Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 September 2022

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

*WARNING: This episode contains very strong language - including the F and C words - and derogatory terms for sex workers. So if you're likely to feel offended by these, please feel free to listen to another episode of Not Just the Tudors!*`

From the Ancient World to today, there have always been two kinds of swearing: testifying to the truth with your hand on the Bible or telling an annoying person to “get lost”. In the Early Modern period, as religion underwent a transformation - and bodily functions that were once public became private - swear words moved to and fro between the sacred and the profane, and sometimes combined.

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb traverses the history of bad language with Dr Melissa Mohr, author of Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing.

The Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie. It was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	In the UK, one talks about swearing.
0:07.1	In the US about cursing.
0:09.6	But we all know what we mean.
0:12.0	That explicit exclamation of shock or annoyance when we drop a bottle of milk over the newly
0:17.8	clean kitchen floor.
0:20.1	That utterance of exasperation when something you needed last week isn't coming till next
0:26.4	Tuesday.
0:27.4	What the f***?
0:28.3	That expression of incredulity and disbelief when one is told something surprisingly awful.
0:34.9	Oh!
0:35.9	Swear words are grammatically and idiomatically versatile.
0:39.1	The same four letter word can be used in various forms to tell someone to go away, to
0:43.1	express being beset by unfortunate circumstances that seem impossible to overcome, and to
0:48.0	exclaim that someone has messed up or spot something.
0:51.7	These often inappropriate words are an integral part of any language.
0:56.4	But what makes something a swear word?
0:59.1	And for our purposes, how modern are our swear words?
1:02.7	What would the tutors have said?
1:05.2	I should warn you that what follows contains some of the frutius words in the English language
1:10.4	from the very beginning.
1:12.0	If it helps, philosophers distinguish between use and mention.
1:16.6	We are not using curse words.
	...

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