The audio clip is a podcast episode from Vsauce featuring Michael Stevens, who explores the societal and linguistic aspects of swearing or using bad words.
Stevens begins by discussing the fact that people from Ohio were found to be the most likely to use curse words in a study of over 600,000 recorded phone conversations. He then delves into the etymology of the word "bad", tracing its origins back to Old English, where it was a derogatory term for an effeminate man.
He then mentions that 80% of swear words overheard in public in 1986, 1997, and 2006 were essentially the same, with the top two being the F word and the S word. He also mentions that 1% of all words we say every day are bleeped to cover a bad word, which is covered by a 1 kilohertz sine wave.
Stevens then discusses the different types of swearing, as delineated by Steven Pinker in his lecture. He mentions abusive swearing, which is used to hurt others, and emphatic swearing, where bad words are used to convey that current emotions matter more than proper social conduct.
He also discusses the concept of dysphemism, a euphemism that allows us to talk about something unpleasant while simultaneously letting everyone know we understand it's unpleasant.
Stevens then discusses the historical reasons behind the acceptance or rejection of certain words. He mentions how many of the bad words we use today are the result of class differences in medieval England, where the lower-class Saxons spoke a Germanic tongue and the upper-class Normans spoke a language related to French and Latin.
He also discusses the concept of idiomatic swearing, which is an easygoing type of swearing that doesn't emphasize anything.
Stevens then discusses the role of swearing in expressing emotion, particularly in providing relief in the face of pain. He also mentions that swearing may be centralized in the limbic system, along with emotions.
Finally, Stevens discusses the future of swearing, noting that while some bad words are becoming less taboo, others are becoming more so. He mentions that as societal views evolve, so too will the words that are considered socially unacceptable.
He ends the episode by saying that bad words are the precipitate of a larger reaction, the process of us slowly becoming what we want to become.
1. The speaker, Vsauce Michael, is addressing customer service and ensures that the call may be monitored or recorded.
2. The Marchek's Institute analyzed over 600,000 recorded phone conversations made by Americans to businesses in the United States.
3. People from Ohio were the most likely to use curse words, including the F word and the S word.
4. Washington State residents were the least likely to use bad words.
5. The term "bad" can be considered a bad word, originally used in Old English as a derogatory term for an effeminate man.
6. 80% of swear words overheard in public in 1986, 1997, and 2006 were essentially the same, with the F word and the S word being the most common.
7. The 10 most common swear words make up about 0.7 percent of the average English speaker's daily vocabulary.
8. Socially unacceptable words are used almost as often as socially descriptive words.
9. When a bad word is bleeped, it is covered with a 1 kilohertz sine wave. The symbols and squiggles used to represent a bad word are called growl exceeds.
10. Steven Pinker delineates five types of swearing: abusive swearing, emphatic swearing, and idiomatic swearing.
11. Historical swear words often came from things people were afraid of or perceived as dangerous or mercurial, such as death, disease, and infirmity.
12. The lower-class in medieval England spoke a Germanic tongue, leading to animal names for swear words, while the upper-class, who spoke a language related to French and Latin, only ate the animals, leading to names of the meat as swear words.
13. Swearing may be centralized in the limbic system, along with emotions.
14. People use bad words as alarms, as they hurt and are special.
15. Swearing is changing, with some bad words being used more frequently and others becoming less taboo.
16. The most common swear words are being sent out on Twitter every second.
17. Swearing is considered a safety seal ensuring certain dysphemism don't get worn down to a quotidian bluntness.
18. The badness of bad words is a boundary that sometimes moves arbitrarily and irrationally but always in the direction of acceptance.
19. Bad words have power and can be used to push for change.