Swear words can be shocking, funny, insulting, or empowering. How is it possible that this small subset of language has taken on so much power? Where do swear words come from? How do they change over time?

 

In this College Edge seminar, you will explore the often-overlooked science behind profane language. Using perspectives from linguistics, psychology, anthropology, sociology, and neuroscience, the course examines the origins of swear words, how they sound and function grammatically, how they vary across cultures and change over time, and what happens in our brains and bodies when we hear or use them.

The class blends academic readings with examples from music, film, social media, and everyday speech. You will have plenty of opportunities to share your own observations about slang, taboo language, and cultural shifts, and to investigate profane expressions that interest you. Along the way, you will learn how scholars from a number of disciplines study language itself: as a complex and dynamic social system shaped by identity, power, emotion, and history.

The course includes a field trip to the Museum of Pop Culture at Seattle Center, where we will examine how taboo language appears in art, music, comedy, and other popular media. You will also hear short introductory talks from UW faculty across several of the disciplines we explore, offering a behind-the-scenes look at different academic departments and the kinds of questions they ask and tools they use to answer them.

By the end of the course, you will be able to explain patterns in the meaning, sound, grammar, and evolution of swear words, identify cross-cultural differences in profanity, and express perspectives about the future of curse words in American English. Designed as an engaging, discussion-based seminar, this course helps you build confidence as a college-level thinker while exploring a topic that is both academically rigorous and personally relevant.