{ "id": "epd6dbjtr8", "slug": "history-of-swear-words", "title": "History of Swear Words", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual", "label": "Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.factual_entertainment_formats", "label": "Factual entertainment and specialist-interest formats", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.factual_entertainment_formats" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.factual_entertainment_formats.yr-2020-2026", "label": "Premiered 2020 to 2026", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.factual_entertainment_formats.yr-2020-2026" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual", "label": "United States · 2021 and later: Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual", "label": "Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual" } ] } ], "excerpt": "History of Swear Words: 2021 Netflix comedy-documentary series, six 20-minute episodes hosted by Nicolas Cage on Fk, Sh*t, B*tch, Dk, Puy, and Damn; Funny or Die/B17 production, 69% on Rotten Tomatoes.", "snippet": "History of Swear Words: 2021 Netflix comedy-documentary series, six 20-minute episodes hosted by Nicolas Cage on Fk, Sh*t, B*tch, Dk, Puy, and Damn; Funny or Die/B17 production, 69% on Rotten Tomatoes.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.factual_entertainment_formats.yr-2020-2026", "markdown": "# History of Swear Words\n\n**History of Swear Words** is a 2021 American comedy-documentary streaming series hosted by [Nicolas Cage](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicolas-cage) that explores the origins, usage, and cultural impact of six notorious English swear words. It premiered globally on Netflix on January 5, 2021, with six episodes of roughly 20 minutes each, one per word: F**k, Sh*t, B*tch, D**k, Pu**y, and Damn.[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81305757) • [2](https://www.netflix.com/title/81305757?s=i&trkid=13747225)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Premiere | January 5, 2021, globally on Netflix[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81305757) |\n| Format | Six episodes of about 20 minutes, one per swear word; TV-MA; comedy and documentary[2](https://www.netflix.com/title/81305757?s=i&trkid=13747225) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/history_of_swear_words) |\n| Host | Nicolas Cage, in a faux-professorial manner[4](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/history-of-swear-words) |\n| Words covered | F**k, Sh*t, B*tch, D**k, Pu**y, Damn[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81305757) |\n| Production | Funny or Die and B17 Entertainment; executive producers include Bellamie Blackstone, Mike Farah, Joe Farrell, Beth Belew, Brien Meagher, and Rhett Bachner[5](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-01-05/netflix-history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/history_of_swear_words) |\n| Reception | 69% Tomatometer and 54% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 62 on Metacritic; 6.4 on IMDb[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/history_of_swear_words) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/history-of-swear-words/) • [7](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/history-of-swear-words) |\n| Status | One season; listed as ended[8](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/52318/history-of-swear-words) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\n#### Season 1\n\nThe series opens with Cage looking straight into the camera with a deadly serious expression and delivering a monologue stitched together from famous expletive-filled movie lines and celebrity meltdowns: \"who the fuck do you think you're talking to?\", Bill O'Reilly's \"fuck it, we'll do it live,\" and [Samuel L. Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/samuel-l-jackson)'s \"I've had it with these motherfuckin' snakes on this motherfuckin' plane.\" The message is that profanity is cinema-grade material.[18](https://variety.com/2021/tv/reviews/history-of-swear-words-review-nicolas-cage-netflix-1234878335/)\n\nEach of the six episodes takes on one word and follows the same loose shape. Cage opens in his study, painting, reading, and pontificating about the word of the day.[19](https://www.newsweek.com/makers-netflixs-history-swear-words-talk-their-favorite-four-letter-word-1557867) The episode then ping-pongs between three kinds of segments: expert interviews, comedy sketches, and pop-culture history. The experts do the heavy lifting. Lexicographer Kory Stamper, who has written definitions for [Merriam-Webster](https://www.edgepedia.org/merriam-webster), traces how words drift in and out of taboo. Melissa Mohr, author of \"Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing,\" explains that \"fuck\" and \"shit\" only became unsayable during the Renaissance, when changing ideas about privacy made bodily functions shameful. Cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen, author of \"What The F,\" covers the neurology of why curse words hit the brain differently from ordinary speech.[20](https://www.salon.com/2021/01/07/history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage-netflix/)\n\nThe \"Fuck\" episode opens the season by clearing away the junk history. Cage debunks the beloved acronym myth that the word stands for \"Fornication Under Consent of the King,\" and instead suggests it probably derives from a Medieval Dutch word meaning \"hit.\"[21](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/review-nicolas-cage-uncovers-the-origin-of-your-f-bombs-in-21181425.php) From there it moves through the word's cultural battles, including the impact of N.W.A's \"Fuck Tha Police\" and the 1985 [Parents Music Resource Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/parents-music-resource-center) hearings, the Senate session that put [Parental Advisory](https://www.edgepedia.org/parental-advisory) stickers on albums.[22](https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/streaming-reviews/history-of-swear-words-review-netflix-doesnt-live-up-to-the-potential-of-its-premise-nicolas-cage) • [23](https://www.nme.com/features/history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage-2850234)\n\n**The most famous sequence in the series is the ice-water experiment, staged as a mock-scientific showdown between swearing and staying polite.** The show splits a group of entertainers into two teams: one, led by comedian [Nikki Glaser](https://www.edgepedia.org/nikki-glaser), is allowed to curse freely as a coping mechanism; the other must endure in silence. Each plunges a hand into a tub of ice-cold water and holds it there as long as they can. To a person, the cursing group outlasts the silent one, sometimes by a wide margin, and the show lets the smug satisfaction of the swearers play out on camera. It is the series' thesis in a single stunt: profanity is not just permitted, it is physically useful.[11](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2021/1/4/22211549/history-swear-words-review-netflix-nicolas-cage-documentary) • [20](https://www.salon.com/2021/01/07/history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage-netflix/)\n\nThe \"Shit\" episode runs from the word's Anglo-Saxon beginnings to a tribute skit in which [Isiah Whitlock Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/isiah-whitlock-jr), whose corrupt state senator [Clay Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/clay-davis) on \"The Wire\" turned a drawn-out \"Sheeeeeeeeiiiit!\" into television legend, attempts the world's longest version of his own catchphrase, stretching it far past any human decency.[23](https://www.nme.com/features/history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage-2850234) • [24](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/history-of-swear-words-tv-review-4111323/) The \"Bitch\" episode, widely called the standout, drills into how the word's meaning flips entirely depending on who says it and in what context, and charts its usage spiking during the Suffrage Movement and second-wave feminism, as the word was hurled at women who demanded rights.[11](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2021/1/4/22211549/history-swear-words-review-netflix-nicolas-cage-documentary) • [22](https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/streaming-reviews/history-of-swear-words-review-netflix-doesnt-live-up-to-the-potential-of-its-premise-nicolas-cage) The show also credits African American Vernacular English with shaping much of modern English profanity and visits the riot grrrl movement's reclamation of a misogynistic slur.[25](https://slate.com/culture/2021/01/history-of-swear-words-netflix-nicolas-cage-samuel-l-jackson.html)\n\nThe \"Dick\" episode lets [New Hampshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-hampshire) native [Sarah Silverman](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarah-silverman) hold forth on the real congressman named Dick Swett, and brings in feminist studies professor Mireille Miller-Young to explain why \"Dick in a Box,\" the Lonely Island song on [Saturday Night Live](https://www.edgepedia.org/saturday-night-live), mattered culturally.[24](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/history-of-swear-words-tv-review-4111323/) • [25](https://slate.com/culture/2021/01/history-of-swear-words-netflix-nicolas-cage-samuel-l-jackson.html) The \"Pussy\" episode follows the same word through misogyny and reclamation, and the season closes with \"Damn,\" the mildest word on the bill and, as the show notes, the only one that is literally used to curse somebody, in the theological sense of wishing damnation on a person.[24](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/history-of-swear-words-tv-review-4111323/) Along the way Mohr delivers the series' sharpest observation about why some curses feel worse than others: in American and British culture, broadly speaking, the sexual is more taboo than the excremental.[26](https://nypost.com/2021/01/04/nicolas-cage-netflix-show-uncovers-history-of-swear-words/)\n\n### Characters\n\nNicolas Cage hosts every episode as a version of himself: a grave, slightly unhinged scholar of profanity, equally capable of genteel pontificating and full-throated screaming. One experiment in the series reveals him as its most profane participant.[21](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/review-nicolas-cage-uncovers-the-origin-of-your-f-bombs-in-21181425.php)\n\nKory Stamper, the lexicographer and Merriam-Webster consultant, is the show's word-history authority and its most quoted expert; reviewers suggested she deserves her own series.[20](https://www.salon.com/2021/01/07/history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage-netflix/)\n\nMelissa Mohr, author of \"Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing,\" supplies the etymology and the big-picture argument that taboos are made, not born.[20](https://www.salon.com/2021/01/07/history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage-netflix/)\n\nBenjamin Bergen, cognitive scientist and author of \"What The F,\" explains what swearing does to the brain and body, including the pain-relief effect behind the ice-water experiment.[20](https://www.salon.com/2021/01/07/history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage-netflix/)\n\nNikki Glaser leads the swearing team in the ice-water experiment and represents the comedian's side of the show's brain.[20](https://www.salon.com/2021/01/07/history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage-netflix/)\n\nIsiah Whitlock Jr. appears in the \"Shit\" episode to perform an extended version of Clay Davis's famous \"Sheeeeeeeeiiiit!\" from \"The Wire.\"[24](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/history-of-swear-words-tv-review-4111323/)\n\nSarah Silverman anchors the \"Dick\" episode with the Dick Swett bit.[24](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/history-of-swear-words-tv-review-4111323/)\n\n### Interpretations and controversies\n\nNo real controversy attached to the show itself, but critics argued about whether it had anything new to say. Exclaim! pointed out that the episode lineup, \"Fuck,\" \"Shit,\" \"Bitch,\" \"Dick,\" \"Pussy,\" and \"Damn,\" is essentially [George Carlin](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-carlin)'s \"seven dirty words\" routine from 1972 minus one, and asked how timely a profanity history could really be in 2021.[27](https://exclaim.ca/film/article/history_of_swear_words_review) Others countered that the material on AAVE, the PMRC, and the shifting taboo lines was genuinely informative.[25](https://slate.com/culture/2021/01/history-of-swear-words-netflix-nicolas-cage-samuel-l-jackson.html)\n\n## Format and content\n\nEach episode takes one word and moves through its etymology, historical context, pop-culture usage, and social force. The F**k episode calls it \"the silly putty of the English language,\" a word that can refer to sex, rage, confusion, excitement, and more; the Sh*t episode traces medieval roots as a term for excrement and its evolution into something versatile and sometimes even positive; the B*tch episode covers recent reclamation of the word by some women as a term of strength and solidarity; the Damn episode notes that, though mild next to its profane brethren, the word has kept its meaning from biblical times.[2](https://www.netflix.com/title/81305757?s=i&trkid=13747225)\n\nThe series intercuts Cage's hosting with two kinds of talking heads. Academic experts include the lexicographer Kory Stamper, author of *Word by Word*; the cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen, author of *What The F*; Melissa Mohr, author of *Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing*; the film critic Elvis Mitchell; and Mireille Miller-Young, professor of feminist studies. Comedians and actors include Sarah Silverman, Nikki Glaser, Jim Jefferies, Joel Kim Booster, Nick Offerman, Patti Harrison, Zainab Johnson, Baron Vaughn, DeRay Davis, London Hughes, Open Mike Eagle, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/history-of-swear-words/)\n\n## Production\n\nThe series comes from [Funny or Die](https://www.edgepedia.org/funny-or-die) and B17 Entertainment.[5](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-01-05/netflix-history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage) Netflix announced it in December 2020 with Cage as host, and the trailer published on December 22, 2020 drew over 2.3 million views before release.[9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XByiHpUvrj0) Netflix described it as \"a loud and proudly profane series\" built on interviews with experts in etymology, pop culture, historians, and entertainers.[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81305757)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritics generally rated the series as mildly favorable. Rotten Tomatoes recorded a 69% Tomatometer from 29 reviews and a 54% audience score; its critics consensus said the show \"almost lives up to its name and host, but falls a little f-king short.\"[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/history_of_swear_words) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 62 from 14 critic reviews, labeled generally favorable.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/history-of-swear-words/) Reviewers split over the balance between scholarship and comedy: the Los Angeles Times called the segments on origins, historical context, and linguistic evolution the best part of the series, while finding the comedian interludes weaker;[5](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-01-05/netflix-history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage) the Guardian found the edifying moments came \"in fits and starts that come too sparsely for a run time this compact\";[10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jan/05/history-of-swear-words-review-nicolas-cage-netflix) and the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) called it \"a cheeky, entertaining and legitimately educational look at the etymology of the most common curse words.\"[11](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2021/1/4/22211549/history-swear-words-review-netflix-nicolas-cage-documentary)\n\n## The science the series draws on\n\nThe show's expert segments reflect a research literature that has grown substantially since the early 2000s. Swear words behave differently from other language: they are strongly connected to emotion, and evidence from aphasia and from coprolalia, the frequent uncontrollable swearing seen in some people with Tourette's syndrome, suggests that swear words may be stored and produced using neural networks distinct from those used for other speech.[12](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2022.103406) As the Harvard psychologist [Steven Pinker](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-pinker), Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, explains, the content of swear words varies across cultures, languages, and time periods: damn and hell were once highly fraught taboo words in English, in an era when people believed God monitored every word, while sexual words like f*ck and pr*ck were far more offensive before the sexual revolution than they are today.[13](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/06/why-are-you-cursing/)\n\n**Sound and offensiveness.** A 2023 study in *Psychonomic Bulletin & Review* examined whether swear words share sound patterns across languages. It found that sounds called approximants, including l, r, w, and y, formed with air passing between lips and tongue that are not touching, are less suitable for profanity, and that sound symbolism is more pervasive than previously appreciated; German profanity, for example, is heavy on plosives and short vowel sounds.[14](https://time.com/6238824/curse-words-across-languages/) This finding challenges the standard linguistic principle that the connection between a word's sound and meaning is arbitrary.[15](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10264537/)\n\n**Frequency and change.** Estimates of ordinary swearing vary with method: one study using voice recorders found that less than one percent of participants' words were swears,[16](https://time.com/2918103/the-f-word-lets-just-call-it-what-it-is-bleep/) while some linguists put the average at about five swears per 1,000 words spoken, rising to a conceivable 9.43 per 1,000 among people who swear at all, since one study found nearly half of university students did not curse in natural conversation. Use of the most common swear words on Facebook rose 41 percent from 2019 to 2021, and on Twitter by 27 percent.[17](https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/06/how-and-when-to-use-curse-words-happiness/661176/) Pinker also identifies distinct categories of swearing: dysphemistic swearing, chosen to arouse emotion; abusive swearing, meant to humiliate or intimidate; cathartic swearing, as after hitting one's head; idiomatic swearing, as in \"get your sh*t together\"; and truncated profanity such as geez or gosh, which withdraws the intention to offend while keeping everything else constant.[13](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/06/why-are-you-cursing/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [History of Swear Words, Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81305757)\n2. [History of Swear Words, Netflix Official Site](https://www.netflix.com/title/81305757?s=i&trkid=13747225)\n3. [History of Swear Words, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/history_of_swear_words)\n4. [History of Swear Words: Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/history-of-swear-words)\n5. [Netflix's 'History of Swear Words' isn't worth the expletives, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-01-05/netflix-history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage)\n6. [History of Swear Words, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/history-of-swear-words/)\n7. [History of Swear Words - streaming tv show online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/history-of-swear-words)\n8. [History of Swear Words, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/52318/history-of-swear-words)\n9. [History of Swear Words | Official Trailer | Netflix, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XByiHpUvrj0)\n10. [History of Swear Words review – Nicolas Cage curses through shallow Netflix series, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jan/05/history-of-swear-words-review-nicolas-cage-netflix)\n11. ['History of Swear Words' review: Netflix doc filthy rich with insight, Chicago Sun-Times](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2021/1/4/22211549/history-swear-words-review-netflix-nicolas-cage-documentary)\n12. [The power of swearing: What we know and what we don't, Lingua](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2022.103406)\n13. [Why are you cursing? Harvard Gazette](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/06/why-are-you-cursing/)\n14. [Here's Why Curse Words Sound the Way They Do, Time](https://time.com/6238824/curse-words-across-languages/)\n15. [The sound of swearing: Are there universal patterns in profanity? PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10264537/)\n16. [The F-Word: Let's Just Call It What It Is... [Bleep!], Time](https://time.com/2918103/the-f-word-lets-just-call-it-what-it-is-bleep/)\n17. [The Case for Mindful Cursing, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/06/how-and-when-to-use-curse-words-happiness/661176/)\n18. [Variety](https://variety.com/2021/tv/reviews/history-of-swear-words-review-nicolas-cage-netflix-1234878335/)\n19. [Newsweek](https://www.newsweek.com/makers-netflixs-history-swear-words-talk-their-favorite-four-letter-word-1557867)\n20. [Salon](https://www.salon.com/2021/01/07/history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage-netflix/)\n21. [San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/review-nicolas-cage-uncovers-the-origin-of-your-f-bombs-in-21181425.php)\n22. [Film Companion](https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/streaming-reviews/history-of-swear-words-review-netflix-doesnt-live-up-to-the-potential-of-its-premise-nicolas-cage)\n23. [NME](https://www.nme.com/features/history-of-swear-words-nicolas-cage-2850234)\n24. [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/history-of-swear-words-tv-review-4111323/)\n25. [Slate](https://slate.com/culture/2021/01/history-of-swear-words-netflix-nicolas-cage-samuel-l-jackson.html)\n26. [New York Post](https://nypost.com/2021/01/04/nicolas-cage-netflix-show-uncovers-history-of-swear-words/)\n27. [Exclaim!](https://exclaim.ca/film/article/history_of_swear_words_review)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series › Factual entertainment and specialist-interest formats › Premiered 2020 to 2026*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/history-of-swear-words", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/history-of-swear-words.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"History of Swear Words\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/history-of-swear-words. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[History of Swear Words](https://www.edgepedia.org/history-of-swear-words)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/history-of-swear-words](https://www.edgepedia.org/history-of-swear-words). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"History of Swear Words\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/history-of-swear-words. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "History of Swear Words: 2021 Netflix comedy-documentary series, six 20-minute episodes hosted by Nicolas Cage on Fk, Sh*t, B*tch, Dk, Puy, and Damn; Funny or Die/B17 production, 69% on Rotten Tomatoes." }