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WHAT THE ACTUAL “F”?

As we here in the USA prepare to celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, I rejoice in the fact that an ever-decreasing number of Americans continue to be shocked by the “F-bomb” and other once-considered-forbidden “swear” words: and I, for one, applaud this new-found freedom to express oneself without judgment or repercussions.

Nancy Mendelson Hertelier

These words have been an integral part of my “me-ness” since I first heard them used at home when I was a kid and told never to use them in public because they were bad. Right, there was the invitation to embrace them and make them my own. Tell me I can’t and…well, you know the rest. For me, these so-called bad words are simply verbal shortcuts that allow me to express myriad thoughts and feelings without boring people to smithereens with the state of my psyche at a given time.

Nancy Mendelson Hertelier

“Whether you find swear words coarse and vulgar or use them casually in conversation, there is no doubt that profanity is becoming more common and acceptable in our society. While you still can’t say those seven words on TV, we’ve moved beyond the age of arresting people for their choice of language, as George Carlin was in 1972" This from an article on Wordtips, titled "SWHERE WORDS," which shares key findings on Every U.S. State's Favorite Swear Word.

most swear words by state

The methodology

To find out which swear words are most popular across the country, Wordtips analyzed tweets from all 50 U.S. states and 320 cities, collecting data on a variety of the most commonly- used profanities and variations of those words and matched them up with the tweet’s location to see which places have the coarsest language.

Key Findings (don’t shoot the messenger – this is empirical data!)

  • ‘Fuck’ is America’s most commonly-used swear word, with 11.62 uses for every 1000 posts on Twitter.

  • With 48 curse words per 1000 tweets, residents of Georgia use the most profanities of any U.S. state, with Minnesota (15 per 1000 tweets) swearing the least.

  • Atlanta (56 curse words per 1000 posts) is America’s sweariest city, while Minneapolis residents (17 per 1000 posts) swear the least.

  • With 15 states using ‘shit’ more than any other swear word, it is the most uniquely popular profanity.

Have you ever wondered which names swear the most? Here you go!

most used swear words

If you are a sucker for charts, graphs, and empirical data in general, you are going to want to take a deep dive…it’s really f^&*cking fascinating. Have you ever wondered which names swear the most?


Here are some highlights of what else you’ll discover:

  • When do Americans Swear the Most – drilled down to hours of the day, days of the week, which holidays etc.?

  • What are the Most Uniquely Popular Swear Words in Each State?

  • Which States Swear the Most?

  • And oh, so much more!

The Wordtips study also found that “there is something about Independence Day that gets people of America swearing – 15 Tweets per 1000 posts on the 4th of July contained profanity. The empowerment of the pride celebrating the birth of the country clearly charges emotions for the country!” And I say, FUCK YEAH!!!

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