Next time you stub your toe, try letting loose with a Bandoozer! Sarah from Elk Rapids, Michigan, says her grandparents invented a fake swear word bandoozer to give kids the thrill of naughtiness without any real harm. Bandoozer doesn’t appear in...
In response to our conversation about how to handle swearing in high-school classrooms, a longtime teacher shares a strategy that works for her. She insists that anytime students want to swear in her presence, they should instead say the words moo...
Laura in New Bedford, Massachusetts, asks how offensive bloody is when her mother uses it as a swearish adjective, as in this bloody car won’t start. The force depends heavily on where you are: Jeffrey Hughes’s Encyclopedia of Swearing describes...
David in Los Angeles says his churchgoing mother avoids swear words so faithfully that even a stubbed toe can bring out oh, piffle. Piffle has been around since at least the late 19th century, and to American ears it often sounds distinctly British...
How did the first person to say a dirty word know it was a dirty word? Geoffrey Hughes’ Encyclopedia of Swearing is a great source on this. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “The First Dirty Word” Hello, you have A Way with Words...
Jerry in San Diego, a food server, heard a coworker vent in the kitchen with sacapuntas, Spanish for pencil sharpener. The word works as mock profanity because it sounds forceful without being obscene, and in parts of Mexico, including Baja and...