The Seven dirty words are seven words that were prohibited from use on broadcast media in the United States, including both over-the-air television and radio stations. The original list of seven, popularized by American comedian George Carlin, is:

• shit
• piss
• fuck
• cunt
• cocksucker
• motherfucker
• tits

History

In 1973, comedian George Carlin recorded a monologue called "Filthy Words," (Carlin's monologue word for word) which was subsequently broadcast by Pacifica radio station WBAI-FM on October 30 of the same year. A man complained to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) because his son had heard the broadcast.

The FCC asked Pacifica for a response, then issued a declaratory order upholding the complaint. No specific sanctions were included in the order, but WBAI was put on notice that "in the event subsequent complaints are received, the Commission will then decide whether it should utilize any of the available sanctions it has been granted by Congress."

Pacifica appealed against this decision, which was overturned by the Court of Appeals. The FCC in turn appealed to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the FCC, see: FCC v. Pacifica Foundation 438 U.S. 726 (1978).

This decision formally established indecency regulation in American broadcasting. In follow-up rulings, the FCC clarified that the words might be acceptable under certain circumstances, particularly at times when children would not be expected to be in the audience.

Expansion

Carlin later expanded the list to include the following words:

• fart
• turd
• twat

Since then Carlin's expansion of the list has included hundreds of words and phrases, including "beating the bishop", "yodeling in the gully" and the ever popular "Mongolian Cluster Fuck."

Current

In the 2000s, tits and piss are generally no longer prohibited from broadcast over public airwaves in the United States, with shit often allowed as well.

It is important to note that FCC regulations only apply to broadcast affiliates, not the networks themselves; cable networks are not officially regulated. However, many cable networks have Standards & Practices departments which censor their programming regardless because of the pressure put on them by advertisers. Once that obstacle is dealt with, the seven dirty words are fair game: see most FX original series and Comedy Central's airing of the South Park episode "It Hits The Fan" (during which shit is uttered 162 times in one half hour; a counter is provided at the bottom of the screen) and the R-rated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999). These shows all air later at night, usually after 9:00 pm. The band Blink 182 has a song called Family Reunion in which the words "shit piss fuck cunt cocksucker motherfucker tits fart turd and twat" are repeated 4 times, followed by "I fucked your mom." The ten words are from Carlin's ten-word version of the list.

The level of offense (if any) generated by a profane word or phrase depends on region, context, and audience.

The head of the FCC is appointed by the President of the United States. In recent years, the impact of letter-writing campaigns engineered by special interest groups have drawn attention to this position.

Related topics

• George Carlin
• Communications Decency Act