What's in a swear? The world's filthiest words typically refer to something vulgar or taboo, for one. But there's something else swears across the world's languages have in common. They're all missing ...

“Holy motherforking shirtballs!” a character exclaimed on “The Good Place,” a television show that took place in a version of the afterlife where swearing is forbidden (as it is in The New York Times, ...

Ryan McKay receives funding from the NOMIS Foundation. Shiri Lev-Ari does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, ...

It’s about damn time. Premiering Tuesday, Jan. 5, and hosted by Nicolas Cage, the new Netflix series “History of Swear Words” takes a deep dive into the roots of taboo words, such as “f–k” and “s–t,” ...

Linguists have noticed that many swear words share the same sharp, punchy sounds—hard consonants like “k,” “t,” and “g” that burst out of the mouth rather than flow. When a study examined those sound ...

Nicolas Cage enthusiastically dwells on the word “pussy” in the first trailer for Netflix’s History of Swear Words, an upcoming series that examines the origins of the English language’s most beloved ...

A new study has revealed that “bloody” is no longer the favorite swear word of the British population. The (quintessentially English) impolite word has officially been dethroned by a more generic, ...