View source for Seven dirty words

{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Short description|Words traditionally disallowed in U.S. broadcast radio and television}}
{{Redirect|7 words|other uses|Seven words (disambiguation){{!}}Seven words}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
[[File:Seven Dirty Words WBAI.jpg|thumbnail|right|A poster in a [[WBAI]] broadcast booth which warns radio broadcasters against using the words]]

The '''seven dirty words''' are seven English language [[profanity]] words that American comedian [[George Carlin]] first listed in his 1972 "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" [[monologue]].<ref name=umkc>{{cite web|first=George|last=Carlin|editor=Linder, Doug|url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/filthywords.html|title=Filthy Words by George Carlin|publisher=[[University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law]]|url-status=dead|access-date=March 11, 2017|website=Exploring Constitutional Conflicts|quote=The following is a verbatim transcript of "Filthy Words" (the George Carlin monologue at issue in the Supreme Court case of FCC v. Pacifica Foundation) prepared by the Federal Communications Commission...|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123114427/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/filthywords.html|archive-date=January 23, 2011}}</ref> The words, in the order Carlin listed them, are: "[[shit]]", "[[wikt:piss|piss]]", "[[fuck]]", "[[cunt]]", "[[wikt:cocksucker|cocksucker]]", "[[motherfucker]]", and "[[wikt:tits|tits]]".<ref name=umkc/><ref>James Sullivan: [https://books.google.com/books?id=IWYmZd1T3HkC&q=seven+dirty+words+piss ''Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin'']. {{ISBN|9780786745920}}. p. 4</ref> 

These words were considered highly inappropriate and unsuitable for [[Broadcasting in the United States|broadcast on the public airwaves]] in the United States, whether radio or television. As such, they were avoided in scripted material and [[bleep censor]]ed in the rare cases in which they were used. Broadcast standards differ in different parts of the world, then and now, although most of the words on Carlin's original list remain taboo on American [[Terrestrial television|broadcast television]]. The list was not an official enumeration of forbidden words, but rather were concocted by Carlin to flow better in a comedy routine. Nonetheless, a radio broadcast featuring these words led to a [[U.S. Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] 5–4 decision in 1978 in ''[[FCC v. Pacifica Foundation]]'' that the FCC's declaratory ruling did not violate either the First or Fifth Amendments, thus helping define the extent to which the federal government could regulate speech on broadcast television and radio in the United States.

==Background==
During a performance in 1966, comedian [[Lenny Bruce]] said he had been arrested for saying nine words: "[[buttocks|ass]]", "[[testicles|balls]]", "[[wikt:cocksucker|cocksucker]]", "[[cunt]]", "[[fuck]]", "[[motherfucker]]", "[[wikt:piss|piss]]", "[[shit]]", and "[[wikt:tits|tits]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070302/ |title=The Lenny Bruce Performance Film |website=[[IMDb]] |access-date=February 18, 2014}}</ref>  In 1972, comedian [[George Carlin]] released his fourth stand-up album ''[[Class Clown]]''. One track on the album, "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television", was a monologue in which he identified these words and expressed amazement that they could not be used regardless of context. In a 2004 [[NPR]] interview, he said:

{{cquote|I don't know that there was a "Eureka!" moment or anything like that. [...] On these other things, we get into the field of hypocrisy. Where you really cannot pin down what these rules they want to enforce are. It's just impossible to say "this is a blanket rule". You'll see some newspapers print "f ''blank blank'' k". Some print "f ''asterisk asterisk'' k". Some put "f ''blank blank blank''". Some put the word "[[Bleep censor|bleep]]". Some put "[[expletive deleted]]". So there's no real consistent standard. It's not a science. It's a notion that they have and it's superstitious. These words have no power. We give them this power by refusing to be free and easy with them. We give them great power over us. They really, in themselves, have no power. It's the thrust of the sentence that makes them either good or bad.<ref Name="NPR-2004">{{cite interview |last=Carlin |first=George |author-link=George Carlin |interviewer=[[Terry Gross]] |title=Comedian and Actor George Carlin |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4136881 |work=[[National Public Radio]] |date=November 1, 2004}}</ref>}}

Carlin was arrested for [[disturbing the peace]] when he performed the routine at a show at [[Summerfest]] in [[Milwaukee]] in 1972. On his next album, 1973's ''[[Occupation: Foole]]'', he performed a similar routine titled "Filthy Words", dealing with the same list and many of the same themes. [[Pacifica Radio|Pacifica]] station [[WBAI]] broadcast this version of the routine uncensored on October 30 that year.

==''Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation''==
{{main|FCC v. Pacifica Foundation}}
In 1973 John Douglas, an active member of [[Morality in Media]], claimed that he heard the WBAI broadcast while driving with his then 15-year-old son, Dean, and complained to the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) that the material was inappropriate for the time of day (approximately 2:00&nbsp;pm).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs12.com/news/douglas_4708282___article.html/one_radio.html |title=Boca Man Forever Linked To George Carlin |publisher=[[WPEC]] |date=June 23, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628153847/http://www.cbs12.com/news/douglas_4708282___article.html/one_radio.html |archive-date=June 28, 2008 |access-date=February 18, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Samaha |first=Adam |url=http://www.law.uchicago.edu/files/file/314-as-story.pdf |title=The Story of FCC v. Pacifica Foundation (and Its Second Life) |access-date=October 5, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110419133818/http://www.law.uchicago.edu/files/file/314-as-story.pdf |archive-date=April 19, 2011 }}</ref>

Following the lodging of the complaint, the FCC proceeded to ask 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". WBAI appealed against this [[declaratory ruling]], and the ruling was overturned by the [[United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit]] in a 2–1 decision on the grounds that the FCC's definition of "indecency" was overbroad and vague and thus violated the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech. The FCC in turn appealed to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]. As an independent federal agency, the FCC filed the appeal in its own name. The [[United States Department of Justice]] intervened in the case, supporting Pacifica's argument that the FCC's declaratory ruling violated the First Amendment and that it also violated the Fifth Amendment in that the FCC's definition of "indecency" was too vague to support criminal penalties.

In 1978, the Supreme Court, in a 5–4 decision, ruled that the FCC's declaratory ruling did not violate either the First or Fifth Amendments, but it limited the scope of its decision to the specific broadcast that caused the declaratory ruling and declined to consider whether the FCC's definition of indecency would survive a First Amendment challenge if applied to the broadcast of other material containing the same or similar words which had been cited in Pacifica's brief (e.g., works of Shakespeare&nbsp;– "pissing conduits", "bawdy hand of the dial on the prick of noon"; the Bible&nbsp;– "he who pisseth against the wall"; the [[Nixon White House tapes|Watergate Tapes]]). It noted that while the declaratory ruling pertained to the meaning of the term "indecency" as used in a criminal statute (18 USC 1464), since the FCC had not imposed any penalty on Pacifica, the Court did not need to reach the question as to whether the definition was too vague to satisfy the due process requirements of the Fifth Amendment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/faclibrary/case.aspx?case=Federal_Communications_Commission_v_Pacifica |title=First Amendment Library entry on the case |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040517031200/http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/faclibrary/case.aspx?case=Federal_Communications_Commission_v_Pacifica |archive-date=May 17, 2004 |access-date=February 18, 2014}}</ref>

This decision formally established indecency regulation in American broadcasting. In follow-up rulings, the Supreme Court established the [[Watershed (broadcasting)|safe harbor]] provision that grants broadcasters the right to broadcast [[decency|indecent]] (but not [[obscene]]) material between the hours of 10&nbsp;pm and 6&nbsp;am, when it is presumed few children would be watching.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.erenkrantz.com/Humor/SevenDirtyWords.shtml |title=Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on TV – script |access-date=February 18, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://newsbuckit.blogspot.com/2007/02/seven-words-you-can-never-say-on.html |title=Seven words you can never say on television"... but which are said on the Internet. A lot. – A survey on the prevalence of the Seven Words in political blogs |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303151722/http://newsbuckit.blogspot.com/2007/02/seven-words-you-can-never-say-on.html |archive-date=March 3, 2007 |access-date=February 18, 2014}}</ref> The FCC has never maintained a specific list of words prohibited from the airwaves during the time period from 6&nbsp;am to 10&nbsp;pm.

The seven dirty words have been assumed to be likely to elicit indecency-related action by the FCC if uttered on a TV or radio broadcast, and thus the broadcast networks generally censor themselves with regard to many of the seven dirty words. The FCC regulations regarding [[Fleeting expletive|"fleeting" use of expletives]] were ruled unconstitutionally vague by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York on July 13, 2010, as they violated the [[First Amendment]] due to their possible effects regarding free speech.<ref>{{cite web|last=Puzzanghera |first=Jim |url=http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/49922038-68/court-fcc-indecency-expletives.html.csp |title="FCC indecency rule struck down by appeals court", Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2010 |publisher=Sltrib.com |access-date=August 1, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fcc-indecency-20100714,0,5995911.story |title=FCC indecency rule struck down by appeals court – Los Angeles Times |work=Los Angeles Times |date=July 14, 2010 |access-date=August 1, 2011 |first1=Jim |last1=Puzzanghera |first2=Meg |last2=James}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/business/media/14indecent.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=court%2520ruling%2520on%2520language&st=cse |date=July 13, 2010 |author=Edward Wyatt |title=F.C.C. Indecency Policy Rejected on Appeal |access-date=February 18, 2014 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
<!-- NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN OBJECTIVE LIST OF DIRTY WORDS, IT IS AN ARTICLE ABOUT A ROUTINE BY THE COMEDIAN GEORGE CARLIN. PLEASE DO NOT ADD WORDS TO THE LIST BECAUSE YOU FEEL THEY BELONG, THAT IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF THIS LIST OR THIS ARTICLE. -->

==The words==
<!-- NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN OBJECTIVE LIST OF DIRTY WORDS, IT IS AN ARTICLE ABOUT A ROUTINE BY THE COMEDIAN GEORGE CARLIN. PLEASE DO NOT ADD WORDS TO THE LIST BECAUSE YOU FEEL THEY BELONG, THAT IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF THIS LIST OR THIS ARTICLE. -->
The original seven words named by Carlin are, in order:
# [[shit]]
# [[urine|piss]]
# [[fuck]]
# [[cunt]]
# [[Fellatio|cocksucker]]
# [[motherfucker]]
# [[Breast|tits]]
<!-- NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN OBJECTIVE LIST OF DIRTY WORDS, IT IS AN HISTORICAL ARTICLE ABOUT A ROUTINE BY THE COMEDIAN GEORGE CARLIN THAT DIRECTLY AFFECTED POLICY IN THE UNITED STATES. PLEASE DO NOT ADD WORDS TO THE LIST BECAUSE YOU FEEL THEY BELONG, THAT IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF THIS LIST OR THIS ARTICLE. The ORIGINAL seven words are 1. shit 2. piss 3. fuck 4. cunt 5. cocksucker 6. motherfucker 7. tits. This is the ORIGINAL seven in the ORIGINAL order. They are referenced in the rest of the article in this order. -->

In subsequent routines, Carlin would frequently deconstruct the list, proposing additions or deletions based on audience feedback, or sometimes on his own whims. For example, a man asked him to remove ''motherfucker'' because, as a derivative of ''fuck'', it constituted a duplication: "He says ''motherfucker'' is a duplication of the word ''fuck'', technically, because ''fuck'' is the root form, ''motherfucker'' being derivative; therefore, it constitutes duplication. And I said, 'Hey, ''motherfucker'', how did you get my phone number, anyway?{{' "}}<ref name="Again">{{cite video
 | people = Carlin, George
 | title = On Location: George Carlin at Phoenix
 | medium = DVD
 | publisher = HBO Home Video
 }}</ref>

He later added it back, claiming the bit's rhythm does not work without it.<ref name="Again"/> In his comedy routine, Carlin would make fun of each word; for example, he would say that ''tits'' should not be on the list because it sounds like a nickname ("Hey, Tits, c'mere!") or the name of a snack food ("New [[Nabisco]] Tits! ... corn tits, [[Cheese Nips|cheese]] tits, [[Tater tots|tater]] tits!").

A follow-up routine, titled "Filthy Words" (featured on his album ''[[Occupation: Foole]]'') sees Carlin revisiting the original list and admitting that it is not complete, proceeding to add the words "[[fart]]", "[[turd]]", and "[[vagina|twat]]" to the list. He brings this up again in another follow-up routine, "Dirty Words" (featured in ''[[George Carlin: Again!]]''), still feeling the list was not yet complete, and assures the audience: "Some of your favorites might make the list this year!"

==Availability==
Carlin performed the routine many times and included it, in whole or in part, on several of his records and HBO specials. Parts or all of the performance appear on the following releases:
* 1972 – ''[[Class Clown]]'' – Audio recording – "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television"
* 1973 – ''[[Occupation: Foole]]'' – Audio recording – "Filthy Words"
* 1977 – ''[[George Carlin at USC]]'' – HBO special – "Forbidden Words"
* 1978 – ''[[George Carlin: Again!]]'' – HBO special – "Dirty Words"
* 1983 – ''[[Carlin at Carnegie]]'' – HBO special – "Filthy Words"

The ''Carlin at Carnegie'' version can be heard as "An Incomplete List of Impolite Words" on the 1984 album ''[[Carlin on Campus]]'' (but not in the HBO special, ''Carlin on Campus''). That version of the list features over 300 dirty words and phrases in an effort to stop people telling him that he left something off the list. Four days after Carlin's original ''Class Clown'' recording, the routine was performed again for students at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]]. This would be months before its first official release. The recording was restored in December 2013 and uploaded to YouTube by archivists at UCLA and could be accessed free of charge, but is no longer available due to a claim of copyright infringement.<ref>{{YouTube | hcjJToF6U3o | George Carlin at UCLA May 31, 1972}}</ref>
The FCC ruling is referenced in "Offensive Language" from the album ''[[Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics (album)|Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics]]'' and HBO special ''Doin' It Again'', both 1990 recordings of the same performance; however, the routine that follows is entirely different.

The ''Class Clown'' version can also be heard on the vinyl/cassette only release ''Indecent Exposure'' (1978). The ''Occupation: Foole'' version can also be heard on ''[[Classic Gold (George Carlin album)|Classic Gold]]'' (1992). Both versions were re-released again as part of ''[[The Little David Years (1971–1977)]]''.

==H.R. 3687==
[[U2]] singer [[Bono#U2|Bono]] said on live television that his [[60th Golden Globe Awards|2003 Golden Globe Award]] was "really, really fucking brilliant!" Despite complaints, the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) did not fine the network. In apparent reaction,<ref name="bono"/> on December 8, 2003, Rep. [[Doug Ose]] (R-California) introduced H.R. 3687, the "Clean Airwaves Act",<ref name=bono>{{cite web |title = Congressmen introduces bill to curb profanity in broadcasting |url = http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/congressmen-introduces-bill-curb-profanity-broadcasting |date = January 8, 2004 |publisher = [[Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press]] }}</ref> in Congress to designate a derivative list of Carlin's offensive words as profane in the U.S. Code. The stated purpose of the bill was "To amend [[s:United States Code/Title 18/Part I/Chapter 71/Section 1464|section 1464 of title 18 of the United States Code]], to provide for the punishment of certain profane broadcasts." In the text of the bill, the words ''shit'', ''piss'', ''fuck'', ''cunt'', ''asshole'', and the phrases ''cock sucker'', ''mother fucker'', and ''ass hole'' are specifically listed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/house-bill/3687/text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22hr3687%22%5D%7D&r=7|title=Text – H.R.3687|website=Congress.gov|date=January 15, 2004|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=November 24, 2016}}</ref> The bill was not enacted.

==Subscription services==
{{refimprove|section|date=May 2022}}

The [[FCC]] obscenity guidelines do not apply to non-broadcast media such as cable television, satellite TV, or [[satellite radio]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Obscene, Indecent and Profane Broadcasts |date=December 11, 2015 |url=https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-profane-broadcasts |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |quote=...the same rules for indecency and profanity do not apply to cable, satellite TV and satellite radio because they are subscription services.}}</ref> Whether the FCC or the [[U.S. Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] could be empowered by the [[U.S. Congress|Congress]] to restrict indecent content on cable television without such legislation violating the [[U.S. Constitution|Constitution]] has never been settled by a court of law. Since cable television must be subscribed to, in order to receive it legally, subscribers who object to the content being delivered may cancel their subscription, an incentive is created for the cable operators to self-regulate (unlike broadcast television, cable television is not legally considered to be "[[pervasiveness doctrine|pervasive]]", nor does it depend on a scarce, government-allocated [[electromagnetic spectrum]]; as such, neither of the arguments buttressing the case for broadcast regulation particularly apply to cable television).

[[Industry self-regulation|Self-regulation]] by many [[basic cable]] networks is undertaken by [[Standards and Practices]] (S&P) departments that [[self-censor]] their [[broadcast programming|programming]] because of the pressure put on them by [[advertiser]]s&nbsp;– also meaning that any basic cable network willing to ignore such pressure could use any of the Seven Dirty Words. All of the words on Carlin's list have come into common usage in many made-for-cable series and film productions.

==See also==
{{Portal|Television|United States}}
* [[Communications Decency Act]]
* [[Family Reunion (Blink-182 song)|Family Reunion]], referencing the Seven Dirty Words
* [[Morality in Media]]
* [[Profanity]]
* [[The Green Book (BBC)]]
* [[Watershed (broadcasting)]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|first=Christopher M.|last=Fairman|author-link=Christopher M. Fairman|title=[[Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties]]|publisher=Sphinx Publishing|year=2009|isbn=978-1572487116}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource|F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation|''F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation''}}
* [https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-profane-broadcasts FCC explanation of indecent, obscene, and profane broadcasts]

{{Federal Communications Commission}}
{{George Carlin}}
{{Profanity}}
{{Sexual slang}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seven Dirty Words}}
[[Category:1970s in comedy]]
[[Category:1972 in American television]]
[[Category:1972 introductions]]
[[Category:1972 neologisms]]
[[Category:1972 quotations]]
[[Category:7 (number)]]
[[Category:Censorship of broadcasting in the United States]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1970s]]
[[Category:Federal Communications Commission]]
[[Category:George Carlin]]
[[Category:Mass media in the United States]]
[[Category:Monologues]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in television]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies]]
[[Category:Profanity]]
[[Category:Sexual slang]]
[[Category:Stand-up comedy routines]]