1 00:00:10,093 --> 00:00:10,933 Sugar. 2 00:00:12,012 --> 00:00:12,852 Honey. 3 00:00:13,638 --> 00:00:16,098 Iced tea. Mm-mm-mm. 4 00:00:16,850 --> 00:00:18,230 Sounds good, doesn't it? [scoffs] 5 00:00:18,309 --> 00:00:20,979 Maybe slightly sweet, could maybe use a squeeze of lemon, 6 00:00:21,062 --> 00:00:22,862 but still, it rings pleasantly to the ear. 7 00:00:22,939 --> 00:00:24,399 It sounds nice. 8 00:00:24,482 --> 00:00:27,242 It sounds like something you'd sip with relish, 9 00:00:27,318 --> 00:00:30,658 swoosh around in your mouth and swallow with a big smile. 10 00:00:31,656 --> 00:00:33,736 But what if I told you that this phrase, 11 00:00:34,826 --> 00:00:35,696 "Sugar… 12 00:00:37,537 --> 00:00:38,537 honey… 13 00:00:40,415 --> 00:00:41,415 iced tea…" 14 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,300 is actually a secret code used to unlock a swear word 15 00:00:45,378 --> 00:00:47,378 so taboo, so graphic… 16 00:00:48,006 --> 00:00:49,836 that most of us can't even handle hearing it 17 00:00:49,924 --> 00:00:53,724 without seeing in our mind's eye the very disgusting… 18 00:00:54,554 --> 00:00:58,814 bodily function that this particular swear word is used to describe. 19 00:01:00,602 --> 00:01:03,062 Sugar, Honey, Iced Tea. 20 00:01:03,146 --> 00:01:04,436 Mmm. 21 00:01:04,522 --> 00:01:05,772 That's good shit. 22 00:01:11,905 --> 00:01:12,775 [bleep] 23 00:01:12,864 --> 00:01:13,914 [cat meows] 24 00:01:17,035 --> 00:01:19,785 I didn't get shit. Not even happy birthday. 25 00:01:19,871 --> 00:01:21,041 I don't give a shit. 26 00:01:21,122 --> 00:01:23,332 My favorite swear word is shit. 27 00:01:23,416 --> 00:01:25,286 Holy shit! 28 00:01:25,376 --> 00:01:28,836 I mean, obviously when I think about shit, I think about poop, right? 29 00:01:28,922 --> 00:01:29,762 That's obvious. 30 00:01:29,839 --> 00:01:31,879 Why is shit a swear word? 31 00:01:31,966 --> 00:01:33,546 It's a four-letter word 32 00:01:33,635 --> 00:01:38,215 that means exactly the same thing as the four-letter word of "crap." 33 00:01:38,306 --> 00:01:40,636 "I've a bunch of shit to pick up." No one's offended. 34 00:01:40,725 --> 00:01:42,305 We make all kinds of cool shit. 35 00:01:42,393 --> 00:01:45,523 They find out about the cool shit on the internet, they'll want the cool shit. 36 00:01:47,107 --> 00:01:48,397 Shit is… 37 00:01:49,234 --> 00:01:51,534 such an easy word to use. 38 00:01:51,611 --> 00:01:54,281 'Cause you can add it with any other swear word 39 00:01:54,364 --> 00:01:56,324 and it becomes something, like, cool and fun. 40 00:01:56,407 --> 00:01:59,537 "Ugh! This is some fucked shit, some ass shit." 41 00:01:59,619 --> 00:02:01,289 -"Some bitch shit." -"Shit ass." 42 00:02:01,371 --> 00:02:03,121 "Look at that fucking shit ass over there." 43 00:02:03,206 --> 00:02:04,996 "Some dope shit. Some damn shit." 44 00:02:05,083 --> 00:02:07,923 "You are in trouble. Some damn shit?" 45 00:02:11,047 --> 00:02:16,587 So, what are the origins of caca and doo-doo's rebellious older brother? 46 00:02:16,678 --> 00:02:18,638 [typing] 47 00:02:18,721 --> 00:02:22,061 Words don't start out as swear words. They're just words. 48 00:02:22,142 --> 00:02:26,232 And then, all of a sudden, they start to access, um… 49 00:02:26,312 --> 00:02:28,982 uh, a culture's sort of deepest taboos 50 00:02:29,065 --> 00:02:32,775 and just areas that the culture is really invested in. 51 00:02:32,861 --> 00:02:34,991 Somebody decided, at some point, 52 00:02:35,822 --> 00:02:39,742 in the history of its etymology, that this is a swear word. 53 00:02:40,243 --> 00:02:41,163 It's silly. 54 00:02:41,244 --> 00:02:42,954 "Shit" probably came from… 55 00:02:43,496 --> 00:02:44,366 an emotion. 56 00:02:44,455 --> 00:02:46,665 I mean, I know the smart answer is, like… 57 00:02:46,749 --> 00:02:50,419 it probably came from some Lat-- root word in a Latin lang-- 58 00:02:50,503 --> 00:02:51,923 Yeah, so-- some bullshit like that. 59 00:02:52,005 --> 00:02:54,415 [Melissa] "Shit" is an Anglo-Saxon word. 60 00:02:54,507 --> 00:02:57,137 Like most swear words, it was not obscene at first. 61 00:02:57,218 --> 00:02:59,008 It was just the word for excrement. 62 00:03:00,346 --> 00:03:03,636 In medieval English, there are medical texts 63 00:03:03,725 --> 00:03:06,555 where, you know, talking about excretion, they use "shit." 64 00:03:06,644 --> 00:03:10,324 In the Middle Ages, going to the bathroom was a communal experience. 65 00:03:10,398 --> 00:03:12,728 You didn't have a private room where you'd go 66 00:03:12,817 --> 00:03:14,527 by yourself and sit on the toilet. 67 00:03:14,611 --> 00:03:17,281 You had a privy with multiple seats. 68 00:03:17,363 --> 00:03:19,913 It could be you and someone you didn't know very well, 69 00:03:19,991 --> 00:03:21,911 or it could be you and your whole family. 70 00:03:21,993 --> 00:03:26,163 That is so beautiful. The image of all of us gathered together, shitting. 71 00:03:26,247 --> 00:03:30,877 Wouldn't we live in a much better society if instead of stepping into the bathroom, 72 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,090 and getting on our phone and answering emails, 73 00:03:34,172 --> 00:03:36,422 and, like, posting on Instagram, 74 00:03:36,507 --> 00:03:40,297 we sat next to another human being and said, "Hey, man, how are you today? 75 00:03:40,386 --> 00:03:41,966 How's that shit going for you?" 76 00:03:42,055 --> 00:03:44,675 Looked at somebody in their eyes while they shat. 77 00:03:44,766 --> 00:03:48,516 It would really destigmatize a lot of what makes us ashamed 78 00:03:48,603 --> 00:03:50,023 in the bathroom, I think. 79 00:03:50,104 --> 00:03:53,444 And we'd see a lot quicker waiting times at Starbucks. 80 00:03:53,524 --> 00:03:54,614 That's some bullshit. 81 00:03:56,611 --> 00:03:59,241 There's a really great story about where "shit" comes from. 82 00:03:59,322 --> 00:04:02,412 It's a folk etymology about how, uh… 83 00:04:02,492 --> 00:04:05,582 they used to ship shit across the Atlantic. 84 00:04:05,662 --> 00:04:09,792 "Shit" comes from, supposedly, "Ship High In Transit." 85 00:04:09,874 --> 00:04:12,504 The old story there is, somehow in the 1800s, 86 00:04:12,585 --> 00:04:15,545 people would have to ship manure across the Atlantic Ocean. 87 00:04:15,630 --> 00:04:16,710 Mark my words, 88 00:04:16,798 --> 00:04:21,048 one day I'll be paying to have my manure shipped across the bloody ocean. 89 00:04:21,135 --> 00:04:24,305 [Melissa] You'd have to put it high up. If it were in the hold of the ship, 90 00:04:24,389 --> 00:04:27,429 somehow the methane gas and heat would make it set on fire. 91 00:04:27,517 --> 00:04:28,887 Aah, who am I foolin'? 92 00:04:28,977 --> 00:04:33,107 I'm still hung up on some silly romantic notion of life at sea. 93 00:04:33,189 --> 00:04:35,609 [mockingly] "Freedom, adventure, treasure." 94 00:04:35,692 --> 00:04:36,692 [scoffs] Pfeh! 95 00:04:36,776 --> 00:04:40,816 In sooth, the only thing that's guaranteed in this life is sh-- 96 00:04:43,658 --> 00:04:45,658 [man] That was a bit of a lame-ass story. 97 00:04:45,743 --> 00:04:48,413 "I could have come up with a better story than that" bad. 98 00:04:48,496 --> 00:04:49,616 I mean, goddamn. [chuckles] 99 00:04:49,706 --> 00:04:51,996 [Nicolas] Before we continue on the history of "shit," 100 00:04:52,083 --> 00:04:55,423 let's explore the accomplishments of one of its greatest advocates. 101 00:04:55,503 --> 00:04:58,673 The actor Isaiah Whitlock came to prominence, uh… 102 00:04:58,756 --> 00:05:04,046 in The Wire for his use of the word "shit" in ways that nobody else could say it. 103 00:05:04,137 --> 00:05:07,467 "Shit" has become a huge part of my career. 104 00:05:07,974 --> 00:05:09,984 I didn't plan it that way. 105 00:05:10,059 --> 00:05:13,269 He says, "shiiiit." 106 00:05:13,354 --> 00:05:15,064 [laughs] 107 00:05:15,148 --> 00:05:19,568 I'm from South Bend, Indiana. My family's from Tennessee. 108 00:05:19,652 --> 00:05:23,662 So we have the South and we have the Midwest. 109 00:05:23,740 --> 00:05:25,410 So I blend the two 110 00:05:26,034 --> 00:05:27,584 to come up with… 111 00:05:28,077 --> 00:05:31,827 Shiiiiiit. 112 00:05:31,914 --> 00:05:37,594 …which I started doing in Spike Lee's movie, The 25th Hour. 113 00:05:37,670 --> 00:05:41,090 Did it in The Wire. That's when it kind of exploded. 114 00:05:41,174 --> 00:05:44,264 "Shit" is for Isaiah Whitlock what "fuck" is for Samuel L. Jackson. 115 00:05:44,344 --> 00:05:47,394 In fact, they're the "Ebony and Ivory" of the 21st century 116 00:05:47,472 --> 00:05:48,772 with those two epithets. 117 00:05:49,557 --> 00:05:50,927 [Isaiah] Okay, so here we go. 118 00:05:51,017 --> 00:05:54,477 I'm gonna do the world's longest "shit." 119 00:05:58,316 --> 00:06:04,816 Shiiiiii… 120 00:06:06,449 --> 00:06:08,449 [continuing] 121 00:06:13,206 --> 00:06:14,576 [typing] 122 00:06:14,665 --> 00:06:17,705 Science has shown that saying "shit" 123 00:06:17,794 --> 00:06:20,674 can be almost as good for us as the act itself. 124 00:06:21,214 --> 00:06:24,514 So, there are scientific studies that say that you… 125 00:06:24,634 --> 00:06:25,974 feel better when you swear. 126 00:06:26,052 --> 00:06:30,562 If you're in pain and you swear, your pain threshold becomes higher. 127 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:34,940 And there are groups that don't swear. They don't use profanity, 128 00:06:35,019 --> 00:06:38,059 but they do tend to walk the line. 129 00:06:38,147 --> 00:06:42,147 So you'll get people who say, "Well, I can't swear," for whatever reason, 130 00:06:42,235 --> 00:06:44,525 but they freely use words like 131 00:06:44,612 --> 00:06:47,622 "fudge" or "frick" or "shoot." 132 00:06:47,698 --> 00:06:49,658 And those are all euphemisms of swears. 133 00:06:49,742 --> 00:06:52,332 They all function the same way that a swear functions. 134 00:06:52,412 --> 00:06:56,922 Many people think that swearing is cathartic. 135 00:06:56,999 --> 00:07:00,999 That when you have some bottled-up emotions, it's useful. 136 00:07:01,087 --> 00:07:03,127 Like, just think about women in labor. 137 00:07:03,214 --> 00:07:08,264 If you're pushing a human through your body and out of your vagina, 138 00:07:08,344 --> 00:07:10,724 you don't wanna have to say 90 words. 139 00:07:10,805 --> 00:07:13,925 You don't wanna have to say, "Oh, my God, I'm pushing this human…" 140 00:07:14,016 --> 00:07:16,186 No. You say, "Fuuuuck!" 141 00:07:16,853 --> 00:07:18,273 And you push it out. 142 00:07:18,354 --> 00:07:19,314 All right. 143 00:07:19,397 --> 00:07:21,397 [man] So we're gonns do an experiment. You down? 144 00:07:21,482 --> 00:07:23,482 -Okay, cool. Let's go. Is it freezing? -[man] So… 145 00:07:23,568 --> 00:07:28,488 So the scientist asks you to stick your hand in a bucket of nearly freezing water 146 00:07:29,073 --> 00:07:33,953 and tells you either to say a swear word over and over for as long as you can, 147 00:07:34,036 --> 00:07:35,906 or to say some neutral word. 148 00:07:35,997 --> 00:07:39,037 And it turns out that you can hold your hand in the water 149 00:07:39,125 --> 00:07:42,495 about 50% longer if you're swearing than if you're not. 150 00:07:42,587 --> 00:07:44,257 [squeals] Okay. 151 00:07:44,338 --> 00:07:45,378 [exhales] 152 00:07:45,465 --> 00:07:46,585 [gasps] 153 00:07:46,674 --> 00:07:47,594 [yelps] 154 00:07:49,302 --> 00:07:50,642 [gasps] So, um… 155 00:07:51,971 --> 00:07:54,061 Motherfucking bitch. 156 00:07:54,140 --> 00:07:59,270 -Silly meeeee… -Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit… 157 00:07:59,353 --> 00:08:00,773 What? 158 00:08:01,522 --> 00:08:02,442 Shit. 159 00:08:03,691 --> 00:08:04,531 Motherfucker. 160 00:08:04,609 --> 00:08:05,569 Hooo! 161 00:08:06,527 --> 00:08:10,947 -Fuck. -[laughing] ♪ A, B, C, D, E… ♪ 162 00:08:11,032 --> 00:08:14,792 ♪ …iiiiiiiiii… ♪ 163 00:08:14,869 --> 00:08:17,289 Shit. Shit! Shit. 164 00:08:17,371 --> 00:08:19,001 Aaargh! Aaaargh! 165 00:08:19,081 --> 00:08:20,041 Shit! 166 00:08:20,124 --> 00:08:21,754 Pieces of… 167 00:08:21,834 --> 00:08:23,634 Shit. Shit. Shit. 168 00:08:23,711 --> 00:08:25,051 …cake. 169 00:08:25,129 --> 00:08:29,129 For some reason I don't wanna say "pussy." "Pussy" isn't gonna help me through this. 170 00:08:29,217 --> 00:08:33,137 …iiiiiiiiiiiii… 171 00:08:33,221 --> 00:08:34,561 Eeeeh! 172 00:08:34,639 --> 00:08:36,929 -Eeeh… aaaah! I can't do it. I can't. -[bell rings] 173 00:08:37,517 --> 00:08:38,807 -Yeah, man. -[bell rings] 174 00:08:38,893 --> 00:08:40,563 [exhales] 175 00:08:40,645 --> 00:08:42,475 -I'm done. That's enough. -[bell rings] 176 00:08:42,563 --> 00:08:44,363 -Fuck! [laughs] -[bell rings] 177 00:08:44,941 --> 00:08:46,151 -Oh, fuck. -[bell rings] 178 00:08:46,234 --> 00:08:47,784 Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. 179 00:08:47,860 --> 00:08:48,780 [bell rings] 180 00:08:48,861 --> 00:08:51,821 …iiiiiiiiii… 181 00:08:51,906 --> 00:08:54,076 -How many seconds? -Two minutes and 20 seconds. 182 00:08:54,158 --> 00:08:56,738 [screams] That's real! 183 00:08:56,827 --> 00:08:58,957 I wanted to swear so bad. You don't understand. 184 00:08:59,038 --> 00:09:01,918 The more I said "shit," I felt like I was, like, in a trance. 185 00:09:01,999 --> 00:09:04,339 The power of cursing. Like, it's important. 186 00:09:04,418 --> 00:09:06,668 It can help us withstand pain. 187 00:09:06,754 --> 00:09:08,464 Swearing is powerful. 188 00:09:08,548 --> 00:09:11,508 Thank fucking God that we get to swear. 189 00:09:12,260 --> 00:09:16,140 The ice experiment raises some interesting questions about why we swear, 190 00:09:16,222 --> 00:09:18,352 but also about how we swear. 191 00:09:18,432 --> 00:09:21,982 To understand the relationship between the brain and the profane, 192 00:09:22,061 --> 00:09:26,021 we must look at the curious case of a 19th-century railroad worker 193 00:09:26,107 --> 00:09:27,727 named Phineas Gage. 194 00:09:27,817 --> 00:09:30,487 And that is with a G. Gage. 195 00:09:30,570 --> 00:09:34,530 [man] Phineas Gage was on a job to lay railroad near Cavendish, Vermont. 196 00:09:34,615 --> 00:09:39,325 Boy, oh, boy. Lucky me. Another day, another hole in the ground. 197 00:09:39,412 --> 00:09:41,582 [man] Legend has it he forgot to pack the hole. 198 00:09:43,499 --> 00:09:46,919 It ignited and blew a three-foot-six-inch iron rod 199 00:09:47,003 --> 00:09:48,253 completely through his skull, 200 00:09:48,838 --> 00:09:51,468 -landin' a full 82 feet behind him. -[yells] 201 00:09:51,549 --> 00:09:55,759 Doctors were amazed he was able to speak immediately after the accident. 202 00:09:55,845 --> 00:09:57,925 I say, I say, shit! 203 00:09:58,014 --> 00:10:00,064 Shit on a goddamn shingle! 204 00:10:00,141 --> 00:10:01,681 But everyone who knew him 205 00:10:01,767 --> 00:10:04,397 -said his behavior changed drastically. -Shit! I say, I say… 206 00:10:04,478 --> 00:10:06,518 That he was no longer Gage. 207 00:10:06,606 --> 00:10:07,646 Shit! 208 00:10:07,732 --> 00:10:09,652 -He became more vulgar in his speech… -Shit! 209 00:10:09,734 --> 00:10:12,114 -…more aggressive in his personality. -Damn shit! 210 00:10:12,194 --> 00:10:14,864 -And findin' work became difficult. -Goddamn shit! 211 00:10:14,947 --> 00:10:16,447 Shingle shit! 212 00:10:17,074 --> 00:10:20,954 And he also lost most of his ability to produce language. 213 00:10:21,037 --> 00:10:25,207 Except when he would struggle to try to produce words, he would swear. 214 00:10:25,791 --> 00:10:28,461 The rod pierced his frontal lobe. 215 00:10:28,544 --> 00:10:32,214 And when it did that, it compromised parts of the brain 216 00:10:32,298 --> 00:10:34,508 that are responsible for planning, 217 00:10:35,134 --> 00:10:36,474 for social reasoning. 218 00:10:36,552 --> 00:10:41,972 These are the very parts of the brain we use any time we want to inhibit impulses. 219 00:10:42,058 --> 00:10:46,148 They saw this as a case where you could go from being a nice guy to an asshole. 220 00:10:46,228 --> 00:10:47,768 Shiiiit! 221 00:10:47,855 --> 00:10:51,185 [Nicolas] So, how do we use the word "shit"? 222 00:10:51,692 --> 00:10:53,782 I don't think I use "shit" as an expletive 223 00:10:53,861 --> 00:10:57,281 because it's become such a part of the way that I talk in general. 224 00:10:57,365 --> 00:11:00,075 When I'm using the word "shit," I'm usually saying, like, 225 00:11:00,159 --> 00:11:03,499 "I need to pick up some shit," or "I need to go drop some shit off." 226 00:11:03,579 --> 00:11:05,669 And then if I'm cussing, I'm like, "Fuck." 227 00:11:05,748 --> 00:11:07,788 "Shit" and "fuck" are pretty interchangeable. 228 00:11:07,875 --> 00:11:11,295 But, like, "fuck" has a little more power than "shit." 229 00:11:11,379 --> 00:11:15,049 So I suppose, like, as I'm forming sentences in my brain, I… 230 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:17,840 I make those choices appropriately. 231 00:11:18,427 --> 00:11:21,347 "Shit" is-- is bringing a knife to a gun fight, you know? 232 00:11:21,430 --> 00:11:23,560 "Shit" is also very effective. 233 00:11:23,641 --> 00:11:25,731 Uh… I'm a big fan of "shit." 234 00:11:25,810 --> 00:11:27,810 [flies buzzing] 235 00:11:27,937 --> 00:11:29,517 That is one big pile of shit. 236 00:11:29,605 --> 00:11:32,895 Let's say I… go to a restaurant. 237 00:11:32,983 --> 00:11:37,283 I'm like, "You know what? I wanna try this new shit on the menu. 238 00:11:37,363 --> 00:11:39,373 Let me taste this shit first." 239 00:11:39,448 --> 00:11:43,368 I call the waiter over and I'm like, "Is this the shit that I ordered? 240 00:11:43,452 --> 00:11:45,912 Because this shit don't taste like the other shit." 241 00:11:45,996 --> 00:11:47,996 The waiter's like, "What shit you talking about?" 242 00:11:48,082 --> 00:11:50,132 And I'm like, "The shit that I ordered." 243 00:11:50,835 --> 00:11:52,625 And he's like, "Shiiit." 244 00:11:52,712 --> 00:11:57,842 Shiiiiii… 245 00:11:57,925 --> 00:11:59,715 [typing] 246 00:11:59,802 --> 00:12:03,722 I think in the comedy world, jokes around the word "shit" can vary 247 00:12:03,806 --> 00:12:06,676 whether or not they're considered lowbrow or highbrow or not, 248 00:12:06,767 --> 00:12:10,017 based on if you're talking about, like, "shit" as "feces." 249 00:12:10,104 --> 00:12:13,774 Is it lowbrow? It depends on whose brow it is. 250 00:12:13,858 --> 00:12:17,608 I mean, you can't just say in one fell swoop 251 00:12:17,695 --> 00:12:19,695 that shit jokes are lowbrow. 252 00:12:20,406 --> 00:12:21,986 It might be brilliant. 253 00:12:22,074 --> 00:12:23,284 I just sharted. 254 00:12:24,326 --> 00:12:26,746 -I don't know what that means. -I tried to fart, shit came out. 255 00:12:26,829 --> 00:12:27,659 -Ugh. -I sharted. 256 00:12:27,747 --> 00:12:32,497 I got up on stage, talkin' my women's liberation bullshit. 257 00:12:33,377 --> 00:12:35,167 Them kids wasn't tryin' to hear that. 258 00:12:35,254 --> 00:12:37,924 Then I said, "Okay, who took a shit on the tour bus first?" 259 00:12:38,007 --> 00:12:38,967 They died laughin'. 260 00:12:39,049 --> 00:12:40,719 [laughter] 261 00:12:40,801 --> 00:12:43,101 Potty humor can be pretty sophisticated. 262 00:12:43,179 --> 00:12:46,429 I think it's, like, kind of taking its own journey where… 263 00:12:46,515 --> 00:12:49,595 people turn their nose up at it like it's unsophisticated and it's easy. 264 00:12:49,685 --> 00:12:52,345 It might be, like, New Yorker-level stuff. 265 00:12:53,147 --> 00:12:55,267 It all depends on the context of it. 266 00:12:56,984 --> 00:13:00,994 "Shit" is in a class of cuss words all its own. 267 00:13:01,071 --> 00:13:05,661 Unlike desirable fun words, like "fuck," "pussy" and "ass," 268 00:13:05,743 --> 00:13:08,333 "shit" is something virtually nobody wants. 269 00:13:08,412 --> 00:13:11,082 -[typing] -So how did "shit" become offensive? 270 00:13:11,665 --> 00:13:14,785 [Melissa] Other words for "shit" from the Renaissance were "beray" 271 00:13:14,877 --> 00:13:16,127 and "bescumber." 272 00:13:16,212 --> 00:13:19,382 And these words meant to spray things with shit, basically. 273 00:13:19,465 --> 00:13:21,925 It was a kind of word for violent pooping. 274 00:13:22,009 --> 00:13:25,139 But you can sort of see why they wouldn't be good swear words. 275 00:13:25,221 --> 00:13:26,391 They're not punchy. 276 00:13:26,472 --> 00:13:31,642 "Shit" is a… a little bit more bounded in terms of where it can go lexically, 277 00:13:31,727 --> 00:13:33,847 just because it's tied to waste, 278 00:13:33,938 --> 00:13:38,398 and so it tends to be used mostly of things that are not great. 279 00:13:39,485 --> 00:13:43,235 The word itself was fairly inoffensive for a very long time. 280 00:13:43,322 --> 00:13:46,242 You probably wouldn't bring it up in casual conversation 281 00:13:46,325 --> 00:13:49,575 unless you were talking to someone who dealt specifically with shit, 282 00:13:49,662 --> 00:13:53,042 like a farmer, or perhaps an attorney, ha, ha, ha. 283 00:13:53,582 --> 00:13:57,462 But as we got farther and farther from other people's shit, 284 00:13:57,545 --> 00:13:59,755 we distanced ourselves from the word as well, 285 00:13:59,839 --> 00:14:03,129 avoiding any mention of it altogether for hundreds of years. 286 00:14:03,217 --> 00:14:06,757 But why did we run away from number two for so long? 287 00:14:07,263 --> 00:14:10,603 More than likely, it was due to the invention of plumbing. 288 00:14:11,183 --> 00:14:13,353 People became wealthier in the Renaissance. 289 00:14:13,435 --> 00:14:16,645 They started to be able to build houses with more rooms, 290 00:14:16,730 --> 00:14:20,110 and this created our modern idea of privacy. 291 00:14:20,192 --> 00:14:23,362 And so, once you had the idea of privacy and that, you know, 292 00:14:23,445 --> 00:14:27,115 some of these functions should be done alone, 293 00:14:27,199 --> 00:14:30,999 not with all these people, we got a taboo around excretion. 294 00:14:31,078 --> 00:14:34,538 And then that made the word shit a swear word. 295 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:35,960 [Nicolas] By the 1930s, 296 00:14:36,041 --> 00:14:39,711 we start to see the rise of shit phrases like "shitfaced," 297 00:14:39,795 --> 00:14:43,255 "shithead" and "chickenshit" enter our lexicon. 298 00:14:43,924 --> 00:14:47,514 But its glass runneth over with uses and variations, 299 00:14:47,595 --> 00:14:50,675 and the word took on a broader role in our culture and slang. 300 00:14:50,764 --> 00:14:54,064 Especially over the last 50 years, "shit" has come a long way. 301 00:14:54,143 --> 00:14:58,313 It occupies this really precious real estate among profanities. 302 00:14:58,397 --> 00:15:03,487 It's offensive enough that you still get some credibility for saying it. 303 00:15:03,569 --> 00:15:06,279 -But it's not so offensive that… -[crackling] 304 00:15:07,031 --> 00:15:09,661 …it's basically… prices itself out of the market. 305 00:15:10,159 --> 00:15:14,249 …iiiiiiii… 306 00:15:14,330 --> 00:15:16,170 [typing] 307 00:15:16,749 --> 00:15:21,589 Dee Snider, lead singer of the band… [yells] …Twisted Sister! 308 00:15:22,087 --> 00:15:24,127 wore a tank top and plenty of product 309 00:15:24,214 --> 00:15:28,394 in the halls of Congress to defend artistic speech in 1985. 310 00:15:28,969 --> 00:15:30,639 The Parents Music Resource Center, 311 00:15:30,721 --> 00:15:34,561 co-founded by Tipper Gore, set the goal of increasing control 312 00:15:34,642 --> 00:15:39,482 over children's access to music deemed to have explicit lyrics. 313 00:15:39,563 --> 00:15:42,613 I have been asked to come here to present my views on, quote, 314 00:15:42,691 --> 00:15:46,491 "The subject of the content of certain sound recordings 315 00:15:46,570 --> 00:15:49,410 and suggestions that recording packages be labeled 316 00:15:49,490 --> 00:15:52,700 to provide a warning to prospective purchasers 317 00:15:52,785 --> 00:15:57,575 of sexually explicit or other potentially offensive content," unquote. 318 00:15:57,665 --> 00:15:59,455 [Nicolas] The result of those hearings? 319 00:15:59,541 --> 00:16:01,541 Parental Advisory stickers. 320 00:16:01,627 --> 00:16:02,747 There was this momentum, 321 00:16:02,836 --> 00:16:06,086 this head of steam that Black culture had developed 322 00:16:06,173 --> 00:16:08,513 that Tipper Gore and a bunch of people tried to stop 323 00:16:08,592 --> 00:16:10,972 with the Parental Advisory stickers. 324 00:16:11,053 --> 00:16:14,853 The Parental Advisory sticker, to me, was implicitly racist. 325 00:16:14,932 --> 00:16:17,812 And to all my friends. We all thought it was racist, because 326 00:16:17,893 --> 00:16:22,233 it came about in the '80s, when hip-hop finally became a commercial force. 327 00:16:22,314 --> 00:16:24,324 It was no longer an underground thing. 328 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:27,610 I thought, "This is a misunderstanding. This is a missed opportunity 329 00:16:27,695 --> 00:16:30,105 to have a conversation about where the culture is going." 330 00:16:30,698 --> 00:16:34,658 More conservative people try and invalidate 331 00:16:34,743 --> 00:16:39,673 people they disagree with by, like, pointing to their language as vulgar. 332 00:16:39,748 --> 00:16:42,418 As if to say vulgar language is a sign 333 00:16:42,501 --> 00:16:45,551 of, like, a lack of education or intelligence or something like that. 334 00:16:45,629 --> 00:16:49,089 It was just another fear of youth culture and Black culture. 335 00:16:49,174 --> 00:16:53,264 I think it's all respectability, politics and policing 336 00:16:53,345 --> 00:16:56,845 that perpetuate and uphold, like, racism. 337 00:16:56,932 --> 00:17:00,102 All these things that scared parents and scared Tipper Gore, 338 00:17:00,185 --> 00:17:03,355 only thing those records did were make kids want them more. 339 00:17:03,439 --> 00:17:05,569 It was like a fire sale sign in the suburbs. 340 00:17:05,649 --> 00:17:07,989 "Dude, this one's got a Parental Advisory sign on." 341 00:17:08,068 --> 00:17:10,318 I hated when people bought the ones without it. 342 00:17:10,404 --> 00:17:12,664 I hate wonderin' what the word could and would be. 343 00:17:12,740 --> 00:17:17,700 I did gravitate towards getting CDs that had Parental Advisories on 'em. 344 00:17:17,786 --> 00:17:20,366 Like, I remember Word of Mouf, by Ludacris, 345 00:17:20,456 --> 00:17:23,126 and it has, like, a big… kind of like a blowjob mouth. 346 00:17:23,208 --> 00:17:26,748 And it was, like, hyper-sexual and it had the Parental Advisory on it. 347 00:17:26,837 --> 00:17:29,297 And I was like, "Oh shi-i-i-it." 348 00:17:29,381 --> 00:17:31,381 Censoring is not a good thing for me. 349 00:17:31,467 --> 00:17:34,137 Who's deciding these are bad words? Who did it? 350 00:17:34,219 --> 00:17:36,389 Who said, "This is the worst word"? 351 00:17:37,431 --> 00:17:39,771 Which brings us to a time-honored tradition 352 00:17:39,850 --> 00:17:42,190 that continues to help reshape our culture. 353 00:17:42,269 --> 00:17:46,569 The transformative power of African-American Vernacular English. 354 00:17:46,648 --> 00:17:50,188 Once again, we owe a shitload of thanks to Black culture 355 00:17:50,277 --> 00:17:53,817 for taking linguistic toilet seats and turning them into thrones. 356 00:17:54,531 --> 00:17:56,871 "Shit" went from being something 357 00:17:56,950 --> 00:18:00,250 we avoided seeing, hearing, or saying at all costs 358 00:18:00,329 --> 00:18:02,999 to being the shit. 359 00:18:04,041 --> 00:18:07,881 [Kory] So "shit" really… starting in the 1970s, 1980s, 360 00:18:07,961 --> 00:18:11,511 there's sort of this new slang that starts taking "shit" 361 00:18:12,007 --> 00:18:14,467 and just sort of uses it everywhere. 362 00:18:14,551 --> 00:18:17,511 Imagine you've been called the worst you could be called so often, 363 00:18:17,596 --> 00:18:19,426 it doesn't mean anything to you anymore. 364 00:18:19,515 --> 00:18:23,805 That, in fact, you look for ways of showing how that worst thing you could-- 365 00:18:23,894 --> 00:18:27,194 that you're described as being is something that people should want. 366 00:18:27,272 --> 00:18:30,732 Now, if something is the shit, and this is how you differentiate 367 00:18:30,818 --> 00:18:33,448 between the good and the bad, that means it is excellent. 368 00:18:33,529 --> 00:18:36,319 It's kind of like taking that negative and inverting it. 369 00:18:36,406 --> 00:18:38,776 If somebody says I'm the shit, 370 00:18:38,867 --> 00:18:42,197 I'mma be like, "Well, thank you so much. I'm glad that you recognize it." 371 00:18:42,287 --> 00:18:46,747 That's about taking the profane and making it sacred, as far as I'm concerned. 372 00:18:46,834 --> 00:18:50,884 "Bad" used to be only bad until Michael Jackson encountered it. 373 00:18:50,963 --> 00:18:55,473 "Fat" used to be negatively toned until it traded an "F" for a "PH." 374 00:18:55,551 --> 00:18:56,721 "Shit" is the shit. 375 00:18:56,802 --> 00:18:59,142 So to be the shit, is the dopest shit ever. 376 00:18:59,763 --> 00:19:03,233 But you could be shitty, and then you ain't shit. Got it? 377 00:19:05,435 --> 00:19:10,015 There's a lyric in a song, it's like, to me, the most romantic lyric. 378 00:19:10,107 --> 00:19:11,147 He says, um… 379 00:19:12,025 --> 00:19:14,525 "You're the shit and I'm knee-deep in it." 380 00:19:17,573 --> 00:19:20,533 I think the word should… should be just a word. 381 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:22,410 I think it's a regular word. 382 00:19:22,494 --> 00:19:27,754 No one using "shit" 100 years ago, 200 years ago would have ever imagined 383 00:19:27,833 --> 00:19:31,093 "This shit is delicious" being something positive. 384 00:19:31,170 --> 00:19:34,460 "Shit" is just a couple decades behind "crap." 385 00:19:34,548 --> 00:19:37,888 If you feel like you can say "crap" in absolutely any circumstance, 386 00:19:38,385 --> 00:19:40,175 that's where "shit" is going too. 387 00:19:41,930 --> 00:19:45,020 No matter if you're tired of taking somebody's shit 388 00:19:45,517 --> 00:19:47,267 or you're taking one yourself, 389 00:19:47,352 --> 00:19:50,862 remember, "shit" is the great equalizer. 390 00:19:50,939 --> 00:19:53,649 No matter your race, your religion or creed, 391 00:19:53,734 --> 00:19:55,404 king or peasant, 392 00:19:55,485 --> 00:19:57,195 everybody shits! 393 00:19:57,279 --> 00:20:02,829 …iiiiit! 394 00:20:03,493 --> 00:20:05,793 -[crowd cheering and applauding] -That's it. 395 00:20:06,580 --> 00:20:08,870 Call The Guinness Book of World Records. 396 00:20:09,541 --> 00:20:11,041 That's it. I'm done.