Share

cover art for 11: The F-Word

Very Bad Words

11: The F-Word

Matt talks with a number of people about everyone’s favorite swear word, including author of the book The F-Word, Jesse Sheidlower and radio colleague Andy Mills.

More episodes

View all episodes

  • 42: The N-Word

    41:10|
    Guest Producer Stephanie Billman helps guide us through the feelings, emotions, and history of the most violent, loaded word in the English lexicon, The N-Word. With guests Dr. Neil Lester, Dr. David Pilgrim, Marcie Brown, Malik Crumpler, Dardalie Brooks and Ernie Mendoza
  • 41: Constructed Curses in Sci-Fi & Fantasy

    29:19|
    Nerf-herder? Frack? Farking Zarquon? Guest producers Forrest Phillips and Emily Block guide us through cursing in fictional Worlds. Special guests include Marc Okrand - creator of Star Trek’s Klingon language, David J. Peterson - creator of Game of Thrones Dothraki language, and host of the Imaginary Worlds podcast, Eric Molinsky.
  • 40: Minicast - Conversational Klingon

    04:35|
    Matt talks to Marc Okrand about cursing in Klingon. The fictional Star Trek language that has become nearly as popular as the franchise itself.
  • 39: Euphemisms

    32:00|
    Certain topics in our society aren’t considered proper to talk about. To make it easier to talk about such sensitive subjects, we have invented terms that dance around the issues, instead of facing them directly.Join me and guests, Steven Pinker, Phyllis Sommer and Kate Burridge as we dig into euphemisms.
  • 38: Minicast - The "D" Word

    06:22|
    In this week's minicast, Matt reflects on a death that is close to him and how we use or don't use words about "dead". We talk a little with Rabbi Physllis Sommer to help explain.
  • 37: The Poo List

    30:20|
    Are you allowed to play swear words in scrabble? And if you really can, why aren’t they listed in the official scrabble player’s dictionary? Competitive scrabble players Stephan Fatsis and Brian Richgrubber tell us how it happened and why this is important in the competitive scrabble world.
  • 36: Minicast - The Accepted Slur

    06:08|
    In this minicast, Matt ponders why it's not okay to use the phrase, "Jew them down" ,but it's okay to say, "I've been gypped". Both words are considered offensive in their communities, but even people that we don't expect still use the word "gyp". We get some help from Romedia Foundation's executive director Katalin Barsony in the below clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmOyG1yz9G8
  • 35: George Carlin's Last Words

    27:35|
    On this episode of Very Bad Words, we put the last four words on George Carlin’s list on trial. Are these two 4-letter words, and two compound unequivocally indecent under all circumstances? With dirty words educator and linguist, Randall Eggert, and radio veteran, Ken Freedman
  • 34: Minicast - An American Comic in London

    07:03|
    George Carlin laid out the 7 words that can never be said on television, but of course he meant, American Television. In today’s minicast, Matt talks to British linguist, Damien Hall, to find out if those words are just as taboo in Great Britain.