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Index
AAE. See African American English
AAP. See The American Academy of Pediatrics
abuse
physical, 183, 184
profanity and, 183–184, 224–225
Scandinavian study on, 183–184
verbal, 183–185
acronym, profane, 145–146
Ctfu as, 152, 153 (fig.)
MILF as, 151–152
as replacement word, 161
WTF as, 135
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain), 201
African American English (AAE), 207–208
athletes native speaker statistics of, 212
in-group self-identification in, 208
nigga in, 207–209
slur bans impacting, 212
aggression
the Bird study on, 55
Keele study on, 192–193
Pediatrics study on, 180–182, 188–189, 191–194
physical, 189
relational, 189
testing methods on, 194–195
Alaska Shorthand Reporters Association, 51
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), 180
American National Corpus, 186
American Pie (movie), 151
American Sign Language (ASL), 70
BASTARD in, 70, 71 (photo), 73, 75
BITCH in, 70, 71 (photo), 72, 73, 75
BOY in, 75, 75 (photo)
facial expression in, 73, 75
FUCK in BSL compared to, 76–79, 78 (photo)
GIRL in, 75, 75 (photo)
grammar comparisons for, 72
HEARING in, 73
iconicity in, 73–79
physical characteristics in, 73
PUSSY and VAGINA in, 73, 75
signs in, 71 (photo), 72 (photo), 74 (photo), 75 (photo)
THINK-LIKE-A-HEARING-PERSON in, 73
YOU BITCH YOU in, 72 (photo)
ancient Greece. See Greece
ancient Rome
digitus impudicus defined in, 59
emperors using the Bird in, 59
anticipatory errors, 104, 110–112, 112 (fig.)
aphasia
basal ganglia case study on, 92–93, 92 (fig.)
Broca’s, 85–88, 86 (fig.), 89–91, 90 (fig.), 97
causes of, 84
coprolalia compared to, 94–95
defining, 84
“E.C.” case study on, 90–91
global, 87, 88, 91
Lordat discovering, 84
Priest case study on, 83–84
Wernicke’s, 85–88, 86 (fig.)
Aristophanes, 59
arousal, in psychology, 183
ASL. See American Sign Language
athlete
AAE speakers’ statistics for, 212
Barkley on use of nigger as, 212
Bryant as, 197–198
Collins as NBA first openly gay, 198
NFL stance on slurs by, 198–199
profanity common for, 197–198
Sherman on banning nigger for, 212
sports leagues fining, 198–199, 202, 212
babbling, infants, 170
in signed language, 171
Barkley, Charles, 212
basal ganglia, 92–93, 92 (fig.)
beat-the-devil-out-of-her, 137
caused-motion construction and, 138
passivization rule and, 138, 139
benefit, profanity
Jay on cathartic, 224
pain tolerance as, 223–224
social tool as, 224
The Big Lebowski (movie), Johnson popularized by, 151–152
Billboard Music Awards, 10
the Bird, 80–81
aggression study on, 55
ancient Greece and, 59
ancient Rome and, 59
Brazilian equivalent of, 56, 57 (photo)
British equivalent of, 55, 56 (photo)
East Asia meaning of, 55
etymology of, 58, 59–60
folk etymology of, 58–59
gestures meaning, 55–58
iconicity of, 60, 66
meaning and uses of, 55
Mountza, Greek equivalent of, 56, 57 (photo)
phallic symbolism of, 60
Russian equivalent of, 56
Thumbs-Up compared to, 56, 56 (photo)
variations on, 62
word completion and gesture memory task experiment of, 63–67, 64 (fig.), 65 (fig.), 66 (fig.)
blasphemy
defining, 17
in grammar, 131
as punishable by death, 24
bleeping
as censorship, 217–220
increasing perceived frequency of profanity, 219–220
Knight documentary experiment using, 219
Bloom, Lois, 168–169
Bloom, Paul, 168–169
Booth, Paul, 146
the brain
about, 85
basal ganglia, 92–93, 92 (fig.), 95
Broca’s area, 85, 86 (fig.)
“E.C.” case study on aphasia and, 90–91
hemisphere functions in, 88–90, 90 (fig.)
inferior frontal gyrus in, 114–115, 115 (fig.)
language and, 85–88
limbic system role in, 95
multiple meanings of words and, 155
obstacles to studying language and, 96
profanity impacted by damage to, 4, 84, 86–88, 91–92
Tourette’s syndrome and, 93–94, 94n22
Wernicke’s area, 85–88, 86 (fig.)
See also aphasia
brain hemisphere
damage to left, 90–91
damage to right, 91–92
functions of, 88–90, 90 (fig.), 91
Bras d’Honneur, Up-Yours gesture, French equivalent as, 55, 56 (photo)
Brazil gestures, 56, 57 (photo), 60
Brigham Young University, 190
British Sign Language (BSL)
FUCK in ASL compared to, 76–79, 78 (photo)
PUSSY in, 77 (photo)
Broadcasting Standards Commission of Great Britain, 12–14, 13 (fig.)
Broca’s area, 86 (fig.)
aphasia in, 85–88, 89–91, 90 (fig.), 97
Bryant, Kobe
apology for use of profanity by, 198
Collins sexuality supported by, 198
Lakers fans twitter slur response by, 198
NBA fining, 198
referee sworn at by, 197
as shooting guard for Los Angeles Lakers, 197
sports as emotional for, 197
BSL. See British Sign Language
bullying, 206
Caesar, Augustus, 59
Caligula, 59
Cantonese
/>
censorship and, 19
as fucking-category language, 20
profanity in, 19–20
caregivers
Samoa study expectations of, 176–177, 177n
word assumptions of, 173–177, 174 (fig.)
Carlin, George
on context and profanity, 229
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation Supreme Court ruling over, 217–218, 239n8
on grammar, 122–123
“The Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television” standup routine by, 217
censorship, 215
artistic products methods of, 217, 217n8
bleeping as, 217–220
Cantonese and, 19
dog wound licking analogy for, 222
ESRB and, 216
FCC and, 10, 216–217
French and, 22
as ineffective, 220
Knight documentary experiment with, 219
laws and, 218
memory test and, 218–219
Motion Picture Association of America on, 216
under repressive regimes, 24
Russian and, 19, 24
South Park and, 219–220
sports leagues and, 198–199, 202, 212
Supreme Court cases on FCC and, 10, 217–218, 239n8
taboo words created through, 221
Venable and, 179–180
Wolf supermarket swearing and, 179, 180
See also freedom of speech
Cheadle, Walter Butler
Johnson term used by, 152
Journal of a Trip Across Canada by, 152
child-directed speech, 186
children
language development, 185. See also Samoa study
babbling stage in, 170–171
caregiver word assumptions for, 173–177, 174 (fig.)
child-directed speech and, 186
English first words of, 166
Jakobson on, 175, 176
learning to articulate for, 169–170
Ochs Samoa study on, 166–167, 176
peer-learning for, 168–169
statistics on first words of, 165
syllables pronounced by, 171–172, 172 (fig.)
word frequency and learning for, 186–188, 187 (fig.)
profanity of. See also Samoa study
AAP statement on, 180
abuse and, 183–185, 224–225
aggression increasing for, 180–181, 188–191
exposure of, 185
media on, 180–181
numbing effects for, 181–182
Pediatrics study on, 180–182, 188–189, 191–194
physiological responses of, 182–183
positive aspects of, 184
profanity use changing with age of, study, 188
punishing profanity of, 215
Chinese, 33
closed monosyllables, 38, 41n, 43, 45, 46n6, 152
cock as, 152
stop consonants in, 47, 47 (fig.)
exceptions to patterns of, 44
gitch as, 72n
open contrasting, 40, 41
psychology of profanity and, 40–41
speculative explanations for, 45–47, 47 (fig.)
statistical analysis, profanity and, 38–40
word aversions study on open and, 41–42, 42 (fig.)
The Clouds (Aristophanes), 59
cock, 220
as closed monosyllable, 152
in Google NGram corpus, 142–143, 143 (fig.)
in modern English, 142
origins of, 142–145, 143 (fig.) 147, 152–153
rooster as opposed to, 142–143, 143 (fig.)
Cockney rhyming slang, 160
Colbert, Steven, 151
cold pressor test, 223–224
Collins, Jason, 198
consonant stops, 47, 47 (fig.)
coprolalia
aphasia compared to, 94–95
coping strategies for, 94
Deuce Bigalo: Male Gigolo example of, 93
minced oaths and, 160
Tourette’s with, statistics, 93–94, 94n22
in various languages, 94, 94n22
copropraxia, 94
correlational studies, 185, 187–195, 206
court transcripts, gestures, 51–52
cultural views and behaviors
examples of changes in, 154
incest and, 222
non-profane gestures in, 52–54, 53n6, 54 (photo)
open defecation and, 222
polygamy and, 221–222
cunt, 164 (fig.)
in names, 153–154
origins of, 153–154
in Science of Cirurgie, 154
in street names, 154
cursing. See profanity
“Desensitization to Television Violence: A New Model” (Griffiths and Shuckford), 189
Deuce Bigalo: Male Gigolo (movie), 93
Dick, as a name
popular use of, 144
SSA data on, 144, 145 (fig.)
digitus impudicus, 59
diphthong, 172
ditransitive, 134
Dooling, Richard, 225
dysphemisms, 162
electroencephalogram (EEG)
explaining, 112–113
taboo speech errors on, 113
Elliot, Missy, 217n
emojis, 51
emoticons, 51
Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB)
criteria for censorship of, 216
ratings and profanity statistics by, 216
etymology of gestures, 60
folk, 58–59
euphemism, 161–162
exchange errors, 101, 110–112, 112 (fig.)
Motley study of, 107–109, 109 (fig.)
expletive. See profanity
facsimiles, 124
FCC. See Federal Communications Commission
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 217–218, 239n8
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Carlin and, 217–218
censorship by, 10
Fox fined by, 10
profanity defined by, 10, 217
profanity research of, 10, 216
punishments for profanity by, 217
Supreme Court cases on censorship of, 10, 217–218, 239n8
Fig gesture, 56, 57 (photo)
iconicity of, 60
Finger-Bang gesture, 65–67, 68
Finnish, profanity in, 19
flyting, 211n
fMRI. See functional magnetic resonance imaging
folk etymology, 58–59
four-letter words, 29–30
English and, 33–34
logographic characters and, 33
in non-English languages, 33
statistical uniqueness of, 31–33, 31 (fig.), 32 (fig.)
Fox television, 10
Francis (pope), 102
foreign language influence on speech of, 105
Freudian influence on, 104–105
profanity used by, 99–100
freedom of speech, 24, 218
laws restricting profanity and, 179–180
profanity and slurs use protected by, 227–228
Supreme Court limiting, 228
French
censorship and, 22
non-profane gestures in, 53, 54 (photo)
profane gestures in, 55, 56 (photo)
profane word-length in, 33
Quebecois, 20
Quelle Barbe gesture in, 53
On Se Tire gesture in, 53, 54 (photo)
Freud, Sigmund. See Freudian slips
Freudian slips
in Francis speech, 104–105
joke about, 103n11
Motley study on, 104–105
as speech errors, 102–105
Fritz Pollard Alliance, 202, 207
Fromkin, Victoria, 101
fuck
in different languages, 57, 76–79, 78 (photo)
origins of, 145–146, 153
fuckin
g-category languages
Cantonese as, 20
English as, 20
Hebrew as, 20
Russian as, 20
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 114
galvanic skin response (GSR), 109–110
gesture, 80–81
The Bird, 55, 58
Bras d’Honneur, 55, 56 (photo)
Brazilian profane, 56, 57 (photo), 60
British Bird, 55, 56 (photo)
in court transcripts, 51–52
cultural views on, 52–54, 53n6, 54 (photo)
emoticons of, 51
in English, 53
etymology of, 58–60
Fig, 56, 57 (photo), 60
Finger-Bang, 65–67, 68
in French, 53, 54 (photo), 55, 56 (photo)
Greek Mountza, 56, 57 (photo), 60
Holy, Fucking, Shit, Nigger Principle for, 61
iconicity of, 60–62, 66–68
language and role of, 49–51, 50 (photo), 51 (photo), 52n4
memory task experiment for, 63–66, 64 (fig.), 65 (fig.), 66 (fig.)
phallic symbolism in, 60, 61
pointing, 53–54
politicians using, 52
sarcasm and, 50
sexual intercourse in, 68
Thumbs-Up, 56, 56 (photo)
transcribing, 50–51
Up-Yours, 55, 56 (photo), 60
Get-the-hell-out-of-here construction, 137
passivization rule and, 138
Gone with the Wind (movie), 128
Google NGram corpus, 142–143, 143 (fig.)
grammar, 136n, 209
ASL comparisons of, 72
Beat-the-devil-out-of-her construction in, 137–139, 139n
blasphemy in, 131
Carlin and, 122–123
caused-motion construction and, 138
ditransitive verb use in, 134
examples of profanity and, 125, 133
of fuck you, 132
fucking influencing, example, 123–124
Get-the-hell-out-of-here construction in, 137–138
give in rules of, 127–129
imperatives in, 129–131
minimizers in, 125–126
negation in, 125–126, 126n
nigga as generic noun in, 209
orifice-creation and, 134
prescriptive rules of, 121
profanity rules for, 133–134
reflexive pronoun test and, 130, 131
subgrammars and, 140
subjects in, 129–131, 132
syntacticians studying, 126–127
uncertainty of events and, 135–136
verb and noun changing in, 163
vulgar minimizers and, 126–127, 127n4, 163
wh-clause and, 135–136
wh-question words and, 134–135
Great Britain, profane gestures, 55, 56 (photo)
Greece
the Bird origins in ancient, 59
Mountza gesture, 56, 57 (photo), 60
Griffiths, M. D., 189
GSR. See galvanic skin response
halo effect
examples of, 195
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