# Deadwood TV Series Dialogue Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** hbomax-wb-dc\ **Created:** [July 15, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270 "2024-07-15T13:59:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/1 "2024-07-15T13:59:53Z")
As I may have mentioned, I enjoy watching the HBO TV series Deadwood. I enjoy the acting, the story, and the realism. It’s often criticized for being fake history and for its use of modern swear words. It may look and feel real, but it is pure fiction even though it uses living characters. I heard David Milch, the creator of the show, say that he chose modern swear words because if he used authentic swear words the dialogue would sound silly, or something to that effect. To my ear, most of the dialogue seems appropriate for the period, and only the swearing has been updated. My question is what would the swearing have been during that time period in the Old West? How weird would the dialogue be if they kept it as authentic as possible? Are there any movies or TV shows that have stuck with original swear words that I can reference? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/2 "2024-07-15T14:10:19Z")
I googled “swearing in the old west” and found this article, which specifically mentions Deadwood and also has examples of period-correct swear words and phrases. > **[Frontier Cussing](https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/frontier-cussing)** > > The obscenity of the West was indeed, 'striking,' but the obscenity of mining camps was unbelievable.” ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/3 "2024-07-15T14:14:10Z")
Thanks. I never thought of that. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/4 "2024-07-15T14:18:25Z")
One highlight of our extended RV trip back in 2009 was a stop in Deadwood, with a visit to the cemetery that has the graves of Calamity Jane, Wild Bill, and Seth Bullock. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/5 "2024-07-15T14:53:32Z")
Yes. I’ve been there three times and even considered moving there earlier this year. If I could go back in time, that’s where I’d want to live.The current town of Deadwood isn’t anything like it was back in the late 1800s. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/6 "2024-07-15T15:13:24Z")
I can’t find it now but I remember that David Milch said what would have been considered really offensive swearing back then was the blasphemous stuff, references to Christ or God or whatever. The idea was that to modern audiences, this would not sound all that offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/7 "2024-07-15T15:23:31Z")
I remember him saying that authentic frontier cussing would make all the characters sound like Yosemite Sam. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/8 "2024-07-15T15:24:14Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > The current town of Deadwood isn’t anything like it was back in the late 1800s. I would think that shitting outdoors, mud streets and rotting garbage would be a minus, but that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/9 "2024-07-15T16:01:11Z")
It was a mining camp long before it became a proper town, and if that’s how some people behaved, so be it. It might not be pleasant to live back then, but it sure would be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/10 "2024-07-15T16:49:19Z")
Yeah, I think he’s said multiple times that things like “Goddamn!” would have been pretty intense at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/11 "2024-07-15T16:56:56Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > It might not be pleasant to live back then, but it sure would be interesting. Hence the curse “May you live in interesting times.” 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/12 "2024-07-15T22:52:55Z")
Back in the day of Deadwood swearing such as damn, shit, piss, hell spoken in everday conversation, while regular for Deadwood citizens, would have been super offensive in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, etc. Milch amped up the swearing in the show, to make the average viewer in the early 2000’s find it somewhat offensive to them. > [@dolphinboy](#): > > To my ear, most of the dialogue seems appropriate for the period, There is no way that the Al Swearengen monologues would have been normal for the period. They are downright classic. _The world ends when you’re dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man… and give some back._ ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadwood-tv-series-dialogue-question/1004270/13 "2024-07-16T01:18:50Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > There is no way that the Al Swearengen monologues would have been normal for the period. They are downright classic. I disagree. From what I’ve read, long-winded dialogue from important men were not uncommon, although I agree that someone with Al’s past and upbringing would make them unlikely to have come from his mouth. Milch did a wonderful job writing Al’s dialogue, and if not necessarily authentic, I still find it very entertaining.