is most impressed that someone got up at 5am to post the podcast!

I was thinking of Jenny Owen Young while the podcast was going. Think it works because it's a natural phrase "what the fuck was I thinking" and the sweet (but menacing) way she uses it.

The other good use is at the end of "grace under pressure" by Elbow with the communal chant of "we still believe in Love so fuck you" which wouldn't be the same without the Fuck W.

Oh and lastly the infamous "fuck scene" in The Wire felt forced to me from about half way through it started to become a "writer thing" and not natural dialogue and some the "fucks" just don't work.

So glad to hear this, my favourite bit of Shakespearean profanity, given the appropriate mention. Also worth a look is some of the stuff Mercutio comes out with. Just filthy. My favourite one is his reference to "the dew-dropping south".

Fucking informative
Funny as fuck

Good work motherfuckers.

I couldn't believe that you didn't mention one of the best bits of swearing on the TV. Specially as you were part of the historic occasion of Bob Geldof saying 'Just give us your fucking money' must be one of the most effective uses of swearing on TV of all time.

And then it got mentioned anyway. What the hell. Like calling Scooby Doo a son of a bitch, calling your father a motherfucker is technically accurate, I suppose.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Filthy-English-When-Everyday-Swearing/dp/1846271...

A great podcast. I always marvel at how the combination of care in selecting guests and the strength of the Word personality ensures that the guests always gel so well for the sessions.

I should read the book I suppose, but a couple of sweary phenomena worthy of mention are:
- In the 70s and early 80s, as swearing became more acceptable in all levels of British society, polite, middle class bosses would gratuitously and inappropriately throw in swear words in an attempt to ingratiate themselves with their employees. The giveaway: They always pronounced the "ing" on the word of the word
- "Bewearing" is something observed by a mate of mine who is a GP in the East End of Glasgow. Some of his patients, feeling they shouldn't swear at the doctor, but not wanting to spoil the metre of their speech, using "buckin" instead of "f***in". "It was so buckin sore, I was up all buckin night wi' it".

I was glad to hear that I'm not the only modern parent who tries not to swear in front of the children. The only time my son has heard me use the f word was at a football match. He must have heard me, but didn't react, and I can only conclude that he didn't believe it could have been me.

This is the notorious example of what happened when The Big Lebowski got censored for television, resulting in a memorable substitution: "You see what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass" effortlessly becomes "You see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps".

I was so moved by this moment from Series 3 that I posted it on YouTube.

And now here it is for you, too.

...of the power of swearing. Those who have seen the bowdlerized version on daytime TV will know just how completely the comedy is stripped from this scene:

- to my mind one of the most effective ever, is in ShowBiz Kids, by Steely Dan. After a dazzling slide-guitar instrumental break, the vocals come back in with:

"Show Business Kids making movies of themselves,
You know they don't give a fuck about anybody else."

Rhythmically it works a treat, and as a kind of punchline to the song it works magnificently. A simple, but top, swear.

BTW Bruce sang 'The early bird gets the fuckin' worm' in 1995 which I think was his first swear on a record. He's pretty potty mouthed on some of those 70's boots thou.

although the Tynan footage no longer exists I rememebr seeing a clip of Charlie Drake and Henry MacGee discussing it on Sunday Night at the London Palladium or similar

Can't find a clip of the Frost show with swearing intact but I think it went

FROST: 'I want to talk to Jerry cos he's a reasonable man'
'He's one of the most unreasonable cunts I've ever met!'
FROST: You come on TV and say a rude word, big deal, so what?
'Why don't you say it then?
FROST: Cos I think its childish, pathetic and stoopid and we'll be right back.....

I'm a fan of the demure lady swearing as much as the next pervert - Kathryn Williams in 'Glass Bottom Boat' and the Nouvelle Vague cover of 'Too Drunk To Fuck' being personal highlights

and this wouldn't be half as good without the Fuck-w

I think Phil Jupitus's variation on that gag (in response to the heckle "Why are you so fat?")is even more effective:

"Because every time I fuck your Mum she gives me a biscuit."

The cosy, comfy linking of "Mum" and "biscuit" makes an even bigger and better contrast with the reference to fucking, than the one quoted in the podcast.

Didn't I read that in Word a couple of months back?

By the way, it's very liberating being able to say fuck as often as we want to on this thread.

epitomized by the dreadful Rage Against The Machine song. I'll never forget seeing loads of rich students with floppy hair bouncing up and down to 'Fuck you I won't do what you tell me!' as if their Mum had told them to tidy their rooms and they were two year olds.

Having just listened to the podcast whilst working can I say,

1. Get well soon Mr Editor

2. Kenneth Tynan has a fascinating write-up on here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Tynan which refers to his use of the word fuck on TV in 1965. Well I was absolutely positive he also uttered the word on Nationwide, a 1970's equivalent of today's One Show. It was some long-winded debate about the effect on the public of some politician's bit-on-the-side dalliance being made public.

However, a quick google reveals it was Peregrine Worsthorne. "On the BBC Nationwide programme in March 1973, he was the second person on the nation's television to say "fuck", when asked if the general public were concerned that a Conservative Government minister Lord Lambton (his future father-in-law) had shared a bed with two call girls." I remember him saying "the public did not give a fuck" and Michael Barratt going a funny colour during the interview.

once had a rather drunk and pissed off punter come up to the stage at the end of the show and yell

"YOU'RE ALL CUNTS - HALF OF YAS!"

as I've posted this before but my favourite put down of a heckler was JD Souther's as Dingwalls over a year ago now - "Shut the fuck up!" He couldn't have made himself much clearer.

Loved the podcast, had me giggling all round Sainsnbury's this morning. I was amazed our Word staffers didn't know the origin of the word testicles (testes). Were you not paying attention in Latin boy?

A couple of examples of effective swearing in rock, all from the Who:

From Dr Jimmy (Quadrophenia) "Her fella's gonna kill me, oh fucking will he".

From Young Man Blues (Live at Leeds) "He ain't got nothing, he's got sweet fuck all".

And, of course, StarStar by the Rolling Stones always creatd a stir at teenage parties as people hearing it for the first time realised the lyrics of the chorus.

Would just like to add that, like Mrs. Ellen, my GLW's major 'swear' of choice is buggery bollocks. I quite approve of it, myself. The most effective deployment being "What the bb are you on about / was that all about?"
She rarely uses the f*ck w & have never heard her utter a c*nt w in my life...

(I include the *s as a tribute to my quondam days as a M*l*dy M*k*r reader.)

I must admit i got a kick out of seeing Snoop Dogg at Live 8 live on BBC (six o'clockish?)Completely unfettered. I really enjoyed his set,not a fan before that,but he won me over.
Jonathon Ross referred to it as something like "all his mutha lovin glory".
I suppose,the biggest kick i got was that the ripe,uncensored set i so enjoyed could NO WAY have been broadcast Live on American T.V...ha fuckin ha..
Since "wardrobe malfunction"gate", i believe all "live" U.S. tv has a delay built in.(?)
WE ARE the Swear capital of the Universe.

My personal favourite involves Arjuna Ranatunga, a rahter unsporting cricket capt and ian healy keeper in an australian team noted for its lack of sportsmanship.

Wikipedia explained it well

Fitness
Ranatunga's weight was also notable, and gave rise to an incident during a game played in humid conditions when he called for a runner, claiming that he had "sprained something". Opposition (Australian) wicket-keeper Ian Healy, responded that he could not get a runner for being "an overweight, unfit, fat cunt", a comment picked up by the stump microphones and broadcast on television. Ranatunga was known for controversially calling a runner during long innings due to his level of fitness

of course does it best!

*Yawns*

Good podcast. Probably one of the first swear words in rock to have an impact was surely John Lennon's 'Working Class Hero'. It just popped out of the speaker and you found yourself asking if you had heard it right!

"It's not big, and it's not clever"

I suppose one of the first "swearing" songs was 'Pee, Po, Belly, Bum, Drawers' by Flanders & Swann (although perhaps they are not quite in the rock 'n' roll category). I expect this was seen as a bit "near" by the BBC and rarely played, if at all.

I've been listening to them (usually in small doses) for over a quarter of a century now and I still can't make up my mind whether their songs would have been better without about 4 billion uses of robust Anglo Saxon.

Also, I still remember the shock and awe as an impressionable teenager of hearing the Pistols "Bodies" for the first time.

The tv programme 'The Thick of It' has a swearing advisor. Well worth it. The best swearing ever.

I still remember my shock at (what?) nine years old or so, hearing a Police b-side with the line "You can stick your fuckin' dead end job... Cunts!"

my Amazon wishlist yesterday; someone's bought it for me already.

The power of the Word Podcast. Though it should have been renamed the f-Word podcast for the occasion.

..although nothing tops "you big pranny" from the Troggs' tape.

I had to travel from London to Birmingham today so I saved it for the train journey. Those 50 minutes flew by, thanks for that.
The Stones' Star Star is mentioned above. I always thought it was pretty poor and was an attempt to rescue their rebellious image from the 60's after going into tax exile had dented those rebel credentials. To my mind it failed miserably. It's akin to the boss swearing to ingratiate himself as mentioned in another post above. (Apologies to those posters for not remembering their names).

A cyclist banged on the roof of the car in front of me and yelled "Fucking look where you're going!" which made me think you hear that construction a lot these days, rather than the more traditional "Look where you're fucking going."

It makes more sense though - it's the inefficient observation he's annoyed about rather than the direction of travel.

From The Thick Of It. A slight anomaly in that the non-sweary follow up bit is even better than the main swear-bonanza:

Back Shakespeare's day, and don't forget Chaucer "Queynte", didn't the REAL swearing involve The Lord's name and variants thereof? That was completely off limits. Bodily parts and functions were small beer in comparison. (And if you visit Ely Cathedral there's a sort of gargoyle over the door of one of the off shoot chapels holding her queynte agape. Different times.)

but then it is from 'Later...'

Another woman showing how it's done. PJ Harvey 'Who The Fuck?'

Also Siouxsie and The Banshees 'Drop Dead' and 'Helter Skelter' (I ain't no fuckin' dancer').