446. ISBN 0-19-860438-6.
HUGHES, G. Swearing. Penguin Books Ltd, 1998. p.4-5. ISBN 0-14-026707-7
12
13
profane. From the high dualistic perspective it is language in its most

highly charged state, infused with a religious force recognizable in the
remote modes of the spell, the charm and the curse, forms seeking to
invoke a higher power to change the world, or support the truthfulness
of a claim. However, a major shift has occurred in comparatively
recent times in that a quite different emphasis has become dominant.
The lower physical faculties of copulation, defecation and urination have
come very much to the force as referents in swearing.
It can be clearly deduced from the definition given above that
swearing has evolved and changed throughout particular periods of
time, from blasphemy being the most insulting and offensive, even
deadly in the past, to forms mainly referring to bodily functions which
have become the most frequent features of current foul language. It will
be dealt with this kind of division later on in Chapters 4 and 5. For now
the matter of our interest be the psychological reasons and explanations
for swearing, if there, of course, are any.
14
3.1 WHY DO WE SWEAR

Common definitions present us with following justifications for
using expletives: Used in highly emotional states, or highly charged
situations, expressing strong feelings, both positive or negative ones.
- Positive usage to show liking: It was a bloody good game!
- Negative usage to show dislike: She was absobloodylutely
terrified!
As we can see, taboo words do not accompany speakers only in
negative and unpleasant situations. Do expletives make up for lack of
adequate vocabulary to enable the speakers to express themselves
accordingly? Certainly there are many common and generally approved
expressions to retain the same meaning, so what is it that makes these
disputable words so unique and seemingly fitted? History of mankind
provides us with few neat examples of anything that had become
banished or illegal and popular or demanded at that very moment. So it
might be for the flavour (or in our times an aftertaste more so) of
illegality and even mysticism that makes expletives carry on living in
English speakers and of course speakers of other language as well. I am
not, by any means, implying that speakers of English are more profane
and vulgar than any other nation in the world. It is its current function as
a widely used Lingua Franca that puts its expletives more on display.
And being in the spotlight and thus dealt with openly, expletives of
15
English tend to enter other languages, both related and unrelated,

which, in the fact, raises eyebrows of many purists and linguists
worldwide.
3.2
IS USING EXPLETIVES A SIGN OF A WEAK MIND?
Assuredly, the fact that expletives are mostly short, one- or twosyllabic words (especially those of Germanic origin such as f***, sod
and others) makes them naturally available so to speak.
Can existence or non-existence of expletives in our active

vocabulary actually tell us anything about our mental abilities, though?
In the past, expletives were generally thought suitable only for
people of humble origin, lower classes and beggars. Rude words were
definitely not suited for young ladies and masters of good manners and
reputation. At those times, social status was an indication of mental and
moral qualities.
A classical example for many, Geoffrey Chaucer in his masterpiece
Canterbury tales8 (15th century) puts expletives mostly in mouths of
Chaucer,G. Canterbury Tales. Penguin Books Ltd., 1996. ISBN 0140622071
16
those who represent lower gentry, thus ordinary people, such as the
Pardoner or the Wife of Bath. Example provided:
Pardoners Tale: (c. f. verse 708-9)9
Any many a grisly ooth thanne han they sworn

And Cristes blessed body they al torente.
His words could be vaguely translated as: And by many grisly oaths they
tore Christ s holy body into pieces. In other words Chaucer despises
swearing but as a man of letters he cannot deny its existence.
On the other hand, as though Chaucer himself felt a little
embarrassed about using such language he apologizes for that matter in
the Prologue to Canterbury tales (verses 725-42):
725: But first I pray yow, of youre curteisye,
726: That ye n' arette it nat my vileynye,
727: Thogh that I pleynly speke in this mateere,
728: To telle yow hir wordes and hir cheere,
729: Ne thogh I speke hir wordes proprely.
730: For this ye knowen al so wel as I,
731: Whoso shal telle a tale after a man,
732: He moot reherce as ny as evere he kan
Chaucer,G. Canterbury Tales. Penguin Books Ltd., 1996. ISBN 0140622071
733: Everich a word, if it be in his charge,

734: Al speke he never so rudeliche and large,
735: Or ellis he moot telle his tale untrewe,
736: Or feyne thyng, or fynde wordes newe.
737: He may nat spare, althogh he were his brother;
738: He moot as wel seye o word as another.
739: Crist spak hymself ful brode in hooly writ,
740: And wel ye woot no vileynye is it.
741: Eek plato seith, whoso that kan hym rede,
742: The wordes moote be cosyn to the dede.
I would like to explain his words as:
725: But first I pray for your courtesy
That you will not consider me vulgar
Even though I speak plainly about this matter here
To retail their words and deeds
I do not use their exact words
But you know as well as me
That when telling a story other man had told
I must be as truthful as I can
Even the last word if I remember it
No matter how rude or unfit it was
..
17
18
Christ spoke broadly himself in Holly Writ (the Bible)

And you know that there is nothing wrong with it
Also Plato says to those who can read
The word must be a cousin of a deed.
Chaucer is aware of the fact that to purify language by

pretending such expressions do not exist would be untrue. His aim is to
depict the existing society in its real colours without tinting it pink.
People are what they are and Chaucer respects them and asks for the
same attitude from his readers. Also the way his characters speak
reflects the way they live and behave. Word is a cousin of a deed. Shall
we accept his claim that swearing is in our true nature? Are we as a race
naturally rude? The truth be told, words themselves cannot cause any
offence because they are only referents. The deeds, actions or facts they
refer to, together with our common, shared knowledge of things being
referred to, is what makes them so incendiary and disputable. By
condemning expletives we basically condemn actions hidden behind
them. Such expressions of personal disapproval aggravate the actual
impact on our listener. Had they not known what the word stands for,
they could hardly find them offensive or irritating.
My own research (cf. Chapter 9) shows that there is a significant
difference in our rate of tolerance towards expletives in particular
situations. Interviewees unanimously reported that using expletives to
19
release tension, express fury and personal discomfort is acceptable,

whereas using them to demonstrate the real nature of these items
which is to mock, to insult, to humiliate, to dismay, to savage, to scorn
or to disrespect others - is socially and morally wrong.
Another interesting fact resulting from my research shows that
unlike in past times when swearing was ascribed to uneducated people
many of them wrongly accused of being unintelligent (we know that
intelligence comprises of more e.g. social and emotional intelligencethan just knowledge gained through education itself) in our times
educated people tend to swear more then those with low or no education
whatsoever (cf. Chapter 9) denying the generally spread and approved
opinion among many that only weak minds lack vocabulary to express
themselves adequately.
To conclude, people of different classes, status and education
use expletives in different emotional states. This sort of behaviour is
generally more or less acceptable as long as their surge is not directed
towards another person and does not offend.
SWEARING IN HISTORICAL PERIODS
20
4. SWEARING IN HISTORICAL PERIODS
The human race has been evolving and so has been its mean of
communication - the language and its constituents including swearing.
Not only the societal attitudes towards swearing but also the actual
linguistic material itself changed. Hughes10 claims that swearing now
encompasses many different forms and in the past times people used to
swear by, whereas nowadays they mostly swear at - meaning of which I

would like to exemplify by providing phrases containing a verb to swear
and a preposition:
- swear by sth or sb: to show that what/who we swear by is of high

value to us and thus that our words are true
He swore by his mothers life.
- swear that: something is so
He swore that he was innocent.
- swear to do sth: means to promise to do sth
He swore to love her till the end of his life.
10
HUGHES, G. Swearing. Penguin Books Ltd, 1998. p.4. ISBN 0-14-026707-7
21
- swear sb in/ into sth: to make them promise to do sth

The president was sworn into office.
- swear on sth: similar to swear by
Witnesses swore on the Bible to tell the truth, nothing but the
truth.
- swear at sb or sth: to use offensive and rude language in order to

hurt or insult sb or to show anger and exasperation
He was often heard swearing at the government.
4.1
SWEARING IN OLD ENGLISH

By the term Old English is generally understood a period of
Anglo-Saxon English which could be framed between 600 -1200 AD

ending the era of Roman Britain. Angles, Saxons, Frisians and Jutes came
from the area of today Germany and during the 5th and 6th century these
Germanic tribes settled on what is known to us now as the British Isles. A
term related to our matter of interest - curse - originates in this period
as an Anglo-Saxon entry curs in the meaning of imprecatory prayer or
malediction.11 At present to curse is akin to to swear in having both
11
Panikon [online] < http://www.panikon.com/phurba/articles/lang/curse.html>

11.1.2006
22
meanings: to swear an oath or to use foul language. By tracing either of

these meanings in OE literature I would like to emphasize their primary
meaning of maledictions12 interpreted as speaking evil of.
The most prominent literary achievements of Old English Era are
undoubtedly a heroic poem Beowulf, and lyrical elegies the Wanderer
and the Seafarer preserved in a manuscript named Cotton Vitellius A.XV.

For example in Beowulf epos, written approximately in the 10th
century depicting a story of a Scandinavian warrior of the 6th century
AD, the term "swear" would hardly interest us here, were it not used in
the sense of curse or maleficiate here. Following the Seamus Heaney
translation13, we read of Grendel that "He had conjured the harm from
the cutting edge of every weapon." The operative word of the text (line
804, translated as "conjured" by Heaney) is "forsworen," which could be
glossed with "forswerian - to rob of power by a spell" and thus only a
step to forsworen to commit perjury as in to forswear that is a
common entry in modern English. Clearly deduced swearing or originally
Anglo-Saxon sweran in OE period retains its original connotation of
calling upon magic powers of any kind, either pagan or later Christian, in
order to make a promise or on oath to swear by - rather than causing
an insult - to swear at.
12
13
HEANEY, S. Beowulf. W W Norton & Co Inc, 2001.ISBN 0393320979.
As for the modern swearwords, some of the most frequent ones

came to existence in Anglo-Saxon times. However, not all four-letter
words are exclusively of Anglo-Saxon origin, Hughes claims.14 On
etymological and historical basis it proves to be true only for the main
anal terms: (note an abbreviation c. stands for circa around, around
the year of the earliest recorded instances):
- shit c.1000 - an excrement, or faeces
- turd c.1000 - a synonym word to a shit
- arse c.1000 a human bottom
- fart c.1200 to break wind
Hughes marks some of the other four-letter expressions as ones
of uncertain origin15:
- F-word c.1503 sexual intercourse
- C-word c.1203 female sexual organs
- twat - female sexual organs no first official record
- bum bottom no first official record
- hore a whore a prostitute no official record
- crap c.1490 -an excrement residue from renderings, dregs of
beer or ale, ME crappe from Latin crappa meaning chaff
14
15
23
24
Another fact worth pointing out is a legal punishment for

swearing. The Anglo-Saxon law, claimed to be very rigorous when
dealing with swearing, clearly states that:
If anyone in anothers house calls a man a perjurer or shamefully

accosts him with insulting words, he is to pay a shilling to him who owns
the house, and six shilling to him whom he spoke that word, and to pay
twelve shillings to the King. (Laws of Hlothhere and Eadric, kings of Kent,
673-85?) II.16
An infamous collision between Christianity, allegedly brought to
England in the 6th century AD by a monk St. Augustine, and old
Germanic tradition of worshiping pagan gods could be seen in many
literary pieces of evidence, e.g. in already mentioned Beowulf. A story of
a pagan warrior even resorting to devil worship (line 175-80) when
unable to defeat a monster Grendel seen from the perspective of a likely
Christian narrator hundreds of years later is a typical example of a
strange co-existence of two dissimilar faiths. And so are the laws. In
Alfreds Laws (900 AD) swearing is constrained by:
Do not swear by heathen gods 17
16
17
25
Incidentally this comes some 300 years after peoples of England were
officially converted into Christians.
Though Anglo-Saxon era was undoubtedly full of contradictions
and conflicts, there were a few phenomena worth respecting whether it
was out of duty imposed by the strict laws or morality forced by the
Church. And these much-prized virtues are: recognizing a vital, almost
sacred, link between words and deeds and being cautious before venting
feelings or emotions in an unacceptable way. An instance being a
formula often repeated in the Wanderer:
A wise man must be patient, not over-passionate, nor overhasty of speech. (verse 65)18
4.2
SWEARING IN MIDDLE ENGLISH
The great force behind most medieval swearing was

Christianity. An astounding volume of religious asseveration,
ejaculation, blasphemy, anathema and cursing, both personal and
institutional, fraudulent and genuine, poured forth in the course of
Middle Ages. The word of God, so signally absent from the older heroic
18
26
asseverations, was used and abused, elevated, debased and distorted

as never before. The sacred was made profane. 19
The Middle Ages comprise the period from 1200 to 1500 AD

approximately, beginning by the Norman Conquest of England in 1066
by Duke William II of Normandy, on the basis of which, he became later
called William the Conqueror. This brought significant changes into the
society with Normans becoming the ruling class of England and French
becoming the language of the court.
As the above mentioned quote suggests, blasphemy
language showing low or no respect for God or religion, represents the
most serious and aggravating form of foul language however bizarre
and grotesque it may seem.
Our modern genital, incestuous and copulatory swearing
would very probably cause less agony in Middle Ages whereas religious
swearing had a much greater impact on medieval people than it would
have or has on us. So-called sexual swearing is practically non existent in Chaucer as Hughes20 states.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, a 14th century
collection of poems and prose, provides us with a genuine social and
19
20
27
linguistic sample. For that reason it has been a matter of study for
many linguists for its vernacular heritage.
Chaucer invented a frame story of a pilgrimage to Sir
Thomas Becketts shrine at Canterbury Cathedral. A current AngloNorman society is depicted via various literary genres fabliaux, fable,
romance, sermon - by a member of each class and thus a language
register and narrative style of each pilgrim varies from the rest of the
company.
As was already mentioned sexual swearing does not appear
in Canterbury tales even though swear words in this era are abundant,
as we shall see a little later. On the other hand, there are numerous
instances of religious swearing or blasphemy despite the fact that
pilgrims are devout Christians and thus obeying the Ten
Commandments, especially a commandment no.3 which says:
"Thou shall not swear falsely by the name of the Lord...".
Taking the name of the God in vain is perceived as a sin in the

Middle Aged society nevertheless Chaucers characters swear
indiscriminately. They provide the whole gamut of oaths and religious
abuse.
Several quotes to exemplify the above claimed:
21
21
Boise State University [online] <http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/hy309/docs/chaucer/lawyert.html>
12.1.2006
Lawyers Tale:
. And all this voice said truth, as God is true...
Unto the Cross of Jesus thus said she:

"O bright, O blessed Altar of my choice,
Red with the Lamb's blood full of all pity
..
Fie, mannish women! Nay, by God, I lie!
..O Lady bright, to Whom affliction cries,

Thou glory of womanhood, O Thou fair May.
The Friars Tale:
.Without an order, and an ignorant man,

Yet would he summon, on pain of Christ's curse
.In God's name," said this yeoman then, "dear brother.
.Many thanks," said this summoner, "by my faith!"
And they struck hands and made their solemn oath
To be sworn brothers till their dying day.
."Alas!" cried she, "God knows I have no guilt!"
28
."Twelvepence!" cried she, "Our Lady Holy Mary

So truly keep me out of care and sin,
The Second Nuns Tale:
Some teardrops from his two eyes he let fallAlmighty Lord, O Jesus Christ," said he,
.."O Christ, God's Son, Whose substance is the same,
Thou'rt very God, and blessed be Thy name,
Who hast so good a servant Thee to serve;
This with one voice we say, nor will we swerve."
Without any exaggeration we could find many other numerous
examples of how popular swearing was in Chaucers time. There were
other popular blasphemic invocations of God, his son Jesus Christ,
Christs blood, body and Crucifixion, and Mary, Mother of Jesus:
- Holy Mother Mary!
- Our Lady!
- By God that sits above!
- By Goddes Corpus! Etc.
29
30
Personalized and sexual swearing makes its appearance in the

language corpus as well. Areas or personal referents22 such as age (e.g.
Old!), status (e.g. Lousy!), intelligence or unintelligence (e.g. Fool!) came

into a centre of attention even though they are utterly secular.
Some Anglo-Saxon words deteriorated in meaning and became to
be used as terms for personal abuse or opprobrium severe criticism.
Hughes23 lists several of these opprobrious words which all gained its
negative connotation by 15th century: wretch, churl, knave, villein,
beggar, rascal, scullion.
I further illustrate the semantic shift in meaning from Anglo-Saxon
(A-S) to the Middle English (ME) usage in some of these words:24
- wretch - A-S wrecca an exile
-ME - a wretch an unpleasant person
- wretched - unpleasant and extremely annoying
- churl - A-S ceorl a man, but also a prince, a hero

ME - a churl - a peasant, a miser
- knave
knave A-S cnapa or cnafa a male child, male servant
- ME a knave a dishonest and immoral person
22
23
24
note: definitions partly taken from the Oxford Concise Dictionary
31
- villain A-S villanus a servant in a villa

- ME a villan an evil person
- wicked A-S wicca a witch

- ME - wicked- evil or morally wrong
- rascal
rascal A-S rascaille a noisy group of people
- ME a rascal mischievous person or a child
- a dishonest man
The changes described above could also serve as an outline of
A-S versus Norman relationship when the ruling class was corrupting a
language of those inferior to them as a mean of demonstrating power
over them.
The efflorescence of swearing at that time brought about once

again a strong legal opposition. In ME it consisted of two possible forms.
Form one being a judicial punishment while form two being an
ecclesiastical denunciation public criticism. If you happen to swear
within the precinct area - of the royal residence then the Norman law
obliges you to pay: 40 shillings when a duke
20 shillings when a lord
10 shillings a squire
32
3 shillings a yeoman
whipping for a page
A more drastic opinion on what to do with loose tongues (c.1270):
Swearers should be branded (marked) upon the face with a hot

iron for a perpetual memorial of their crime, and later on, indeed,
ordained that they should be set in a public place in the high
stocks.25
4.3
SWEARING IN THE REFORMATION

The reformation, or the Protestant Reformation, was a
European movement which emerged in the 16th century, a Tudor or

Humanist Era, as a series of attempts to reform the strict and some
thought obsolete doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.
In England it resulted in the establishment of the Church of England with
the Tudor monarch Henry VIII as its head. The Church of England was
separate from and independent of Rome. The official separation was
accomplished in 1534 by passing the Act of Supremacy.
Reformists from all over Europe such as Martin Luther, John
Wycliff, Erasmus Roterodamus, John Hus and others triggered the 16th
century reformation. Their common ground was a redefinition of God
25
MONTAGU, A. The Anatomy of Swearing. Macmillan, 1973. p.111. ISBN 0812217640.
33
and religious authority as such and a requirement to make religion more

emotional and fervent. Hence the ideology of Humanism and
Devotionalism - Gods will cannot be changed. The puritan ideology,
however, and the attitude of the king regarding swearing was a little
ambiguous to say the least. Ryrie26 says on this subject matter:
Given Henry VIIIs fondness for imposing oaths on his subject,

this was controversial enough. .Some compared oaths to homicide.
Magistrate might lawfully require oaths but only from the same Godgiven authority which permits magistrates lawfully to kill and to require
others to do so. Swearing is no more permitted for the private citizen
than murder.
Reformation brought about a whole sectarian boom. Later on for
example, the Puritan movement emerged during the reign of the Queen
Elizabeth (1558-1603) and there were puritans willing to risk their own
life for the sake of their belief, states Erroll Hulse:27
Almost all the Puritans preached consecutive expository sermons

and so covered every subject in the Bible. But they were prepared to
break with this method whenever it was necessary. A town was invaded
26
RYRIE, A. The Gospel and Henry VIII: Evangelicals in the Early English Reformation, CUP,
2003.p.77 ISBN: 0521823439

27
Fire and Ice, Puritan and reformed writing
[online] <http://www.puritansermons.com/banner/hulse1.htm> 11.10.2005
34
by . soldiers. These soldiers behaved very badly. Part of their bad

behaviour was swearing and cursing. The minister of that town was a
Puritan by name Robert Harris. He preached a sermon on James 5:12:
Above all, my brothers, do not swear - not by heaven or by earth or by
anything else. Let your Yes be Yes, and your No, No, and you will not be
condemned. This was so effective and so convicted the uncouth soldiers
that they threatened to shoot Harris if he preached from that text again.
Fearlessly the next Sunday he announced as his text James 5:12 and
began to expound! He saw one of the soldiers preparing his gun ready to
shoot him. But the soldier was restrained and did not have the courage
to shoot the preacher. The belief in following biblical ethics in all matters
cost the Puritans very dearly. In the worship of God they were not
prepared to compromise by submitting to rules made by men or formed
by tradition.
Also Christian was longer a synonym for a brother in faith or a
fellow. Followers of Roman Catholic Church became rivals and even
enemies. The hatred generated a vocabulary connected with Christianity
for religious abuse. John Bale, a Bishop of Ossory called his Catholic
opponents:
..fylthie whoremongers, murtheres, thieves, raveners,

idolatours, lyars, dogges, swyne. and very devils incarnate.28
Compared to a Catholic point of view:
Whereas Christian attitude towards other religions was

uncomplicatedly chauvinistic (believing that their religion is better than
others) calling their adherents simply heathens, pagans.29
According to Hughes30 we could divide these old new abusive
anti Catholic expressions into following categories:
- earlier xenophobic terms:
- a saracen formal meaning an Arab
- a Mohammedan formal meaning of a muslim
- iconographic terms:
- idol
dol
- image/picture
- saint
28
BENNET, H.S. English Books and Readers. CUP, 1952. p.73. ISBN 0521379911
29
30
HUGHES, G. Swearing. Penguin Books Ltd, 1998. p.92 -94. ISBN 0-14-026707-7
35
36
As this might be confusing for some, I will demonstrate on a

quote: One Rood (cross) with Marie and John and the rest of such idolles
was burnt,31 is what we learnt in an inventory of destruction when

iconoclastic frenzy seized England and monasteries were being dissolved
during 1530s and 1540s under Henry VIII.
- terms relating to the Pope and Rome:
- papist/ popish/ popery/ papistical/papistic
papistical/papistic
- Romish
- PopePope-holy meaning hypocritical
- popeing soliciting money
- terms of demonology and animals
- antichrist
- devil
An interesting fact is that terms for minor religious sects such as
Quakers, Shakers, Presbyterians, Methodists, Non-conformists used
neutrally today originated as words of an ironic and abusive character at
the time.
31
37
I am not implying that only religious profanities flourished in this

period. Some completely secular swearwords occurred as well:
- merkin (c.1535) female pudendum (genitals)
- bugger (c.1555) a sodomite
- former meaning a heretic
A bugger used to denote a person of a different opinion against
the principles of a particular religion a heretic. In the Tudor era,
however, its meaning changed to a sodomite, or a person practising
bestiality and it was at that time when a Buggery Act32 was adopted in
1533. Until this point sex crimes such as a rape or adultery were ignored
by the codes. If caught when practising any of the sexually deviant
forms, the person could be lawfully hanged. The penalty was not finally
lifted until 1861.
4.4
SWEARING IN THE RENAISSANCE
The English Renaissance dates back to the early 16th till the early
17th century AD unlike in the rest of the Europe where this cultural and
artistic movement predates. It is sometimes referred to as the
32
Wikipedia, [online] < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buggery_Act_1533> 15.2.2006
38
Elizabethan Era or the Age of Shakespeare. An era of great names poets such as John Milton, Edmund Spencer, philosophers Sir Thomas
More, Sir Francis Bacon and last but not least the playwrights
Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare.
The Renaissance marks the end of the Tudor dynasty and
witnesses a succession of the Stuart dynasty. Queen Elizabeth I. famous
for her patronage and support for the theatre houses deserves a major
credit for the fundamental language advancement, going hand in hand
with an increase of profanities. Elizabeth herself was known as no
stranger to a good mouth-filling oath.33

A shocking practice seems to have been rendered fashionable by
the Queen.for it is said that she never spared an oath in public speech
or in private conversation when she thought it added energy to either.34
Queens penchant for swearing was thus in a sharp contrast with
restraints her government was attempting to impose. In 1574 an
institution called Master of Revels a name contradictory to its role to
censor all the plays prior to the public viewing. Any profanity or state
insults were banished from staging.
33
34
Hughes35 explains that it was only in James reign when the Act
to Restraine Abuses of Players finally passed through both the Houses

in 1606. Offence of any kind would cost the company tenne pounds, a
fine big enough to make the company go bankrupt. This provoked a
wave of exuberant creativity in playwrights. So called minced oath, as
Oxford English Dictionary refers to them, came to existence to
circumvent the censorship. Following examples are listed by Hughes:36
- sblood 1598 Shakespeare, Henry IV., - God s blood
- slid
- 1598 Shakespeare, Merry Wives Gods Eyelid
- slife
- Gods life
- sfoot - Gods foot

- zounds/zoons/zauns Gods wounds
And the most peculiar one:
- slidikins Gods little eyelids
The subsequent page serves as an instance of an extraordinary
and a very unusual way to offend:
37
- you venomed, crook-pated puttock

35
36
37
Sam I am [online] <http://www.sam-i-am.com/play/expletives.htm> 1.9.2005
39
- you mewling, swag-bellied codpiece

- you roguish, tickle-brained lout
- you goatish, idle-headed dewberry
- you paunchy, milk-livered strumpet
- you puking, urchin-snouted measle
- you surly, beetle-headed coxcomb
- you loggerheaded, rump-fed pumpion
- you clouted, common-kissing giglet
- you currish, knotty-pated minnow
- you puny, dismal-dreaming flax-wench
- you roguish, half-faced horn-beast
- you jarring, hell-hated hugger-mugger
- you wayward, fen-sucked flax-wench
- you infectious, beef-witted haggard
- you beslubbering, elf-skinned gudgeon
- you cockered, plume-plucked canker-blossom
- you reeky, boil-brained flap-dragon
- you droning, spur-galled dewberry
- you warped, dismal-dreaming wagtail
- you venomed, knotty-pated maggot-pie
40
It is not the words themselves but the peculiar combination of

rather unpleasant and unconventional images that creates the final
insulting effect and at the same times emphasizes an enormous
creativity and fantasy used to offend without using expletives at all.
Elizabethan prominent dramatist William Shakespeare was a
master in disguising expletives either by using other languages, mostly
French and Latin, or ever so well by using puns, euphemisms and coded
evasions. Of course it is impossible to demonstrate Shakespeare s
talent in full but let us study some of his pieces:
- Hamlet:
Hamlet Hamlet: Lady, shall I lie in your lap:
Ophelia: No, my lord.

Hamlet: I mean, my head upon your lap?
Ophelia: Ay, my lord.
Hamlet: Do you think I meant country matters?
Ophelia: I think nothing, my lord.
Hamlet: Thats a fair thought to lie between maids
legs.
Ophelia: What is, my lord?
Hamlet: Nothing. (Act III.ii. 120-129)
Interpretation Hughes38 offers for the term Nothing is that it

represents a sexual pun on an O thing meaning female genitals.
38
41
42
The next examples are more explicit ones and do not require any
explanation:
- Richard III.:
III. The slave of nature and the son of hell!
Thou slender of thy mothers womb!

Thou loathed issue of thy fathers loins!
Thou rag of honour! (Act I. iii 230-233)
- Hamlet:
Hamlet
What an ass am I! This is most brave,

That I, the son of a dear father murderd
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing like a very drab,
A scullion! (Act II. Ii.619-24)
Let me explain the last quote of Hamlets lament, the usage of

two actually very offensive expletives: a whore (see 4.1) and a drab
and a word a scullion. The first two are basically synonyms, both
referring to a prostitute.
- a drab39 - origin C16
- a slovenly woman or a prostitute
- a scullion40 - a servant assigned the most menial kitchen task
39
40
43
How was it possible for Shakespeare to get away with using

expletives of such strength without being persecuted? The answer is
simple really, as long as his plays were not blasphemous or antimonarchist, which was the main concern of the censorship, other
swearwords that seem very strong and offensive to us were practically
tolerated.
With stringent regulations of the period, Hughes sees41 the last

hope for swearing in so called flyting.
flyting It became a popular pastime of the
period especially in the North of the country, namely Scotland. It would
be hardly surprising not knowing that Scotland was a country with a
vehement tradition against swearing.42 Encyclopaedia Brittanica offers a

following definition:
(Scots: quarreling, or contention), poetic competition of the
Scottish makaris (poets) of the 15th and 16th centuries, in which two
highly skilled rivals engaged in a contest of verbal abuse, remarkable for
its fierceness and extravagance. Although contestants attacked each
other spiritedly, they actually had a professional respect for their rival's
vocabulary of invective. The tradition seems to have derived from the
41
42
44
Gaelic filid (class of professional poets), who composed savage tirades

against persons who slighted them.43
Hughes jokingly defines flyting as A fine art of savage insult.44
Typical examples of flyting could be found in the famous writing
The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy (c.1503). 500 line long. Poet William
Dunbar was a Master of Arts and a Franciscan monk and a recipient of
royal pension and Walter Kennnedy was also a highly admired poet with
an academic education and royal blood in his veins. The piece contains
highly sophisticated language alongside with evil imprecations, not
dissimilar to the ones of Shakespeare.
Provoking opening itself:45

Kennedy: Dirtin (filthy) Dumbar (a pun - dum)
Further:
Kennedy: Fantastik fule (fool)..
Ignorant elfe, aip, owl irregular
43
Encyclopaedia Britannica [online] < http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9034708 > 15.2.2006
44
45
CRAWFORD, R. The New Penguin Book of Scottish Verse.Trafalgar Square, 2001. ISBN: 014058711X
45
Skaldit (scabby) skaitbird and common skamelar

(sponger, parasite)
Wan fukkit funling (ill-conceived foundling)
Dunbar fights back:

Dunbar: Cuntbitten crawdon
Of course there were other oral battles or contests fought in

flyting, amongst many the one in which King James V. insulted Sir David
Lindsay (a knight and a writer) and vice versa.
4.4
SWEARING IN MODERN PERIOD
Several centuries later and still-existing swearing rises eyebrows

of public and critics. Only the royal laws and restrictions changed into
radio and television regulations representing a censorship of 20th and
21st century. It would be impossible to try and analyse every single case
of using swearwords and foul language in our times, as swearing is
practically omnipresent. We already know that Kings and Queens used to
swear, just as modern rulers presidents do. Playwrights of the past
swore on stage and it appears modern writers are fond of swearing too
46
because causing public upheaval by spicing up they works automatically

attracts attention and brings in popularity.
Let us look into several cases of trespassing on public tolerance

some of them jibing more than once:
- G. B. Shaws Pygmalion staging (London 1914)

- DH Lawrences Lady Chatterleys Lover (1928, 1960)
- F-word said by Kenneth Tynan on BBC (1965)
- Watergate affair (1972)
- Sex Pistols banned from TV for saying the F-word in the teatime (1976)
- David Hockney uses the C- word on TV (1981)
- Princess Anne saying Naff off! to the press (1982)
- Prince Charles used the expression bloody in public (1989)
- John Lydon uses the C-word in front of millions (2004)
4.5.1 PYGMALION
When on April 11, 1914 at His Majesty's Theatre in London

during the first staging of George Bernard Shaws Pygmalion his character a Covent Garden flower girl Eliza Dolittle inflamed the audience by
uttering:
47
Walk! Not bloody likely. I am going in a taxi

an actress Mrs. Campbell was allegedly risking her career by saying bloody
on stage. The performance was preceded by its Austrian premiere given by
the same playgroup in English the year before.
On the night of the English premiere the Daily Sketch greeted the
readers with:46
TONIGHTS PYGMALION IN WHICH MRS

PATRICK CAMPBELL IS EXPECTED TO
CAUSE THE BIGGEST THEATRICAL
SENSATION FOR MANY YEARS
One word in Shaws new play will cause sensation.
Mr. Shaw introduces a certain forbidden word.
WILL MRS PATRICK CAMPBELL SPEAK IT?
Has the censor stepped in or will the word spread?
If he does not forbid it, then anything might happen!
And subsequently the headlines alluded: Shaws bald bad
word, the unprintable swearword, the langwidge of the flower girl or
the theatre to be boycotted.
Shaw himself commented the story as:
I do not know anything more ridiculous than the refusal of some

newspapers (at several pages length) to print the word bloody, which is in
46
48
common use as an expletive by four-fifths of the English nation, including

many highly-educated persons.47
Whereas the reaction of press is always a bit of an overstatement,
the audience seems to be more welcoming. The London audience reacted
by a few seconds of stunned disbelieving silence and then by a hysterical
laughter for at least a minute and a quarter.
48
And across the ocean:
The Americans were not in the least offended by The Word,

regarding it as a charming and delightful piece of English slang.49
4.5.2 LADY CHATTERLEYS LOVER
DH Lawrence published his controversial book Lady Chatterleys
Lover privately in 1928 in Italy and unlike Shaw, it took another three
decades for Lawrences book to be published in Britain. (1960)
The basis for scandal here was much broader than in the case of
Pygmalion. Firstly the novel depicts an adulterous relationship a
working- class male and a bourgeois female and further in the famous
Chapter 14 the author explicitly depicts a sex scene using the F-word, fed, f-ing and the C-word several times.
47
48
49
49
When it was published in Britain in 1960 the book was sold out in
thousands but the Penguin Books publishing house was taken to court
under the Obscene Publication Act. The trial took six days the Old Bailey
court and it literally fascinated nation. The defence called in many
important witnesses, including clergy, writers and critics, to prove that
the work was of literary merit. The prosecuting counsel Mervyn GriffithJones shocked the jury and ridiculed herself by asking: "Is it a book you
would wish your wife or servants to read?" The verdict was not guilty
which resulted in much greater freedom for publishers and author and
the trial became as a precedent in the future.
4.5.3 OTHER INCIDENTS

On 13 November1965, during a live debate broadcast on BBC,
Kenneth Peacock Tynan, a controversial and renowned National Theatre
critic, commenting on the subject of censorship, said:
"I doubt if there are any rational people to whom the word "fuck"
would be particularly diabolical, revolting or totally forbidden." 50

The occasion marked the first time the word F*** was used on
British television. For this incident, the BBC produced a formal apology.
50
Wikipedia [online] < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Tynan> 15.2.2006
50
The House of Commons signed four separate censuring motions signed

by 133 Labour Party and Conservative backbenchers. Mary Whitehouse, a
frequent critic of the BBC over issues of "morals and decency," wrote a
letter to the Queen, suggesting that Tynan "ought to have his bottom
spanked".
51This
episode summarily cut short Tynan's television career.
For more on Watergate affair (1972) see Chapter 2.2.
In December 1976 the Sex Pistols, an influential British punk

band, appeared on the Today show, on a former the Thames television
in the teatime, where the host Bill Grundy provoked the band by
demanding: Say something outrageous. The immediate response came
from the vocalist Steve Jones:
You dirty bastardYou dirty fucker.What a fucking rotter!52
The television was deluged with complaints. Sex Pistols were

banned from the broadcasting and allegedly one irate lorry driver put his
foot through his television in disgust. The Sex Pistols concerts in their
Anarchy UK tour were mostly cancelled and those that were not
cancelled ended in public riots or were dissolved by local authorities.
51
52
Wikipedia [online] < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Tynan> 15.2.2006

Sex Pistols Diary [online] <http://www.rockmine.music.co.uk/Pistols/SexDates.html> 15.04.2006
51
The Press turned hostile against a so far very popular band and the Daily
Mirror ran the headline calling them The Filth and the Fury.
The host Bill Grundy was suspended for two weeks and the whole
programme was cancelled in two months due to the public upheaval it
caused.
Even parents of the musicians became influenced by the public
disgust. Mother of the drummer Paul Cook told The Daily Mail that Steve
was no longer welcome at home and that she was going to turn his
bedroom into a dining room.
Only five years had gone since the Sex pistols ban when a British
Pop artist David Hockney use the C- word in 1981 on the South Bank
show, talking about Piccassos painting as the painter was looking
directly at his models c***.

According to the Guardian the television comment was:
We received two phone calls of complaint. No action was

deemed necessary by the powers that be at ITV. The audience was
between 1.5 and 2 million.53
As was at the beginning of this chapter, we saw the Kings and

Queens swearing in the past and in our times we can also find some of
the royal members using expletives as a part of their active word stock.
53
Guardian Unlmited [online] < http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,1142065,00.html> 12.04.2006
52
Princess Royal, know better as the princess Anne, the only daughter of
HM Queen Elizabeth II., is supposed to have said: Naff off! to the press
as they snapped her taking a ducking from her mount at the Badminton
Horse Trials in 1982. It is believed that she had a different phrase on her
mind. But even if she did not the origin of naff off is more than
interesting:
- naff off54 - an adjective and means inferior, tatty,
contemptible or useless.
- became popular after Ronnie Barker used it lot in
Porridge, a 70s sitcom from UK.

- possibly from Australian nasty as f***
Also Princess Annes brother - Prince Charles, the British Heir

Apparent, is alleged to have said that English so taught so bloody badly
with no major objections of the public.
Though the first scripted use of 'C-word' on television - the first
time its use was premeditated by a broadcaster - was in the ITV drama
No Mama No:
- "What did he say?"
-"He said your Dr Cawston is a cunt" (1979).
54
Everything2 [online] < http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=434399l> 12.04.2006
Other time the C-word was aired on television Channel 4 in Irvine

Welsh s drama The Granton Star Cause in 1996 and the author himself
comments: To C4's credit, there was never any question of censorship,
nor gleeful anticipation of a controversy. Just as with John Lydon's

remarks on I'm a Celebrity... , not many people bothered.
When we say the C-word offends us the most, I think we feel it should
vex us more than it actually does. If used in its traditional way, purely as
an insult, it usually will cause offence. But only the most soulless of
stuffed shirts could be offended by John Lydon's affectionate jibe at the
British reality-TV voting public.55
The most recent incident Welsh was referring to was when John
Lydon, known as Johnny Rotten a former lead singer of the Sex Pistols,
used the C-word in front of millions in 2004 on the prime time reality
show called Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.
The media watchdog OFCOM (a super regulator, abbreviation
stands for Office of communication), received only 96 complaints from
audience believed to range around nine million viewers, after the singer
swore on TV. ITV channel immediately apologised and the regulator said
it would not face any more action.
55
Guardian Unlmited [online] < http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,1142065,00.html> 13.04.2006
53
54
"Viewers were aware that this was a live programme, featuring

John Lydon in the Australian bush," Ofcom said.
56
To summarise the preceding facts, the tolerance towards bodily

swearwords such as F-word and C-word has increased recently whereas
words that are not accepted as politically correct but otherwise not
viewed as swearwords as were used without restraints in the past
decades (e.g. spastic, Paki, nigger), are regarded as very offensive by
both authorities and the public. As for the blasphemy and religious
swearing there is no legal restriction in our times compared to previous
periods as we could see in Chapter 4.
56
BBC News [online] < http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3548041.stm> 13.04.2006
SEMANTIC CATEGORIES AND SPEAKERS PREFERENCES
5. SEMANTIC CATEGORIES AND SPEAKERS PREFERENCES
According to semantics, expletive repertoire in English could be

derived from two distinct semantic fields:
heaven and hell
- sex/body and its functions
We are exploring both of them further also from the speakers point of
view regarding severity and causing offence.
5.1 HEAVEN AND HELL
Into the semantic category called Heaven and hell belong words
related to God, including euphemisms or corrupted forms to avoid
blasphemy - seen as a deadly sin by Christians, and also expletives
referring to devil or evil and also means of expressing damnation. The
data based on London-Lund Corpus of Spoken English or the Quirk
Corpus57 support Stenstroms claim and also my survey results that
male and female speakers tend to use expletives of different semantic
fields. Whereas men swear in expletives related to hell and body, female
57
Stenstrom, A-B. Expletives in the London-Lund corpus1991. In: K. Aijmer and B. Altenberg. English
Corpus Linguistics Studies in Honour of Jan Startvik, 1991.London, New York: Longman.
55

speakers use expletives referring to heaven. (for preferences see
Appendix 3-14)
Some of the religious corruptions above may require further

explanation:
- cor blimey God blind me!
- crikey euphemism for Christ
- crumbs - By Christ!
- lummy Lord love me!
I dare say the chart above is not complete as Hughes58

offers other euphemisms for God, Christ and etc. Chosen are only the
most interesting ones:
GOD:
- gogg (1350s)
- cokk (1386)
- Jove (1570)
- gadzooks (Gods hooks) (1650s)
- odsbodikins (Gods little body) (1709)
- Drat! (Gods rot) (1844)
- Great Scott (1884)
- By Godfrey! (1909)
JESUS:
58
56

- Gis, Jis (1528)
- Gemini (1660)
- Jiminy (1830s)
- Jimmy Crickets (1848)
- Jeez (1900)
- Gee (1905)
- Judas Priest (1922)
- Jeepers Creepers (1934)
HELL:
- heck (1892)
5.2
SEX/ BODY AND ITS FUNCTIONS
Hughes59 suggests that language is generated in a patriarchal

or phallocratic dispensation and for this reason there has developed,
especially in male swearing, a prevalence of the terms of feminine
anatomy and that these words have greater potency and currency than
the equivalent male terms. Numerous examples referring to a woman
illustrate his claim:
60
OE: - WITCH: - hag, amazon, scold, shrew, vixen, brim, battleaxe
59
60
57
58

- WHORE: - harlot, strumpet, concubine, bawd, drab, trull, punk,
slut, slattern, draggletail
- bird, chick, chicken, crow, duck, goose, hen, cow, mare, sow,
- bitch, mutton, brach, filly, cat, tabby, kitten, puss, coney, bat
- dish, tart, cookie, crumpet, pancake, sweetmeat, peach, cherry
- baby, lamb, mouse, poppet, nymph, etc.
The chart bellow deals with Gender in Swearing according to

Hughes61 and is also a perfect demonstration of categories within the
sex/body semantic field:
GENDER OF TERMS
GENITAL
male
female
prick
c-word
indeterminate
twat
pillock
ANATOMICAL
EXCRETORY
tit
arsehole
shit
turt
fart
IMBECILIC
idiot
imbecile
61
59

moron
cretin
prat
pig
ANIMAL
cow
swine
bitch
sow
GENERAL
bugger
bastard
sod
fucker
Some of these words are not used by many speakers of English and for
that purpose a variety of euphemisms can be found62:
SHIT:
- shucks(1874)/shoot/shute(1934)/sherbet(?)
F-WORD: - foutre/foutra (from Fr. foutre) (1592)

- foot/sfoot (1600s)
- footy (1785)
- frig/frigging (1785)
- eff/effing (1925)
- fiddlesticks (1600)
- fiddlededee (1784)
- botheration (1801)
- thunderation (1820s)
62
60
- perdition (1890s)
DAMNED:
- darned (1837)
- durned (1876)
5.2.1 BBC RESEARCH
The research undertaken jointly by Advertising Standards

Authority, British Broadcasting Corporation, Broadcasting Standard
Commission and the Independent Television Commission conducted by
Andrea Milwood-Hargrave in December 2000 brought some interesting
facts to light. Expletives are ranked according to there their severity.
First of all its main focus was on media and the usage of
expletives before and after the nine oclock Watershed. As assumed, the
respondents disapproved with using expletives before this time as
children are expected to be in the audience. It also showed there are
certain house rules restricting watching television after 9 oclock pm in
British families.
If our child sees or hears that (on television), then its going to
think thats a norm.54

Following figure63 shows the rank of severity according to
respondents in 2000 in comparison with 1997 research results:
Figure 1: Ranked order of words according to severity
Expletive
C-word
Motherfucker
F-word
Wanker
Nigger
Bastard
Prick
Bollocks
Arsehole
Paki
Shag
Whore
Twat
Piss off
Spastic
Slag
Shit
Dickhead
Pissed off
Arse
Bugger
Balls
Jew
Sodding
Jesus Christ
Crap
Bloody
God
63
2000
1997
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(11)
(5)
(7)
(6)
(9)
(17)
(8)
(13)
(10)
(12)
(14)
(18)
(15)
(19)
(16)
(20)
(21)
(22)
(24)
(23)
(26)
(25)
(27)
(28)
Advertising Standard Authority Website [online] < http://www.asa.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1EAEACA78322-4C86-AAC2-4261551F57FE/0/ASA_Delete_Expletives_Dec_2000.pdf> 15.3.2006
61
62
As we can see there are only slight changes in tolerance to

swearwords in media. The most prominent shifts are in viewing racial
and xenophobic expletives such as Paki or Nigger that are now felt as
more offensive by the participants then they were in 1997.
When asked whether expletives should be beeped out, dubbed

or left in, when appearing in post- Watershed time (after 9 o clock pm)
the answers were as follows (Table 15) 64:
Beep out 16%
Dub
19%
Leave in
65%
In my own research (See appendices 3-13) the participants

were also against using expletives in media in full, nevertheless, they did
not support the idea of deleting expletives completely which suggests
that there is a significant tolerance towards expletives in media.
Very interesting were answers claiming swearing was more
acceptable on commercial channels such as Channel 4 and satellite
channels than on BBC television.
64
Advertising Standard Authority Website [online] < http://www.asa.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1EAEACA78322-4C86-AAC2-4261551F57FE/0/ASA_Delete_Expletives_Dec_2000.pdf> 15.3.2006
ETYMOLOGY OF SELECTED WORDS
63
6. ETYMOLOGY OF SELECTED WORDS
People have always been keen on etymology of expletives and due

to an enormous creativity and wit there are numerous stories of origin, a
part of so called FOLK ETYMOLOGY, or FALSE ETYMOLOGY - some of
them viable, some of them less viable.
6.1 THE F - WORD
The F-word is of a Germanic origin and thus it is related to similar

words in other Germanic languages, such as Dutch, German, Swedish. It
belongs to a loosely connected group of words with the same structure:
f+ VOWEL + CONSONANT. The basic meaning is to move back and
forth. These are other English words with the same structure and similar
sense: fiddle, fidget, flit, flip, flicker, and frig.
Although there are suggestions that it might be of Latin origin
Sheidlower negates this.65 Also according to Sheidlower the acronym
theories are not true as they only appeared in 1930. But people tend to
believe them to be reliable source of origin.
One of fake etymology suggesting an acronymic origin says that
the F-word stands for: Fornicate Under the Command of King or
Fornicate Under the Consent of King

65
SHEIDLOWER, J. The F-word. Mackays of Chatham plc., 1999. p.xvii. ISBN 0571197302
64
and it dates back to the times of the plague to give a consent to a sexual
intercourse or as a sign on houses giving royal consent to sexual
intercourse for knights.
Another legend holds that it came from the Irish law, standing for:
Found Under Carnal Knowledge or Fornication Under Carnal Knowledge

- used as a FUCK sign for those found guilty of adultery.
Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge or Felonious Use of Carnal

Knowledge - used as an acronym for labelling the crime of rape.
As much as we like to invent new legends and theories, none of
these are most probably true.
To demonstrate how colourful word the f-word is Andersson and
Trudgill66 provide following examples in which speakers actually utilized
the F-word to express their feeling in particular situations:
66
- FRAUD
I got fucked by my insurance agent.
- DISMAY
Oh, fuck it!
- TROUBLE
I guess, I m fucked now.
- AGGRESSION
Fuck you!
- PASSIVE
Fuck me.
- CONFUSION
What the fuck?
- DIFFICULTY
I cant understand this fucking business.
- DESPAIR
Fucked again.!
ANDERSSON, L.-G., TRUDGILL P. Bad Language, Penguin Book, 1992. p.60. ISBN 0140125086
- PHILOSOPHICAL
Who gives a fuck.
- INCOMPETENCE
Hes all fucked up.
- LAZINESS
Hes a fuck-off.
- DIPLEASURE
What the fuck is going on?
- REBELLION
Oh, fuck off!
6.2 THE C-WORD

It is a word of uncertain origin probably of Middle English origin,
Traceable via the Middle Dutch and Danish word kunte, and the
Norwegian and Swedish, kunta.
The C-word is seen by many as a very offensive word relating to
female genitals. (See BBC research 5.2.1 and my own research
Appendices 3-13). However, this word was perfectly socially acceptable
in rural areas of England until as recently as the 1960s referring simply
to cows vulva.
The first dictionary citation is said to be in Oxford English
Dictionary in 1230 as in Gropecunt Lane originally Gropecuntelane
London street name.
65
66
According to Hunt:67 Chaucer, in his Tales Of Caunterbury,
employs the deliberately faux-archaic spelling 'queynte' (variants:

'queynt', 'qwaynt', 'quaynte', 'queinte', 'coynte', and 'coint'; modern
spelling: 'queint') as a substitute for 'cunt'.
At present it can also be used not only with abusive meaning but
also to show endearment between friends and can be applied to both
sexes:
Hes a lucky c***!
However, amongst majority it is considered unacceptable to speak

the word, there are again euphemisms to avoid uttering the word in full:
- C U Next Week
- Cant Use Normal Thinking
- See you, Auntie when pronounced loud and quickly
For its appearance in media and public see Chapter 4.5.3.
67
HUNT MATHEW, Cunt: A cultural history [online] http://www.matthewhunt.com/cunt/censorship.html

12.04.2006
BODY LANGUAGE
67
7. BODY LANGUAGE
People use words that are referents for objects we use or

actions we perform. These referents, words, basically give names to the
world around us. But before speech developed in humans during
prehistoric times there were signs used as one of the earliest and
simplest way to get the message across. Nowadays we call this mean of
communication a body language, or non-verbal communication, as we
are aware of the fact that our bodies can communicate ideas and
messages with or without words and direct intentions.
Some people use non-verbal communication in addition to the
verbal one. However, some of the gestures can be and are generally
understood without being accompanied by words at all.
I am going to make the reader familiar with several gestures
that are used in English speaking countries to cause an offence or to
substitute where swearwords would be used instead.
Some of them could also have a different meaning in other
cultures but this is of no concern to this document. As a reliable source I
chose online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.68
68
WIKIPEDIA [online] < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture > 15.3.2006
BODY LANGUAGE
7.1.
68
BLOWING A RASPBERRY
Blowing a raspberry or a so-called Bronx cheer is not a hand

gesture. To make this, you stick your tongue out between your lips and
while blowing you make the sound reminiscent of flatulence. From the
phonetic point of view it could be seen as a labiolingual trill.69
The origin of this is to be traced in London Cockney Rhyming
Slang (for Rhyming Slang see Chapter 8) where Raspberry tart is a
rhyming synonym for fart. The generally understood meaning of this
gesture is to show disrespect or scorn.
7.2
THE FINGER
The finger of giving somebody the finger is a hand gesture

made by extending your middle finger while bending the other fingers.
The middle finger is used as a phallic symbol, a symbol for penis, and it
bares a silent meaning of F..k you!
Another expressions which are used for this gesture are flipping
the bird, flipping someone off or the one finger salute.
The gesture of digitus impudicus as it also called in Ancient
Rome meaning an impudent finger, was mentioned in one of the
Aristophanes comedy intended to insult.
BODY LANGUAGE
69
However, it must be said that this gesture is regarded as very

offensive when used towards an authority it can be qualified as a
criminal offence under the Public Order Act (1984). Here is just one
example of many, in January 2006 a driver in Essex was hit with an 80
fine for making the middle finger curse. The fine ticket said: Used
offensive hand gestures towards police in full view of passing public for
3-4 seconds.69
Flipping the finger in the USA, Germany and other states is also
seen as an offence against the law.
7.3
THE BOWFINGER
The bowfinger is a two-fingered hand gesture (extended

index and middle fingers), other fingers clenched, with the palm inward
while flicking the hand. It is believed that this highly offensive gesture
dates back to a FrenchEnglish Hundred Years War in the 15th century.
The myth says that the French used to cut off the two fingers of
all captured English archers because without them it was impossible to
draw the English longbow. The longbows were made of the English yew
tree so the natives called the act of drawing the longbow - plucking the
yew. After the English victory the saying Pluck you! occurred and has
69
The Sun [online] < http://www.thesun.co.uk> 15.3.2006
BODY LANGUAGE
nothing to do with the phrase F***k you! despite numerous claims of

folk etymology based on its similarity.
But there is one legend worth mentioning and it suggests that
there were pheasant feathers used on the arrows and so the already
mentioned middle finger gesture is thus known as giving the bird. But
knowing this gesture originates in the Ancient Rome makes this theory
one of many proofs of folk creativity.
70
RHYMING SLANG
71
8. RHYMING SLANG
A more frequently used term Cockney rhyming slang could be

described as an English slang originating the East End of London. It was
developed as a way to obscure the meaning of utterances to those who
did not understand the slang.
It works by replacing the word, a meaning of which is to be
hidden, with the first word of a phrase that rhymes with that very word.
For instance, "face" would be replaced by "boat", because face rhymes
with "boat race". Similarly "feet" becomes "plates" ("plates of meat"), and
"money" is "bread" (a very common usage, from "bread and honey".
Rude Rhyming Slang follows the same the same principles with
only one exception it obscures bad language. Nind70 offers following
rhymes:
A:
- Andy Capp crap

- Anthony Blunt the C word
- Auntie Annie fanny (female genitals)
B:
- Bacon bits tits

- Barclays bank wank
- Barry White shite
- Billy Hunt the C word
- Boat and oar whore
70
NIND, T. Rude Rhyming Slang. Abson Books, London, 2003. ISBN 0902920839
72
RHYMING SLANG
- Brighton peer queer
C:
- C&A gay
- cattle truck the F word
D:
- Donald Duck the F word

- Deaf and Dumb bum
- Doris Day gay
E:
- Eddie Grundies undies

- Elizabeth Regina vagina
F:
- Fillet of cod sod

- Fish and shrimp pimp
G:
- General Election erection

- Gypsies kiss piss
etc.
73
RESEARCH
9. RESEARCH
My own research was conducted in London in summers 2004 and

2005. It was based on a questionnaire (see Appendix 15). I received 50
completed questionnaires and the participant figures are presented in
Appendices 1 and 2.
I am aware than such a low number of respondents makes valid
statistical analysis rather difficult. Nevertheless, it is possible to
observe some trends and tendencies in swearing across certain age
groups, sexes and educational background. (See Appendices 3 13.)
The observed tendencies are as follows:
1)
Younger participants tend to be more tolerant

towards swearing and also tend to use swearwords
more.
2)
Tertiary educated women admit to swearing more

compared to secondary educated ones.
3)
All participants declare a marked reluctance to

swearing in front of children. The same seems to be
true, though to a lesser extent, in front of parents
and authorities.
4)
As the participants get older their usage and

tolerance towards religious swearing decreases. It is
74
RESEARCH
probably no coincidence that this group has a higher

proportion of religious people.
5)
Bodily functions swear words are less tolerated

across all the groups, however the youngest groups
take the least offence.
To summarize, the results come as no surprise. The already

mentioned BBC and London-Lund corpus research both showed very
similar trends.
CONCLUSION
10. CONCLUSION
In the previous chapters we attempted to give a general

description of expletives and the meaning of the term expletive itself.
We pointed out some of the reasons why people use expletives, whether
it is in an emotionally tensed situation, to emphasize what is being said
or to express belonging to a certain social group.
In Chapter 4 Swearing in historical periods I explored various
periods of English history namely the Old English, Middle English, the
Reformation, Renaissance and Modern period. Within each of them, we
provided and example of expletives used by the most prominent
contemporary writers e.g. Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare and
others.
The main difference in swearing by in Old English and Middle
English period and swearing at in the following time periods has also
been also illustrated, including the most recent incidents of airing
expletives on British media causing more or less no offence in the end.
Exploring given semantic categories labelled Heaven and Hell
and sex/body functions shows related words to God, Jesus Christ, their
euphemisms to prevent blasphemy and words referring to body parts
and their functions. We also provided several charts and figures to
demonstrate preferences speakers of English make while using
75
CONCLUSION
76
expletives, based on London-Lund Corpus of spoken utterances, Delete

Expletives? research conducted in 2000 by BBC and my own research.
Assuredly, etymology of selected expletives outlined in Chapter
6 contributed to the scope of this thesis. I also decided to use examples
of so called folk etymology as they are a result of public interest in
expletives and their origin.
Although it has been statistically proved that the public
strongly despise hearing expletives in media, the actual existence of
expletives in everyday conversation shows that we the speakers of
English tend to use expletives as an active part of their word stock and
they even became more tolerant towards them, as the dropping of
severe legal restraints proves.
SUMMARY/RESUM
77
11. SUMMARY/RESUM
11.1 SUMMARY
The main purpose of the thesis is to provide the reader with a

general outline of English expletives, their usage, origin and semantic
categories of related words.
In addition to legal restraints which limited and punished usage
of expletives uttered either in public or private, the study also explores
given historical periods such as Old English, Middle English, The
Renaissance and Modern period in order to illustrate development of
expletives throughout the centuries, analysing expletives found in works
of the most prominent contemporary writers of the period, e.g. Chaucer,
Shakespeare etc.
11.2 RESUM
Hlavnm clem tto dimplomov prce je poskytnout teni

obecn pehled anglickch pejorativ, jejich pouvn, pvod a
semantick kategorie pibuznch slov.
Prce se t zabv prvnmi postihy, kter omezovaly a
trestaly pouvn tchto slov, vyslovench jak v soukrom tak na
veejnosti.
SUMMARY/RESUM
Dle jsou zkoumna jednotliv historick obdob jako

napklad Staro-anglick obdob, Obdob Middle English, Renesance a
souasnost, za elem demonstrovat vvoj pejorativ bhem stalet
pomoc analzy dl pednch autor doby, nap. Chaucera, Shakespeara
a dalch.
78
BIBLIOGRAPHY
79
12. BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
ANDERSSON, L.-G., TRUDGILL P. Bad Language, Penguin Book, 1992. ISBN
0140125086.
BENNET, H.S. English Books and Readers. CUP, 1952. ISBN 0521379911.
CHAUCER, G. Canterbury Tales. Penguin Books Ltd., 1996. ISBN 0140622071.
Concise Oxford Dictionary. 10th Edition. OUP, 2001. ISBN 0-19-860438-6.

CRAWFORD, R. The New Penguin Book of Scottish Verse.Trafalgar Square, 2001.
ISBN: 014058711X
HEANEY, S. Beowulf. WNorton & Co Inc, 2001.ISBN 0393320979.
HUGHES, G. Swearing. Penguin Books Ltd, 1998. ISBN 0-14-026707-7.
MONTAGU, A. The Anatomy of Swearing. Macmillan, 1973. ISBN 0812217640.
NIND, T. Rude Rhyming Slang. Abson Books, London, 2003. ISBN 0902920839.
RYRIE, A. The Gospel and Henry VIII: Evangelicals in the Early English
Reformation, CUP, 2003. ISBN: 0521823439.

SHEIDLOWER, J. The F-word. Mackays of Chatham plc., 1999. ISBN
0571197302.
STENSTROM, A-B. Expletives in the London-Lund corpus1991. In: K. Aijmer and
B. Altenberg. English Corpus Linguistics Studies in Honour of Jan Startvik,
1991.London, New York: Longman.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTERNET SOURCES
Advertising Standard Authority Website [online] < http://www.asa.org.uk>
15.3.2006
BBC News [online] < http://news.bbc.co.uk> 13.04.2006
Boise State University [online] <http://www.boisestate.edu> 12.1.2006
CUSS CONTROL ACADEMY, [online] <http://www.cusscontrol.com> 20.2.2006
Encyclopaedia Britannica [online] < http://www.britannica.com> 15.2.2006
Everything2 [online] < http://www.everything2.com> 12.04.2006
Fire and Ice, Puritan and reformed writing
[online] <http://www.puritansermons.com> 11.10.2005
Guardian Unlmited [online] < http://www.guardian.co.uk> 12.04.2006
HUNT MATHEW, Cunt: A cultural history [online]
< http://www.matthewhunt.com> 12.04.2006
Panikon [online] < http://www.panikon.com> 11.1.2006
Sam I am [online] <http://www.sam-i-am.com> 1.9.2005
Sex Pistols Diary [online] <http://www.rockmine.music.co.uk> 15.04.2006
Wikipedia, [online] < http://en.wikipedia.org> 15.2.2006
80
Appendix 1
Research participants according to age and sex groups
9
8
7
6
Number of
5 respondents
4
3
2
1
0
Age / sex
1
APPENDICES
18-26
male
18-26
female
27-35
male
27-35
female
36-45
male
36-45
female
60+ male 60+

46-60 46-60
female
male female
APPENDICES
Appendix 2
Research participants according to age groups
age 60+
4 respondents
8%
age 18-26
14 respondents
28%
age 46-60
9 respondents
18%
age 36-45
9 respondents
18%
age 27-35
14 respondents
28%
APPENDICES
MEN
Appendix 3
Table 1
male 18- 26
(7 people)
general usage
secondary education (3)

very
offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
slightly
offensive
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
tertiary education (4)
not
offensive
1
3
2
1
3
3
2
2
2
2
3
2
2
1
2
1
1
very
offensive
slightly
offensive
not
offensive
4
4
4
4
4
4
2
4
4
2
4
2
3
2
3
1
2
2
2
1
2
1
1
2
Table 2
If directed at
them (7)

very
offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
slightly
offensive
not
offensive
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
very
offensive
1
3
3
2
3
3
3
3
2
2
3
2
2
1
2
1
1
slightly
offensive
not
offensive
1
2
2
2
1
1
1
4
4
4
3
4
4
3
4
4
3
2
4
2
4
1
2
APPENDICES
Table 3
male 18-26 secondary education (3)

Which of these would you say in front of your:
parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
1
2
2
2
1
1
boss/teacher
2
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
partner
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
friend
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
3
2
2
2
2
1
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
3
2
2
3
Table 4
male 18-26 tertiary education (4)

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
2
4
3
3
1
1
boss/teacher
2
2
2
2
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
partner
3
4
3
2
4
2
2
4
2
2
3
2
2
2
2
1
friend
4
4
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
4
4
4
4
1
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
APPENDICES
Table 5
Media
In newspaper, expletives should be
spelled out fully
used in asterisk form
not used at all
2
5
0
On television and radio, expletives should be

pronounced in full
beeped out
not used at all
3
4
0
Religion
religious
atheist
none or N/A
6
1
0
APPENDICES
MEN
Appendix 4
Table 6
male 27-35
(9 people)
general usage
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
God

very offensive
slightly
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
4
3
2
3
4
1
1
2
1
2
1
not offensive
very offensive
slightly
not offensive
4
5
4
4
5
4
4
4
3
3
5
3
3
3
3
1
1
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
1
2
3
4
1
1
1
1
1
3
1
Table 7
If directed at
them (9)
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking

very offensive
slightly
not offensive
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
1
1
2
very offensive
3
4
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
2
2
3
2
2
slightly
not offensive
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
4
2
3
3
2
3
3
2
1
3
4
5
4
4
5
4
4
4
1
2
5
1
2
1
3
APPENDICES
Table 8

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
3
3
3
4
3
4
4
4
2
2
3
2
4
4
4
1
1
boss/teacher
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
1
1
partner
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
2
2
3
2
3
3
3
1
1
1
friend
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
3
2
3
3
3
2
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
4
3
4
4
4
3
4
Table 9

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
5
5
5
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
3
4
3
4
2
boss/teacher
4
5
5
3
5
5
3
3
1
1
4
2
1
partner
4
5
5
4
5
5
4
4
3
3
4
3
3
3
3
1
3
friend
5
5
5
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
3
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
3
5
APPENDICES
Table 10
Media male 27-35

spelled out fully
not used at all
2
4
3

pronounced in full
beeped out
not used at all
5
2
2
Religion
religious
atheist
none or N/A
3
1
5
APPENDICES
MEN
Appendix 5
Table 11
male 36-45
(4 people)
general usage

very offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
God
slightly
not offensive
very offensive
slightly
2
2
2
1
2
2
not offensive
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
Table 12
If directed at
them (4)
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking

very offensive
slightly
not offensive
very offensive
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
1
2
1
2
2
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
not offensive
2
1
slightly
1
1
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
1
2
1
2
2
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
APPENDICES
Table 13

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
boss/teacher
1
2
1
1
2
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
partner
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
friend
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
Table 14

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
boss/teacher
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
partner
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
friend
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
APPENDICES
Table 15
Media male 36-45

spelled out fully
not used at all
2
2
0

pronounced in full
beeped out
not used at all
1
2
1
Religion
religious
atheist
none or N/A
3
1
0
APPENDICES
MEN
Appendix 6
Table 16
male 46-60
(6 people)
general usage

very offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
God
slightly
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
not offensive
2
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
very offensive
slightly
not offensive
4
4
4
2
4
4
3
3
3
1
3
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
Table 17
If directed at
them (6)
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking

very offensive
slightly
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
not offensive
very offensive
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
slightly
not offensive
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
3
3
2
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
4
4
4
1
3
3
2
2
2
1
3
2
2
1
1
APPENDICES
Table 18

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
boss/teacher
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
partner
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
friend
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
Table 19

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
4
4
3
1
3
3
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
boss/teacher
2
3
3
2
2
partner
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
friend
4
4
4
4
4
4
3
4
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
2
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
APPENDICES
Table 20
Media male 46-60

spelled out fully
not used at all
0
5
1

pronounced in full
beeped out
not used at all
1
3
2
Religion
religious
atheist
none or N/A
5
1
0
APPENDICES
MEN
Appendix 7
Table 21
male 60+
(1 person)
general usage

very offensive
slightly
not offensive

very offensive
slightly
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
not offensive
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Table 22
If directed at
them (1)

very
offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
slightly
offensive
not
offensive

very
offensive
slightly
offensive
not
offensive
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
APPENDICES
Table 23
male 60+ terciary education (1)

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
none
child
boss/teacher
none
none
partner
none
friend
none
Table 24
Media male 60+

spelled out fully
not used at all
1
0
0

pronounced in full
beeped out
not used at all
1
0
0
Religion
religious
atheist
none or N/A
0
1
0
APPENDICES
WOMEN
Appendix 8
Table 25
female 18- 26
(7 people)
general usage

very
offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
slightly
offensive
not
offensive
very
offensive
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
1
2
1
1
1

slightly
offensive
not
offensive
5
5
5
4
5
5
5
5
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
3
1
4
2
1
2
Table 26
If directed at
them (7)

very
offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
slightly
offensive
not
offensive
very
offensive
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
slightly
offensive
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
5
4
not
offensive
1
1
1
2
1
1
2
2
1
3
5
5
5
4
4
4
3
4
2
2
4
1
3
1
5
5
5
APPENDICES
Table 27
female 18-26 secondary education (2)

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
boss/teacher
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
partner
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
1
1
friend
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
Table 28
female 18-26 tertiary education (5)

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
4
4
4
2
3
3
4
3
3
4
4
2
4
4
4
1
boss/teacher
2
3
3
3
3
2
3
1
1
3
partner
5
5
5
2
5
5
4
5
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
friend
4
4
4
1
4
4
4
4
2
3
4
2
4
4
4
4
4
4
1
4
4
4
4
2
3
4
2
4
4
4
APPENDICES
Table 29
Media
spelled out fully
not used at all
1
6
0

pronounced in full
beeped out
not used at all
1
6
0
Religion
religious
atheist
none or N/A
3
2
1
APPENDICES
WOMEN
Appendix 9
Table 30
female 27-35
(5 people)
general usage

very offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
God
slightly
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
not offensive
very offensive
slightly
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
3
1
3
3
3
1
1
2
1
1
not offensive
2
1
1
3
Table 31
If directed at
them (5)
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking

very offensive
slightly
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
2
2
not offensive
1
2
1
2
very offensive
slightly
not offensive
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
1
1
3
1
2
2
2
1
1
APPENDICES
Table 32

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
boss/teacher
2
2
1
1
2
partner
2
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
friend
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
Table 33

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
1
2
boss/teacher
partner
2
3
2
2
3
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
3
2
friend
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
3
APPENDICES
Table 34
Media female 27-35

spelled out fully
not used at all
2
2
1

pronounced in full
beeped out
not used at all
2
1
2
Religion
religious
atheist
none or N/A
3
1
1
APPENDICES
WOMEN
Appendix 10
Table 35
female 36-45
(5 people)
general usage
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking

very offensive
slightly
not offensive
3
5
4
1
2
5
4
1
3
1
4
2
4
2
1
2
4
4
3
1
1
3
1
1
1
5
5
2
4
Table 36
If directed at
them (5)
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking

very offensive
slightly
not offensive
1
1
3
1
2
1
5
5
1
2
2
3
2
2
2
1
1
4
3
3
4
5
4
1
5
3
2
3
2
2
4
1
APPENDICES
Table 37

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
5
5
3
2
3
3
3
3
2
3
4
1
1
3
2
boss/teacher
4
5
2
3
1
2
1
2
4
1
2
2
partner
4
5
3
1
3
3
1
2
1
2
4
friend
5
5
2
2
3
3
4
4
3
4
4
3
3
5
4
5
5
2
2
3
3
4
4
3
4
4
3
3
5
4
Table 38
Media female 36-45

spelled out fully
not used at all
0
2
3

pronounced in full
beeped out
not used at all
0
4
1
Religion
religious
atheist
none or N/A
4
0
1
APPENDICES
WOMEN
Appendix 11
Table 39
female 46-60
(3 people)
general usage

very offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
slightly
not offensive
very offensive
slightly
not offensive
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
Table 40
If directed at
them (3)
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking

very offensive
slightly
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
not offensive
very offensive
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
slightly
not offensive
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
2
2
2
2
APPENDICES
Table 41

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
boss/teacher
partner
friend
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Table 42

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
1
1
1
boss/teacher
partner
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
1
2
1
2
friend
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
APPENDICES
Table 43
Media female 46-60

spelled out fully
not used at all
0
1
2

pronounced in full
beeped out
not used at all
0
2
1
Religion
religious
atheist
none or N/A
3
0
0
APPENDICES
WOMEN
Appendix 12
Table 44
female 60+
(3 people)
general usage

very offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
slightly
not offensive
very offensive
slightly
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
2
2
not offensive
1
1
1
1
Table 45
If directed at
them (3)

very
offensive
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
slightly
offensive
not
offensive
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
2
2

very
offensive
slightly
offensive
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
not
offensive
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
APPENDICES
Table 46
female 60+ secondary education (2)

parents
child
2
2
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
boss/teacher
1
1
1
+
1
1
2
1
2
1
1
partner
1
1
1
friend
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Table 47
Female 60+ tertiary education (1)

parents
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
child
boss/teacher
partner
friend
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
APPENDICES
Table 48
Media female 60+

spelled out fully
not used at all

pronounced in full
beeped out
not used at all
Religion
religious
atheist
none or N/A
APPENDICES
Appendix 13
Comments on research tables in Appendices 3-12:
MEN 18-26
Table 1
The tertiary educated men within this age group were generally less
offended by all the swearwords which suggests that they tend to use
expletives more than their secondary educated peers.
Table 2
Supports the idea that tertiary educated males at this age are slightly
more tolerant towards personal insults.
Table 3 & 4 religious terms not offensive in front of parents whereas there is
greater reluctance to use the words in front of their children.
In front of the authority figure Boss/teacher the tertiary educated
seem happier to swear.
In front of a partner and a friend there were no noticeable
differences between the two educational groups.
Table 5 -
According to this age group expletives can be used in all forms of

media with or without restrictions.
MEN 27-35
Table 6 & 7 Shows tolerance to more or less all the terms, again with Bodily
function swear words regarded more offensive than religious words.
Table 8 & 9 There are no significant differences between the educational groups.
Bodily swear words are not acceptable in front of parents and
children of these participants.
APPENDICES
Table 10 A small proportion thought there should be no swearing in media.
MEN 36-45
Table 11& 12 Show a tendency in this group of becoming less tolerant to all
forms of swearing.
Table 13 & 14 More protection towards children.
Table 15 Similarity to table 5, swear words should not be banned in media.
MEN 46-60
Table 16 & 17 Tertiary educated males tend to be more offended by bodily
function swear words then their secondary educated counterparts.
Table 18 & 19 Tertiary educated males were more cautious in front of children
then those with secondary education and tend to use bodily swear
words less in front of their partners.
Table 20 Majority supports restrictions of swearing in media.
Tables 21 to 24 - Are an example of just one representative. He is tertiary
educated and very tolerant, however, we have to further evidence that
this is typical and applicable to his age group in general. Other
members of this age group refused to fill in the questionnaire when
asked.
WOMEN 18-26
Table 25 & 26 Female respondents show high tolerance to general usage of
expletives while when directed at them tertiary educated group was
more offended by bodily swear words.
APPENDICES
Table 27 & 28 - Bodily swear words not used in front of children in both categories
but tertiary educated women do not restrict themselves in front of
their parents. C-word found very offensive even in front of a friend or
a partner against the general tendency of tolerance towards these
relations.
Table 29 expletives in media should be used with restrictions according to the
vast majority.
WOMEN 27-35
Table 30 & 31 Show less tolerance than the younger age group.
Table 32 Religious swear words acceptable in front of parents, authority and to a
lesser extent in front of children
Table 33 Parents regarded in the same light as partners and friends which means
all swearing is acceptable in front of them.
Children are exposed to religious but bodily swearing.
Table 34 No united opinion on swearing in media.
WOMEN 36-45
Table 35 & 36 Unfortunately no secondary educated participants. Tertiary
educated women display reduced tolerance compared to the younger
groups.
Table 37 Participants are more cautious in front of their partners, friend and
authority in to traditional child protection.
Table 38 Expletives should be only used with restrictions or banned.
APPENDICES
WOMEN 46- 60
Table 39 & 40 Secondary educated women more offended by bodily function
expletives.
Table 41 & 42 - Usual pattern found here, child authority and parents protection
against bodily function expletives.
Table 43 - Swearing does not belong in media according to this group.
WOMEN 60+
Table 44 47 All kinds of swearing less acceptable
Table 48 Even though this group does not tend to swear a lot they are not
completely against swearing in media.
APPENDICES
Appendix 14
Stenstrom, A-B. Expletives in the London-Lund corpus1991:
SEMANTIC CATEGORIES AND PREFERENCES
Types
Male
Female
Total
103
103
206
God
40
35
75
gosh
13
17
30
goodness
18
Lord
10
17
12
HEAVEN
heaven
cor
golly
Christ
crikey
gracious
Jesus
blimey
cor blimey
gawd
gad
crumbs
lummy
cor lummy
oh God God God
APPENDICES
oh my God goodness
ooh good Lord wow good heavens
Types
Male
Female
Total
HELL
27
16
43
bloody
11
10
21
hell
damn/damned/dammit
devil
what the fucking hell
bloody hell
dash
HEAVEN AND HELL
God dammit
God damnation
Good Lord hell
APPENDICES
Appendix 15
Hello,
This questionnaire has been created as a part of my undergraduate dissertation on English expletives
(i.e. swear words, taboo words, etc). The purpose of the paper is to find out whether, and to what extent,
British people are familiar with the etymology (i.e. origin) of such words and also to record by numerical
system the usage and preferences of native speakers of British English regarding the choice of expletives, if
indeed they use them at all.
I would like to apologize in advance if you should find any of the questions offensive.
Thank you for your time and your precious contribution to my thesis. Hana
Part A) RESPONDENT S DETAILS please tick the appropriate answer

1) Sex:
2) Age:
male
female
18 26
27 35
36 45
46 60
60+
3) Highest education reached:
secondary education
tertiary education ( i.e. academic, higher)
4) Religion:
a) Christian b) Jewish c) Muslim d) Atheist e) other ..
Part B) EXPLETIVES
5) Please put a tick into the column expressing your opinion. More than one answer is allowed.
EXPLETIVES
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned/dammit
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
If used in general
reference
If directed at you
personally
Very
Slightly Not
Very
Slightly Not
offensive offensive offensive offensive offensive offensive
APPENDICES
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
6) Which of these would you use in front of your.
EXPLETIVES Parents Child
Boss/teacher Partner
Friend
/add no. 7
Century
Origin
add no 7
add no7
God
gosh
Lord
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Bloody
Damn/damned/
dammit
Sod
Bugger
Devil
Bastard
Ass/arse
Shit
Crap
Cunt
Fuck/fucking
7) In question 6), in the last two columns, please fill in what you think is the origin of the words
i.e., the language they come from Germanic, Latin, French, Dutch, etc. and the century of their
first appearance in English.
Part C) MEDIA
8) In newspapers, expletives should be
a) spelled out fully
b) used in asterisk form (f***)
9) On television and radio, expletives should be
a) pronounced in full b) beeped out
c) not used at all
c) not used at all
10) In what kind of media would you expect expletives to be used? Please give examples names of
certain media or organizations/publications.
a) radio - never..
rarely..
freely.
or with restrictions
b) television- never.. rarely.. freely.
c) newspapers- never.. rarely.. freely...
Thank you.

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MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO

USAGE AND ORIGIN OF EXPLETIVES

ANDREW PHILIP OAKLAND,

BRNO, 20th APRIL 2006

I hereby declare that I have worked on this undergraduate diploma

2. WHAT ARE EXPLETIVES?

EXPLETIVES AS A PART OF SOCIO-LINGUISTICS

3. WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

IS SWEARING A SIGN OF A WEAK MIND?

4. SWEARING IN HISTORICAL PERIODS

LADY CHATTERLEYS LOVER (1928, 1960)

OTHER INCIDENTS (1965-2004)

5. SEMANTIC CATEGORIES AND SPEAKERS PREFERENCES ..................56

HEAVEN AND HELL

SEX/ BODY AND ITS FUNCTIONS

6. ETYMOLOGY OF SELECTED WORDS ..............................................63

8. RHYMING SLANG ...........................................................................71

11. SUMMARY/ RESUM

RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS CHARTS

MALE PARTICIPANTS TABLES

APPENDIX 8 12 FEMALE PARTICIPANTS TABLES

SEMANTIC CATEGORIES AND PREFERENCES

Expletives, taboo words, bad language, swear words - we all

bad language or taboo words this is how we often refer to expletives

language will be a subject matter of this thesis, based on used literature,

formations. Syntactically, a word can, for example, make an appearance

WHAT ARE EXPLETIVES?

2. WHAT ARE EXPLETIVES?

with her life.

explre, to fill out : ex-, ex- + plre, to fill.

WHAT ARE EXPLETIVES?

EXPLETIVES AS A PART OF SOCIO-LINGUISTICS

So-called expletive attributive, the second usage of the above

bloody, damn, f***ing, etc.

Within a sentence structure attributive expletive takes up a

He is an old git, isn t he?

You bloody fools!

Stop f***in round, would ya?!

It was bloody marvellous!

- an interjection: Oh Lord! Not her again!

WHAT ARE EXPLETIVES?

deleted appeared for example in Watergate2 tape transcripts to prevent

WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

3. WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

HUGHES, G. Swearing. Penguin Books Ltd, 1998. p.4-5. ISBN 0-14-026707-7

WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

profane. From the high dualistic perspective it is language in its most

WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

3.1 WHY DO WE SWEAR

WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

English tend to enter other languages, both related and unrelated,

IS USING EXPLETIVES A SIGN OF A WEAK MIND?

Can existence or non-existence of expletives in our active

Chaucer,G. Canterbury Tales. Penguin Books Ltd., 1996. ISBN 0140622071

WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

Any many a grisly ooth thanne han they sworn

Chaucer,G. Canterbury Tales. Penguin Books Ltd., 1996. ISBN 0140622071

WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

733: Everich a word, if it be in his charge,

WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

Christ spoke broadly himself in Holly Writ (the Bible)

Chaucer is aware of the fact that to purify language by

WHY DO PEOPLE USE EXPLETIVES?

release tension, express fury and personal discomfort is acceptable,