1
00:00:23,815 --> 00:00:25,395
"Fuck are you lookin' at?"

2
00:00:26,401 --> 00:00:28,821
"I've had it
with these motherfuckin' snakes

3
00:00:28,903 --> 00:00:30,453
on this motherfuckin' plane."

4
00:00:30,530 --> 00:00:34,160
"Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.
You're cool. Fuck you. I'm out."

5
00:00:34,242 --> 00:00:37,702
"You want me to go trash your lights?
You want me to fuckin' trash 'em?

6
00:00:37,787 --> 00:00:39,287
Then why are you trashing my scene?"

7
00:00:39,372 --> 00:00:41,502
"You are one ugly motherfucker."

8
00:00:41,583 --> 00:00:44,133
"You have insulted me
for the last fucking time."

9
00:00:44,210 --> 00:00:45,800
"Fuck you! That's my name."

10
00:00:45,879 --> 00:00:47,589
"Don't waste my motherfuckin' time."

11
00:00:47,672 --> 00:00:49,842
"Fuck it. We'll do it live."

12
00:00:51,384 --> 00:00:55,104
An actor's greatest tool
is their imagination.

13
00:00:55,180 --> 00:00:56,310
But swearing…

14
00:00:56,806 --> 00:00:57,966
is definitely up there.

15
00:00:59,350 --> 00:01:00,600
With swear words,

16
00:01:00,685 --> 00:01:03,185
we can cut, soothe, delight,

17
00:01:03,271 --> 00:01:06,271
frighten, insult, and seduce.

18
00:01:06,775 --> 00:01:10,235
Of all the swear words
in the English language,

19
00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:13,410
none is as malleable as "fuck."

20
00:01:13,948 --> 00:01:17,078
It's capable of expressing
the full range of human emotion.

21
00:01:17,744 --> 00:01:20,084
The pain, the wonder,

22
00:01:20,163 --> 00:01:22,083
the unlawful carnal knowledge,

23
00:01:22,165 --> 00:01:23,535
in a single syllable.

24
00:01:24,084 --> 00:01:25,424
[inhales deeply]

25
00:01:26,044 --> 00:01:29,304
[softly] ♪ Fuuuuuck ♪

26
00:01:30,090 --> 00:01:31,970
Or we can say it like this…

27
00:01:32,550 --> 00:01:33,550
[inhales]

28
00:01:33,635 --> 00:01:40,345
[yells] Fuuuuuck!

29
00:01:45,855 --> 00:01:46,685
[bleep]

30
00:01:46,773 --> 00:01:47,773
[cat meows]

31
00:01:52,070 --> 00:01:54,990
They're the most popular
and alluring taboos we have.

32
00:01:55,615 --> 00:01:59,035
But the secrets to their strange power
have been shrouded in mystery.

33
00:01:59,119 --> 00:02:00,119
Until now.

34
00:02:00,829 --> 00:02:03,249
Join me on a journey through the history,

35
00:02:03,331 --> 00:02:07,421
evolution and cultural impact
of swear words.

36
00:02:08,753 --> 00:02:09,843
And let's get fucked.

37
00:02:11,089 --> 00:02:13,759
"Fuck" is the all-time classic.
Number one with a bullet.

38
00:02:13,842 --> 00:02:17,012
"Fuck" is another word
that helps you release frustration.

39
00:02:17,095 --> 00:02:19,505
It's-- it's a word that conveys emotion.

40
00:02:19,597 --> 00:02:23,637
If I had only one swear word
to take with me to a desert island,

41
00:02:23,726 --> 00:02:25,346
it would probably be "fuck."

42
00:02:25,436 --> 00:02:26,856
My name is Kory Stamper.

43
00:02:26,938 --> 00:02:28,978
I am a lexicographer and an author.

44
00:02:29,065 --> 00:02:32,815
I used to write
dictionary definitions at Merriam-Webster,

45
00:02:32,902 --> 00:02:36,822
and, among other things,
my job there was to work on profanities.

46
00:02:36,906 --> 00:02:39,276
English, motherfucker. Do you speak it?

47
00:02:39,367 --> 00:02:42,497
I love the word "fuck" so much.
It's just so versatile.

48
00:02:42,579 --> 00:02:46,249
You can put it anywhere in a sentence,
and give it a little bit of zhuzh.

49
00:02:47,458 --> 00:02:50,338
My name is Ben Bergen
and I'm a cognitive scientist.

50
00:02:50,420 --> 00:02:51,840
I do research on language.

51
00:02:51,921 --> 00:02:55,301
You can use "fuck" in absolutely any way.

52
00:02:55,383 --> 00:02:57,223
I'll take you all to fuckin' hell.

53
00:02:57,302 --> 00:02:58,972
We say "fuck" all the time.
"What the fuck?"

54
00:02:59,053 --> 00:03:01,063
"You little fucker."
It could be a good thing.

55
00:03:01,139 --> 00:03:02,179
"Cheeky little fuck!"

56
00:03:02,265 --> 00:03:06,595
It can be used in compound nouns
like "fuckhead" and "fuckwit."

57
00:03:06,686 --> 00:03:08,896
When something's really impressive,
you go "Fuck!"

58
00:03:08,980 --> 00:03:11,480
If you use it one way,
you can offend people.

59
00:03:11,566 --> 00:03:12,856
"Fuck you, Jack!"

60
00:03:12,942 --> 00:03:14,612
Use it another way, you can make friends

61
00:03:14,694 --> 00:03:16,154
-and influence people.
-"Fuck, yes!"

62
00:03:16,237 --> 00:03:18,317
My name is Melissa Mohr

63
00:03:18,406 --> 00:03:20,576
I have a PhD from Stanford University,

64
00:03:20,658 --> 00:03:23,038
and I write about swearing.

65
00:03:23,119 --> 00:03:26,539
If you hear someone say "fuck,"
that word has-- has a lot of power.

66
00:03:26,623 --> 00:03:28,423
It can work with when you're shocked.

67
00:03:28,499 --> 00:03:29,789
"Fuck!"

68
00:03:29,876 --> 00:03:31,666
It can work with when you're surprised.

69
00:03:31,753 --> 00:03:33,133
"Shut the fuck up!"

70
00:03:33,213 --> 00:03:35,473
"Fuck" is just
the most acceptable curse word,

71
00:03:35,548 --> 00:03:39,298
but it still is the worst one of all.

72
00:03:40,053 --> 00:03:40,893
[bell dings]

73
00:03:40,970 --> 00:03:46,060
But for all its myriad uses,
"fuck" is ultimately about fuck-ing.

74
00:03:46,142 --> 00:03:48,142
So, where did the word itself come from?

75
00:03:48,228 --> 00:03:49,938
[typing]

76
00:03:50,563 --> 00:03:51,773
[Ben] With "fuck,"

77
00:03:51,856 --> 00:03:56,276
it has a really long history
of not meaning something related to sex.

78
00:03:56,361 --> 00:03:58,111
Thousands of years.

79
00:03:58,196 --> 00:04:02,986
And, starting right around
the beginning of the 14th century,

80
00:04:03,076 --> 00:04:05,946
it gained this new meaning related to sex,

81
00:04:06,037 --> 00:04:07,787
and probably preserved it

82
00:04:07,872 --> 00:04:10,122
without ever being a banned term

83
00:04:10,708 --> 00:04:13,378
for about 400 years.

84
00:04:13,461 --> 00:04:15,801
So, there's an acronymic etymology

85
00:04:16,297 --> 00:04:19,507
that people think
the word "fuck" came from a phrase,

86
00:04:20,093 --> 00:04:22,353
"Fornication Under Consent of the King."

87
00:04:23,137 --> 00:04:24,507
-The idea is…
-[neighing]

88
00:04:24,597 --> 00:04:26,887
…that when people
in the middle ages got married,

89
00:04:26,975 --> 00:04:28,595
they had to go to the king,

90
00:04:28,685 --> 00:04:31,435
they had to ask for permission
to have sex.

91
00:04:31,521 --> 00:04:33,611
-[woman] Oh, don't stop!
-[crashing]

92
00:04:33,690 --> 00:04:35,150
Oh, I'm almost thither! [gasps]

93
00:04:35,233 --> 00:04:37,033
-[horses neigh]
-Halt this carriage!

94
00:04:37,110 --> 00:04:38,570
I'm almost thither!

95
00:04:38,653 --> 00:04:40,913
-Almost!
-[fanfare]

96
00:04:40,989 --> 00:04:44,369
Cease this unsanctioned erogeny at once!

97
00:04:44,450 --> 00:04:47,080
If you didn't have papers
from the king, you were breaking the law.

98
00:04:47,161 --> 00:04:49,751
But, my lord, you've given your consent.

99
00:04:49,831 --> 00:04:50,671
[dog barking]

100
00:04:50,748 --> 00:04:52,628
[king] Ah! Very well, then.

101
00:04:52,709 --> 00:04:55,839
Let it be known
that this household has been given

102
00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,670
my royal, kingly consent

103
00:04:59,632 --> 00:05:02,722
to fuuuuuck!

104
00:05:02,802 --> 00:05:05,222
Such a great story for such a great word.

105
00:05:05,305 --> 00:05:09,675
It is total horseshit.
It's not real. Sadly.

106
00:05:09,767 --> 00:05:12,937
Because we like colorful words
to have colorful origins.

107
00:05:13,021 --> 00:05:14,731
I think "fuck" is just made up.

108
00:05:14,814 --> 00:05:17,234
I feel like this one guy
one day just went, "Fuck."

109
00:05:17,317 --> 00:05:19,317
And the other guy was like, "Oh, I kinda…

110
00:05:19,402 --> 00:05:21,152
That's exactly how I feel, actually."

111
00:05:21,237 --> 00:05:23,447
The best that etymologists can tell,

112
00:05:23,531 --> 00:05:27,121
"fuck" probably comes
from a medieval Dutch verb,

113
00:05:27,201 --> 00:05:30,461
which means "to blow,"
"to hit," "to strike."

114
00:05:36,127 --> 00:05:38,377
What? "Fuck" means "to hit"?

115
00:05:38,463 --> 00:05:40,803
You can fuck someone up
by hitting them really hard.

116
00:05:40,882 --> 00:05:43,472
Technically,
it still hasn't lost its original meaning.

117
00:05:43,551 --> 00:05:46,391
So, if I got hit in the face,
I would get fucked in the face?

118
00:05:46,929 --> 00:05:48,059
[laughs]

119
00:05:48,139 --> 00:05:50,519
Talking to them's an uphill struggle,
innit, Dad?

120
00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:51,640
Fuck off!

121
00:05:51,726 --> 00:05:55,266
[Melissa] "Fuck" doesn't appear
very often in language

122
00:05:55,355 --> 00:05:57,265
before the 1500s.

123
00:05:57,357 --> 00:06:01,147
But there are some uses of the word,
and they occur in people's names.

124
00:06:01,235 --> 00:06:03,815
So, there's a man called John Lefucker.

125
00:06:03,905 --> 00:06:07,365
Who was a known gigolo in the area.

126
00:06:07,450 --> 00:06:09,740
[Melissa] There's somebody Fuckbutter.

127
00:06:09,827 --> 00:06:11,247
Incredibly well endowed.

128
00:06:11,329 --> 00:06:13,579
[Melissa] Somebody Roger Fuckebythenavele.

129
00:06:13,664 --> 00:06:15,544
What? Are you crazy?

130
00:06:15,625 --> 00:06:18,995
It could refer to the fact that he is, um…

131
00:06:19,504 --> 00:06:21,884
an inelegant copulator.

132
00:06:21,964 --> 00:06:24,594
But it could also mean
that he got hit in the stomach.

133
00:06:24,675 --> 00:06:26,635
Or that he punches people in the stomach.

134
00:06:26,719 --> 00:06:29,219
We just-- With names,
you don't really know,

135
00:06:29,305 --> 00:06:31,465
because they tend to be metaphorical, or--

136
00:06:31,557 --> 00:06:34,187
You know, nicknames
aren't necessarily explainable

137
00:06:34,268 --> 00:06:35,978
if you're outside of that in-group.

138
00:06:36,062 --> 00:06:39,152
A lot of people's last names
in English come from their profession,

139
00:06:39,232 --> 00:06:41,232
or some characteristic they're known by.

140
00:06:41,317 --> 00:06:45,237
So you've got a Taylor.
He would have sewn clothes.

141
00:06:45,321 --> 00:06:47,661
A Miller would have ground grain,
you know?

142
00:06:47,740 --> 00:06:51,830
So, you've got-- In the 13th century,
you've got John Lefucker.

143
00:06:52,578 --> 00:06:56,208
What did he do? He--
You know, was he the original fuckboy?

144
00:06:56,791 --> 00:06:59,591
[Nicolas] How many ways can we use "fuck"?

145
00:06:59,669 --> 00:07:01,919
There's so many different ways
to talk about "fuck."

146
00:07:02,004 --> 00:07:03,804
You have the Fuck Family Tree,

147
00:07:04,298 --> 00:07:07,088
where Fuck meets Motherfuck,

148
00:07:07,176 --> 00:07:09,636
and those two fuck
and they have a Fuccboi.

149
00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,270
He never gets married
because he's always fuckin' around,

150
00:07:12,348 --> 00:07:14,808
but he had a Fuckwad and a Fuck Nut

151
00:07:14,892 --> 00:07:18,022
with this absolute fuck fiend,
Fuckin' Brenda.

152
00:07:18,104 --> 00:07:20,314
They all fucked.
But the motherfucker's brother,

153
00:07:20,398 --> 00:07:23,068
Uncle Fucker, was a real sick fuck.

154
00:07:23,151 --> 00:07:25,901
But he put them in the will,
so the little fuckers run around

155
00:07:25,987 --> 00:07:27,527
with a fuck ton of money.

156
00:07:27,613 --> 00:07:29,993
Then, there's the other
fuckin' side of the family.

157
00:07:30,074 --> 00:07:31,534
They're all fuckin' dicks anyway.

158
00:07:31,617 --> 00:07:33,367
"Fuck" means "sex," for sure.

159
00:07:33,453 --> 00:07:35,373
And then you can move outward

160
00:07:35,455 --> 00:07:38,745
and say, well, "fuck" also refers
to really mess something up,

161
00:07:38,833 --> 00:07:41,213
or "fuck" meaning "to screw someone over."

162
00:07:41,294 --> 00:07:43,214
These are all metaphorical uses.

163
00:07:43,296 --> 00:07:47,006
And-- and the fact that it's so taboo,
and has been taboo for a while,

164
00:07:47,091 --> 00:07:50,721
you know, it's kinda like Silly Putty--
you can stretch it

165
00:07:50,803 --> 00:07:53,143
into just about any meaning you need to.

166
00:07:53,222 --> 00:07:55,812
[Nicolas] Where does "fuck"
live in your brain?

167
00:07:55,892 --> 00:07:58,692
When you automatically,
spontaneously swear,

168
00:07:58,769 --> 00:08:01,729
it's an evolutionary old reflex.

169
00:08:01,814 --> 00:08:05,494
Apparently, swear words live in,
like, a different part of your brain.

170
00:08:05,568 --> 00:08:08,488
They live in, like,
the mom's basement of your brain.

171
00:08:08,571 --> 00:08:10,571
And I'm goin'
to that part of my brain a lot.

172
00:08:10,656 --> 00:08:13,076
There's a deeper, more emotional,

173
00:08:13,159 --> 00:08:16,949
evolutionarily old place
that profanity comes from.

174
00:08:17,038 --> 00:08:19,168
Deep in the middle of the brain,

175
00:08:19,248 --> 00:08:21,458
a part of the brain
we share with other primates,

176
00:08:21,542 --> 00:08:23,292
with other mammals, with lizards.

177
00:08:23,377 --> 00:08:27,257
That's the part that leads you
to swear when you stub a toe,

178
00:08:27,340 --> 00:08:30,930
or when your favorite football team
scores a touchdown.

179
00:08:31,010 --> 00:08:32,600
If something is tragic,

180
00:08:33,179 --> 00:08:37,139
my reaction will involve the word "fuck."

181
00:08:37,225 --> 00:08:40,305
When you swear, you produce adrenaline.

182
00:08:40,394 --> 00:08:43,114
It's part of the same
fight-or-flight reaction people have

183
00:08:43,189 --> 00:08:45,399
when they experience fear or anger.

184
00:08:45,483 --> 00:08:48,243
It can cause
the listener's heart rate to increase,

185
00:08:48,319 --> 00:08:50,199
make your palms sweat.

186
00:08:50,279 --> 00:08:52,619
You fuckin' do that again
and I will shoot you myself.

187
00:08:52,698 --> 00:08:55,328
That adrenaline
and the blood flow to the extremities

188
00:08:55,826 --> 00:08:58,116
makes it easier to tolerate pain there.

189
00:08:58,746 --> 00:09:02,206
It's also the same reason
why swearing makes you stronger.

190
00:09:02,291 --> 00:09:05,421
For example,
five percent stronger in grip strength

191
00:09:05,503 --> 00:09:07,763
when you're swearing,
compared to when you're not.

192
00:09:07,838 --> 00:09:09,048
[Nicolas] "Fuck!"

193
00:09:09,131 --> 00:09:11,551
It's so primal, so universal,

194
00:09:12,051 --> 00:09:15,431
that some of history's most famous people
channeled its power

195
00:09:15,513 --> 00:09:16,933
for their last words.

196
00:09:17,014 --> 00:09:19,604
Like beloved children's author Roald Dahl.

197
00:09:20,101 --> 00:09:22,561
"It's just that
I will miss you all so much."

198
00:09:22,645 --> 00:09:24,185
-[squirt]
-"Ow, fuck!"

199
00:09:24,981 --> 00:09:28,321
-[church bell tolls]
-Or notorious people lover W. C. Fields.

200
00:09:28,401 --> 00:09:33,071
"God damn the whole fuckin' world
and everyone in it but you, Carlotta."

201
00:09:33,573 --> 00:09:34,413
[church bell tolls]

202
00:09:34,490 --> 00:09:38,240
And even Venezuelan freedom fighter,
Antonio José de Sucre.

203
00:09:38,828 --> 00:09:40,618
-[gunshot]
-"Fuck, a bullet wound."

204
00:09:40,705 --> 00:09:42,205
[horse neighs]

205
00:09:42,290 --> 00:09:43,250
[church bell tolls]

206
00:09:43,332 --> 00:09:46,712
Every single person who's fallen
off a cliff, their last word was "fuck."

207
00:09:46,794 --> 00:09:50,014
Everyone who's been eaten by a shark,
they also said "fuck."

208
00:09:50,089 --> 00:09:51,339
I'm not surprised.

209
00:09:51,424 --> 00:09:55,144
I feel like that's probably
a lot of people's last words.

210
00:09:55,219 --> 00:09:57,219
[typing]

211
00:09:57,888 --> 00:09:59,018
I'm Elvis Mitchel,

212
00:09:59,098 --> 00:10:02,018
and I host a show called
The Treatment on KCRW.

213
00:10:02,101 --> 00:10:05,101
Thanks to the Supreme Court
and the ruling of 1971,

214
00:10:05,187 --> 00:10:08,267
"fuck" is part of our protected speech,
we have the right to say it.

215
00:10:08,357 --> 00:10:11,317
We have what they would call
"the God-given right."

216
00:10:11,402 --> 00:10:14,242
Using the word "fuck"
becomes a way to be heard.

217
00:10:14,322 --> 00:10:17,202
Certainly-- In the '60s,
Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland,

218
00:10:17,283 --> 00:10:19,743
they had a touring troupe, FTA.
Fuck The Army.

219
00:10:19,827 --> 00:10:21,247
And Fuck The Draft.

220
00:10:21,329 --> 00:10:24,459
You were using that word to say,
"I was taking a stand."

221
00:10:24,540 --> 00:10:28,880
"Fuck" is also something a person says
when they are deeply hurt

222
00:10:28,961 --> 00:10:30,551
or disappointed by something.

223
00:10:31,172 --> 00:10:33,422
♪ Fuck tha police
Comin' straight from the underground… ♪

224
00:10:33,507 --> 00:10:37,217
When NWA said "Fuck Tha Police,"

225
00:10:37,303 --> 00:10:40,263
it wasn't said
out of a sense of pure malice.

226
00:10:40,348 --> 00:10:43,638
It was said
with a deep sense of disappointment.

227
00:10:43,726 --> 00:10:44,846
♪ Fuck tha police ♪

228
00:10:44,935 --> 00:10:47,355
♪ Fuck, fuck, fuck tha police ♪

229
00:10:47,438 --> 00:10:49,898
-♪ Fuck, fuck, fuck… ♪
-That's what "Fuck Tha Police" did.

230
00:10:50,066 --> 00:10:51,776
That's what those words did.

231
00:10:51,859 --> 00:10:53,989
The power of NWA is that they were

232
00:10:54,070 --> 00:10:56,490
some of the earliest
successful gangsta rappers,

233
00:10:56,572 --> 00:10:58,872
and what gangsta rap really meant
in that time…

234
00:10:59,617 --> 00:11:01,867
was people sayin' things on songs

235
00:11:01,952 --> 00:11:04,252
that people were
not used to hearing in public.

236
00:11:04,330 --> 00:11:06,250
Going to a Public Enemy show

237
00:11:06,332 --> 00:11:09,462
or NWA in the '80s,
and just watching the way Eazy-E--

238
00:11:09,543 --> 00:11:11,503
It became lyrical,
the way he used the word "fuck."

239
00:11:11,587 --> 00:11:12,667
♪ …fucked up incident? ♪

240
00:11:12,755 --> 00:11:15,965
And to watch the way Cube would react,
and basically sort of--

241
00:11:16,050 --> 00:11:19,850
They'd do this call and response.
That to me was art.

242
00:11:19,929 --> 00:11:23,179
That was raising profanity
to the level of art.

243
00:11:23,265 --> 00:11:25,385
And making that part of art,

244
00:11:25,476 --> 00:11:29,306
becomes part of a conversation
we have every day, forever after.

245
00:11:29,397 --> 00:11:32,527
And, of course, the police
did not like to hear this sentiment.

246
00:11:32,608 --> 00:11:34,528
[woman] The group is NWA.

247
00:11:34,610 --> 00:11:37,860
The group's lyrics are
anti-police and anti-authority.

248
00:11:37,988 --> 00:11:39,698
I'm personally very offended.

249
00:11:39,782 --> 00:11:41,452
♪ Fuck tha police ♪

250
00:11:41,534 --> 00:11:44,504
[Open Mike] They didn't invent
the term "fuck the police."

251
00:11:44,578 --> 00:11:46,328
But they said it out loud.

252
00:11:46,414 --> 00:11:49,384
And it was analogous
that that same year, 1989,

253
00:11:49,458 --> 00:11:51,838
Public Enemy says "Fight The Power."

254
00:11:51,919 --> 00:11:53,839
So you got "Fight The Power" in New York,

255
00:11:53,921 --> 00:11:56,551
and you got "Fuck Tha Police" in LA.

256
00:11:56,632 --> 00:11:57,882
It's the same sentiment.

257
00:11:57,967 --> 00:12:01,007
It's just people
finally saying these things on record,

258
00:12:01,095 --> 00:12:04,175
because we have this new form
of expression called rap music

259
00:12:04,265 --> 00:12:08,265
where it's okay to say things
that you've been saying in secret.

260
00:12:08,352 --> 00:12:11,812
[Zainab] When you hear
people say "Fuck the police,"

261
00:12:11,897 --> 00:12:14,187
it's like, "I have no other options.

262
00:12:14,734 --> 00:12:18,074
And that's how I got here.
Because there's no other option."

263
00:12:18,154 --> 00:12:20,454
"Fuck" is a good protest word,

264
00:12:20,531 --> 00:12:24,871
because it is the swear word
that carries the most emotion.

265
00:12:24,952 --> 00:12:28,662
[Elvis] People need to be offended,
to be shaken out of their complacency,

266
00:12:28,748 --> 00:12:30,958
out of their misguided belief system.

267
00:12:31,041 --> 00:12:32,711
♪ Fuck tha police ♪

268
00:12:32,793 --> 00:12:34,303
According to numerous studies,

269
00:12:34,378 --> 00:12:39,258
"fuck" is not only the most used
swear word in the English language,

270
00:12:39,341 --> 00:12:40,761
it's also the most censored.

271
00:12:40,843 --> 00:12:43,803
It's the granddaddy of cussing,
and we can find it all around us.

272
00:12:43,888 --> 00:12:46,808
It's one of the oldest,
most vulgar words we have,

273
00:12:46,891 --> 00:12:49,851
limitless in its ability
to shock and offend.

274
00:12:49,935 --> 00:12:52,305
So, why do we see it now on cross-stitch

275
00:12:52,396 --> 00:12:54,266
and scented candles?

276
00:12:54,356 --> 00:12:55,686
And if we see it everywhere,

277
00:12:55,775 --> 00:12:59,235
why is it still censored
on TV and in movies?

278
00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:01,780
Often there will be censorship.

279
00:13:01,864 --> 00:13:04,624
Uh, generally,
it's not government censorship,

280
00:13:04,700 --> 00:13:07,580
although it can be,
like in the case of the Soviet Union.

281
00:13:07,661 --> 00:13:09,791
Often, it's people self-censoring,

282
00:13:09,872 --> 00:13:12,372
like, just deciding that this is not…

283
00:13:12,458 --> 00:13:14,748
these words
have no place in public discourse.

284
00:13:14,835 --> 00:13:18,625
they're harmful to morality,
they're harmful to children,

285
00:13:18,714 --> 00:13:21,054
and so, we will not say these things.

286
00:13:21,133 --> 00:13:23,843
And of course, everybody does.
But then they're shocked.

287
00:13:23,928 --> 00:13:25,758
People just laugh when you say "fuck."

288
00:13:25,846 --> 00:13:28,716
It's just… everything's fuckin' funnier
when you say "fuck."

289
00:13:28,808 --> 00:13:32,138
I feel like swear words are
definitely more powerful in America.

290
00:13:32,228 --> 00:13:33,558
Not that powerful in Britain.

291
00:13:33,646 --> 00:13:37,066
You can say, "Morning, you fucking cunt"
to someone and they'll be fine.

292
00:13:37,149 --> 00:13:39,319
Say that to someone in America,
you'll get shot,

293
00:13:39,401 --> 00:13:41,321
because guns are legal here.

294
00:13:41,403 --> 00:13:44,073
When you're being offended,
you're basically saying to the world,

295
00:13:44,156 --> 00:13:46,196
"I have better morals than this person."

296
00:13:46,951 --> 00:13:49,251
"This person did this,
but I'm better than them."

297
00:13:49,328 --> 00:13:52,038
They're not going home and going,

298
00:13:52,122 --> 00:13:55,172
"I couldn't believe
the words I had to hear…"

299
00:13:55,251 --> 00:13:58,341
And if they are, they can fuck off.
Like, what's the point?

300
00:13:58,420 --> 00:14:01,260
They shouldn't be out
in the general public and all that stuff.

301
00:14:01,340 --> 00:14:03,550
I think the word "fuck"
has a baseline magic

302
00:14:03,634 --> 00:14:05,014
that can never be removed.

303
00:14:05,094 --> 00:14:07,934
If somebody looks at you
and says, "Fuck you,"

304
00:14:08,430 --> 00:14:09,640
you're gonna feel that.

305
00:14:10,891 --> 00:14:15,351
Just because it's more common,
doesn't mean it's lost any power.

306
00:14:15,437 --> 00:14:19,317
Those fucking killjoys at the
Motion Picture Association of America

307
00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,150
still consider the word bad enough
to slap an R rating

308
00:14:22,236 --> 00:14:25,316
on just about any movie
that uses it more than twice.

309
00:14:25,906 --> 00:14:27,316
[typing]

310
00:14:28,117 --> 00:14:29,697
Until the 1960s,

311
00:14:29,785 --> 00:14:32,955
you got-- basically you were graded
by the Hays Code.

312
00:14:33,038 --> 00:14:35,328
And there were things
you just couldn't say.

313
00:14:35,416 --> 00:14:37,836
Then Jack Valenti came along
and the MPAA said,

314
00:14:37,918 --> 00:14:39,548
"Well, we're losing people.

315
00:14:39,628 --> 00:14:42,668
There are movies coming from Europe
where people talk about sex,

316
00:14:42,756 --> 00:14:44,756
and they apparently have sex
in these movies.

317
00:14:44,842 --> 00:14:46,972
We can't act like that
doesn't happen anymore."

318
00:14:47,052 --> 00:14:50,012
So, you had to acknowledge
that the real world existed.

319
00:14:50,097 --> 00:14:55,017
And the ratings offered ways
to gently introduce the concept

320
00:14:55,102 --> 00:14:56,602
of the real world to movies.

321
00:14:56,687 --> 00:14:58,937
With these rating, a G-rated movie

322
00:14:59,023 --> 00:15:01,323
will have a lot of sunlight,
and that's about it.

323
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:02,610
That'll do, pig.

324
00:15:02,693 --> 00:15:03,863
[sighs]

325
00:15:06,697 --> 00:15:08,027
That'll do.

326
00:15:08,115 --> 00:15:10,405
You get to PG
and there are levels of violence,

327
00:15:10,492 --> 00:15:12,122
maybe a couple of swear words.

328
00:15:17,374 --> 00:15:18,884
Son of a bitch.

329
00:15:18,959 --> 00:15:22,209
For PG-13, you can use the word "fuck"
and get away with it once.

330
00:15:22,296 --> 00:15:25,966
From the entire Channel 4 News team,
I'm Veronica Corningstone.

331
00:15:26,050 --> 00:15:27,890
And I'm Ron Burgundy.

332
00:15:27,968 --> 00:15:30,098
Go fuck yourself, San Diego.

333
00:15:31,013 --> 00:15:32,393
It can't be about fucking.

334
00:15:32,473 --> 00:15:33,933
And then you get to R,

335
00:15:34,016 --> 00:15:37,726
and you have movies
where characters talk like real people.

336
00:15:37,811 --> 00:15:39,481
Are you fucking kidding me?

337
00:15:39,563 --> 00:15:40,693
[silence falls]

338
00:15:40,773 --> 00:15:44,363
Profanity was
the life-preserver for movies.

339
00:15:44,443 --> 00:15:45,993
People went to the movies again.

340
00:15:46,070 --> 00:15:48,820
I think the first time I heard a curse
was in the movies.

341
00:15:48,906 --> 00:15:51,866
I think my parents took us
to see Coming to America.

342
00:15:51,951 --> 00:15:54,121
Once they got to, like, Queens,

343
00:15:54,203 --> 00:15:56,123
he was like, "We've arrived,"
or something.

344
00:15:56,205 --> 00:16:00,375
And somebody was like, "Fuck you!"
And he was like, "Yes, yes! Fuck you too!"

345
00:16:00,459 --> 00:16:03,249
[Sarah Silverman] I was in,
um… School of Rock,

346
00:16:03,337 --> 00:16:05,257
and I remember, in between scenes,

347
00:16:05,339 --> 00:16:08,009
the director was saying, uh…

348
00:16:08,092 --> 00:16:12,722
"It's PG-13, so we can say 'shit'
and we can say one 'fuck.'"

349
00:16:12,805 --> 00:16:16,635
I pitched that, um,
you don't use "fuck" at all,

350
00:16:16,725 --> 00:16:20,185
and then just the last, like,
after the credits,

351
00:16:20,813 --> 00:16:24,943
every-- you know,
the whole cast just goes, "Fuck!"

352
00:16:25,025 --> 00:16:26,185
[laughs]

353
00:16:26,276 --> 00:16:27,486
They didn't do that.

354
00:16:28,362 --> 00:16:31,742
Swearing in movies is big business.

355
00:16:31,824 --> 00:16:35,584
Just look at the filmography
of one randomly generated actor.

356
00:16:35,661 --> 00:16:38,501
You can see that
of the big six swear words,

357
00:16:38,580 --> 00:16:41,960
"fuck" and its derivatives
are by far the most frequent,

358
00:16:42,042 --> 00:16:46,342
making up 71% of the curses uttered
in the films of this random actor.

359
00:16:46,922 --> 00:16:50,182
So who do you think is
the sweariest actor of all time?

360
00:16:50,259 --> 00:16:52,719
Per movies, per swear words,

361
00:16:52,803 --> 00:16:55,933
per time on screen,
I think Eddie Murphy is your number one.

362
00:16:56,015 --> 00:16:57,845
No. Samuel L. It has to be Samuel L.

363
00:16:57,933 --> 00:17:00,983
He's swearin'-- He don't get the role
unless he can swear in it.

364
00:17:01,061 --> 00:17:02,981
When you're talking about the word "fuck,"

365
00:17:03,063 --> 00:17:06,283
it's hard not to really fall back
on the connoisseur of fuck,

366
00:17:06,358 --> 00:17:07,478
Samuel L. Jackson.

367
00:17:07,568 --> 00:17:09,108
What the fuck am I doin' in the back?

368
00:17:09,194 --> 00:17:11,494
You're the motherfucker
should be on brain detail.

369
00:17:11,572 --> 00:17:16,492
I remember I went to see Snakes on a Plane
only to see Samuel L. Jackson say,

370
00:17:16,577 --> 00:17:19,907
"I'm tired of these motherfuckin' snakes
on this motherfuckin' plane."

371
00:17:19,997 --> 00:17:21,617
It was-- it was magical.

372
00:17:21,707 --> 00:17:24,417
The sweariest actor
isn't Samuel L. Jackson,

373
00:17:24,501 --> 00:17:27,961
Al Pacino,
or my personal favorite, Yosemite Sam,

374
00:17:28,047 --> 00:17:30,257
but… Jonah Hill.

375
00:17:32,009 --> 00:17:34,509
And while Jonah Hill is known
for his R-rated comedies,

376
00:17:34,595 --> 00:17:38,175
it was The Wolf of Wall Street
that made him the king of the curse words,

377
00:17:38,265 --> 00:17:42,475
swearing a confounding 107 times
in that movie alone.

378
00:17:43,020 --> 00:17:44,900
-Jonah Hill?
-Jonah Hill?

379
00:17:44,980 --> 00:17:46,610
There's no-- Who's counting these?

380
00:17:46,690 --> 00:17:49,190
This is-- That's not true!
That's not true!

381
00:17:49,276 --> 00:17:51,356
How did Jonah Hill say it so many times?

382
00:17:51,445 --> 00:17:54,615
It wasn't until 2004
that "fuck" first arrived

383
00:17:54,698 --> 00:17:56,618
uncensored on the small screen

384
00:17:56,700 --> 00:17:59,700
in an airing of
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

385
00:17:59,787 --> 00:18:01,117
on Comedy Central.

386
00:18:01,205 --> 00:18:03,165
But it was way back in 1970,

387
00:18:03,248 --> 00:18:06,788
when M*A*S*H dropped the first F-bomb
in a major motion picture.

388
00:18:06,877 --> 00:18:11,257
Movies can still move the needle
when it comes to characters…

389
00:18:12,883 --> 00:18:15,053
basically, in effect,
inventing catchphrases.

390
00:18:15,135 --> 00:18:18,885
We see this happen with, uh…
with newly-invented swear words.

391
00:18:18,972 --> 00:18:20,392
So MILF is the great example,

392
00:18:20,474 --> 00:18:25,194
because we know exactly the thing
that spread it throughout the world,

393
00:18:25,813 --> 00:18:28,653
which was this movie,
which was American Pie in 1999.

394
00:18:28,732 --> 00:18:29,982
[John Cho] M-I-L-F.

395
00:18:30,067 --> 00:18:33,397
-A Mom I'd Like to Fuck.
-[laughing] Yeah, dude!

396
00:18:33,487 --> 00:18:36,697
If the best movies can do something
that make us want to be like them,

397
00:18:36,782 --> 00:18:40,332
and we hear something and,
"Wow, that's perfect. That…

398
00:18:40,410 --> 00:18:43,580
MILF? I'm usin' that.
I'm gonna find a way to use that."

399
00:18:44,081 --> 00:18:47,501
And you hear that in American Pie,
and then, ten years later,

400
00:18:48,001 --> 00:18:51,671
on 30 Rock, there's a fake reality show
called MILF Island.

401
00:18:51,755 --> 00:18:53,965
And it's everywhere. I mean, so…

402
00:18:54,842 --> 00:18:58,472
movies still can… act as these catalysts

403
00:18:58,554 --> 00:19:02,354
for keeping the language alive
in ways that are exciting.

404
00:19:02,432 --> 00:19:03,982
I love "fuck."

405
00:19:04,059 --> 00:19:06,599
It's like the Tom Hanks of curse words.

406
00:19:06,687 --> 00:19:09,817
It can do anything, can be in anything,
and we never get sick of it.

407
00:19:11,066 --> 00:19:13,486
We need to be able to say swear words.

408
00:19:14,319 --> 00:19:16,409
We need to be able to say "fuck."

409
00:19:16,989 --> 00:19:19,279
It's a gateway for creativity,

410
00:19:19,366 --> 00:19:21,696
it's a form of protest, and…

411
00:19:22,452 --> 00:19:23,752
it's good for us.

412
00:19:25,789 --> 00:19:27,669
-[bell dings]
-I think there's a need now

413
00:19:27,749 --> 00:19:30,539
for swearing and profanity
more than any other time.

414
00:19:30,627 --> 00:19:34,127
We need the relief, the release.
That's really what profanity gives us.

415
00:19:34,631 --> 00:19:36,341
"Oh, shit!"

416
00:19:36,425 --> 00:19:38,505
Just a chance
to get that kind of stuff out.

417
00:19:38,594 --> 00:19:41,434
Bitch. Fuck. Shit. Damn. Pussy. Dick.

418
00:19:41,513 --> 00:19:43,473
I like that there are words you can't say

419
00:19:43,557 --> 00:19:46,557
and that you can only say
on special occasions.

420
00:19:46,643 --> 00:19:48,483
Like Christmas.

421
00:19:48,562 --> 00:19:52,732
Swearing is important if you need it
to get out your frustration

422
00:19:52,816 --> 00:19:54,686
or your despair.

423
00:19:54,776 --> 00:19:56,356
What the fuck?

424
00:19:56,445 --> 00:19:59,865
It's not important when
you're just swearing for swearing's sake.

425
00:19:59,948 --> 00:20:02,448
Don't swear for swearing's sake.
We're better than that.

426
00:20:02,534 --> 00:20:04,204
Swear because you mean it.

427
00:20:04,786 --> 00:20:05,906
I'm Nicolas Cage.

428
00:20:06,413 --> 00:20:07,793
Have a great fuckin' night.

429
00:20:45,744 --> 00:20:46,794
[man] G-dshh!