Jess Zafaris

I think it has to do with the relaxation of obscenity and profanity laws.

In fact, you know, George Carlin's seven words you can't say on TV.

Half of those are words that we barely consider to be that vulgar anymore.

Thanks so much, Mike.

I'm excited to be here.

Virtually every language in existence has some form of swear word.

It's a means of expressing emotions.

It can come down to relieving pain or frustration.

They say that screaming reduces your pain, and having a word that you can go to to express that also helps.

There are class dynamics.

It can help you communicate more authentically with an in-group or express that you're not in a situation to be serious or that you don't take yourself too seriously.

It can form a great insult.

It can exclude others.

And it can intensify or emphasize anything you want to say.

In English, it comes down to class dynamics.

You may be aware that during the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the English language was flooded with French words, and that's because the Norman ruling class established themselves in England as the ruling class, leaving Anglo-Saxons who probably

prior to that had spoken the Germanic-derived Old English as a more working class.

Many of the swear words that we use today are Germanic-derived words.

They're from Old English, and they've existed since Old English.

So words like the F word, the C word, and the SH word, these were simply, in many cases, the words...