I'm Brian Lehrer. This is my Daily Politics Podcast from WNYC Studios. This is a Saturday special.

So back in 1972, the comedian George Carlin released a stand-up album. One track was titled Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.

By the way, you can't say them on the radio either.

We'll get a fine from the FCC, or worse, lose our license.

But for the uninitiated, here's a little of how that routine went.

There are 400,000 words in the English language, and there are seven of them you can't say

on television.

What a ratio that is.

399,993 to seven.

They must really be bad.

They'd have to be outrageous to be separated from a group that large.

All of you over here, you seven, bad words.

Sir Carlin's routine, which will be 50 years old next year, is still pretty well known,

even by many in the younger generations, because it still resonates today, right? It's funny because seven words

seemingly random hold that much power. But maybe because of inflation since 1972, a new book

cites nine. So joining me now is John McWhorter, Columbia University Linguistics

Professor, host of the Lexicon Valley podcast at Slate, and author now of nine nasty words,

English in the gutter, then, now, and forever. John, always good to have you on. Welcome back to

WNYC. Thanks for having me, Brian,

and I should say that it's actually 9-12 words. It's 9-nep because the alliteration is cute,

but really it's 12 words, so you get 3 extra ones. Well, why 9 or 12? I'm not sure I understood

what you just said, but why that many and not George Carlin, seven?

...