The Long History Behind Modern Swear Words

Linguist Olly Richards of StoryLearning quite amusingly shared the historic origins of swear words, from ancient Rome through the 20th century. Richards also looked at how profanity helps with stress, how swear words were made safe for broadcast, and which swear words around the world carry the most meaning.

Ever wonder where swear words came from? In today’s video we take a deep dive into the history of swearing. We’ll look at some weird words that were forbidden (pants, anyone?) and find out which country has the worst swear words of all. Stick around. It’s going to be $#@$% awesome.

The Evolution of Swear Words in English

How English Swear Words Evolved Over Thousands of Years

Swearing as Stress Release

How Swearing Helps to Ease Emotional and Physical Pain During Stressful Situations

The History of Grawlixes

How Random @#*%!$ Characters (Grawlixes) Became Common Censor-Avoiding Replacements for Profanity

Algospeak and Other Euphemisms

The Long History Behind Algospeak and Other Euphemistic Self-Censoring Linguistic Terms
Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.



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