# How Do They Pick What Swearwords to Edit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327 "2005-01-12T03:29:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/21 "2005-01-12T16:41:19Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I recall the scene on the Simpsons where the Flander’s house was destroyed by a tornado and Todd & Rod got clothes from a donation bin. Todd is wearing a Butthole Surfers T-shirt, as he proudly announces, “Look Daddy, I’m a surfer!” To be fair, I think you could only seen “utthole Surfers”, so maybe that makes it OK. “Ixnay on the Ashhole-tray”. I had the closed captioning on the other day (wet vaccing the TV room) and was quite surprised to read “circle jerk”–this was in the middle of the afternoon on TNT (which always dubs or bleeps the “naughties”). I wondered if that got dubbed something else or simply omitted in the audio. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/22 "2005-01-12T17:01:40Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > The networks won’t even allow a ‘goddamn’ during primetime. I’ve heard plenty on the New York cop shows. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/23 "2005-01-12T21:32:13Z")
I once saw **American Beauty** on AFN (American Forces Network) and was surprised to hear that while terms I’d consider pretty mild like “dick” and “jerking off” were dubbed over, “fag” was not. I hesitate to blame this on the military, as I don’t think they can afford to have movies specially edited for broadcast. I’m pretty sure they just use whatever edited-for-television version already exists. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/24 "2005-01-12T22:25:07Z")
Former radio guy stepping in. I may be able to help. We had a little rule in the station, and it was this: “I can call you an asshole, but I can’t talk about your asshole.” It all has to do with context and whether or not you were referring to the actual body part or bodily function in question. Take “The Shield” on F/X. Vic Mackey can **call** somebody a worthless piece of shit, but you’ll probably not hear anybody talking about actually **taking** a shit. The former only refers to a guy using a derogatory term. The latter refers to the actual bodily function, which the FCC is more regulatory on. I agree it’s the dumbest rule structure ever known to man, but I also personally believe the FCC keeps it extra-vague so they can penalize those that don’t play ball with their arcane witch-hunts. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/25 "2005-01-12T23:41:22Z")
**Blazing Saddles** was running on ABC Family the other month – one does wonder what family ABC has in mind – and it struck me that it really makes no sense whatsoever to put that movie on broadcast. So many things had to be cut – swearwords, the “N” word, Dom Deluise’s song-and-dance (hint: it was NOT called the “French Mistake”), Governor LePetomaine’s secretary – that there really isn’t any point to watching it. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/26 "2005-01-12T23:52:38Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > True, but the “seven words you can’t say on TV” has since become a famous phrase. [So famous, in fact, that I feel they should make a major motion picture out of the routine.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396592/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9RmF0IEFsYmVydHxodG1sPTF8bm09b24_;fc=1;ft=20;fm=1) [Although maybe they should play it safe and start by making it into a Saturday morning kid’s show.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068072/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9ZmF0IGFsYmVydCBhbmQgdGhlIGNvc2J5IGtpZHN8aHRtbD0xfG5tPW9u;fc=1;ft=1) ---
**Author:** ![Princess\_Mombi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df788c/32.png) [@Princess\_Mombi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princess_Mombi)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/27 "2005-01-13T01:55:34Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > True. That’s what they mean when they talk about “taking the Lord’s name in vain.” This is something most Christians seem to misunderstand in their own faith. In the bible when it mentions “taking the Lord’s name in vain” it doesn’t mean you can’t yell God or Jesus when you are pissed, it means doing things in God’s name. Like starting a war or killing someone saying God told you to when he didn’t. I am still amazed to this day how many people don’t understand this :rolleyes: . ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/28 "2005-01-13T03:47:27Z")
The edit I find most highly amusing is the dubbing over “Eat my shorts” in _The Breakfast Club_ to “Eat my socks.” ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/29 "2005-01-13T04:01:36Z")
The other day on MPT (PBS), I was watching an episode of “Chef!”, and the word ‘cock’ was bleeped. As part of ‘cock-up’, meaning error. A very common, inoffensive term. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/30 "2005-01-13T05:55:19Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > According to fine fellows over at [findlaw](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=438&invol=726) the FCC banned certain words from being on TV and radio. > > The original seven words were, shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, mother-fucker, and tits. What about Semprini? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/31 "2005-01-13T06:02:25Z")
They occasionally show “The Godfather” on Spike, I believe, and it bugged me because of one part. When Moe Greene and Micheal are meeting in Las Vegas, at one point Moe says about Fredo “He was Banging Cocktail Waitresses two at a time”. But Spike apparently can’t handle “Banging” and replaces it with something else, making it sound totally stupid(Honking?). Since when is “Banging” a swear word? ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/32 "2005-01-13T12:56:02Z")
It’s annoying, but the opposite can be as well. Here in Australia (probably a few other places) FTA swearing is commonplace, and whilst I’m not personally offended, it can be kind of irritating. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/33 "2005-01-13T16:30:26Z")
The Stern show used to leave in “pussy” and “dick,” but only when it was an insult directed at someone. If someone talked about their own “pussy” or “dick,” the delay would kick in. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/34 "2005-01-13T17:02:36Z")
_ **Out!!!** _ > [@HPL](#): > > What about Semprini? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327/35 "2005-01-13T17:41:46Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > Here in Australia (probably a few other places) FTA swearing is commonplace, and whilst I’m not personally offended, it can be kind of irritating. That reminds me of a story. Years ago in school, when it came time to teach us about Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement, our history teacher got the brilliant idea to show us the movie _Mississippi Burning_. Obviously, she hadn’t seen it, and chose it based strictly on word-of-mouth, because she was totally unprepared for the torrent of obscenities that came from the charater’s mouths. She turned it off after about 10 minutes. The level of profanity was absolutely ridiculous. I swear they said “fuck” at least once per minute; by the time the teacher turned it off, us kids were keeping a running count of how many swear words we heard 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-pick-what-swearwords-to-edit/284327.md?page=1)