Swearing ties to national identity: Australians embrace 'C word' as cultural marker
Linguists find the profanities a nation favors reflect cultural values, with Australians reclaiming once-taboo language as identity.
What to know
- Research shows Americans swear most frequently online, but Australians rank second in creative breadth and range of profanities, while Brits top for inventive phrases.
- Young Australians increasingly view the C word—once taboo—as a marker of cultural identity and national distinctiveness, a shift reflected in TV shows moving from censorship to uncensored use.
- The same word remains harsh and offensive in American culture, illustrating how national attitudes toward language reflect deeper cultural values.
- Popular culture and the internet appear to accelerate normalization of profanities, reshaping what societies consider acceptable speech.
“Australians were [also] very creative in the number of forms they use [such as] bloody, crap, idiot, damn. Whereas Americans, when they use vulgarity, they focus on fuck and shit.”
Martin Schweinberger, Linguist, University of Queensland · The Guardian ↗
Martin Schweinberger Linguist, University of QueenslandKate Burridge Linguist, Monash UniversityAmanda Laugesen Lexicographer, Australian National Dictionary directorDylan Swayne Hughes PhD philosophy student, Monash University
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Laugesen prepares second edition linking pop culture to shifting norms
Laugesen is releasing a second edition of Rooted, noting evidence since 2020 of young Australians embracing the word's 'amelioration' and creative uses as cultural markers. She observes that Australian TV's trajectory—from Kath & Kim in 2003 to The Bachelor and Married at First Sight by 2019 without censorship—reflects and accelerates cultural taboo-breaking.
“If you are hearing more of that in popular culture or online, it does help to shift the nature of what we think is acceptable.”
— Amanda Laugesen -
I feel the same way, and I've never used that word. If I ask someone not to say that word to or about me, they don't again, except one person (who is now a friend) said okay "okay, you C-word". I gave them a look, they laughed, we moved on. There was more to them than just using that word casually. In my experience both in person and online…
2 more of the top 3 · 7 posts in this stretch
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The word is slightly different in its pronunciation and usage and depending on context can still be very rude in Australia. For example, the casual Australian usage of the word (in friendly settings) often soften or completely excludes the hard T (e.g."sick cun-" or "mad cun-") whereas when used as an insult the fully-enunciated word is used.
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I might also add, that I'm a Publicans daughter. I grew up in pretty solid working class environment. But my parents NEVER allowed this word to be used in our pub. They weren't keen on any swearing, but could let most go...but using that word was shut down immediately. And if you repeated it? You were kicked out and banned.
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background
Hughes thesis documents Australian youth reclaiming the C word as cultural identity — Monash University PhD philosophy student Dylan Swayne Hughes published a thesis using online surveys and recorded commentary from 49 students and seven teachers across Victoria, showing young Australians identifying creative uses of the C word as particularly Australian.
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background
Schweinberger and Burridge publish online swearing research by nationality — Linguists Martin Schweinberger of the University of Queensland and Kate Burridge of Monash University released research on swearing patterns across nationalities collected from 2012 online data. Americans swore most frequently, followed by British, then Australians in third. Britain topped for creative breadth; Australians ranked second.
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background
Laugesen publishes first edition of Rooted: An Australian History of Bad Language — Amanda Laugesen, lexicographer and director of the Australian National Dictionary, published the first edition of her book documenting the history of profanity in Australian culture.
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first by The Guardian, 11d ago · also Guardian Culture, Guardian Media
What people are saying 4 voices from 1 site · best of 7 · verbatim
- Nov 2
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Wow, what an article.. Aussies like to swear.. Americans can't handle it.. surprised all round 🙄
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The first time I ever heard it directed at a woman was at the end of Kill Bill 2. I don't think I even knew about its anatomical meaning as a kid.
- Nov 1
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No problem with that word. It's nowhere near as offensive and does not have any anti-male back ground.
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The male equivalent, as in d**k (I'm assuming you don't want me writing it out in full)