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Language is one of the most
amazing things we humans do.

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It separates us from the animals.
It gives us theatre, poetry and song.

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It makes us laugh and cry.

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'In this episode,
I'll be looking at how we use
and abuse language

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'with new ways of swearing,

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'jargon and slang, which are
a testament to our creativity,

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'but also give us a deeper insight
into the workings of the mind.'

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This programme contains
very strong language.

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Fuck you!

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Steady! Hello.

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In this programme, we're going
to be looking at bad language.

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There are certain kinds of jargon
and slang,

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but there's also the altogether more
worrisome matter of blasphemy,

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obscenity, political incorrectness
and, of course, swearing.

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So if you do choose to watch,
well, don't blame me.

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You have been warned.

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I'll be looking at why some words
have such power over us

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and some ideas need to be cloaked
in euphemism and innuendo -

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how codes of speech
vary between different groups

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and whether language
should be controlled.

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Or indeed,
if such a thing is possible.

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Taboo or not taboo,

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that is the question.

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Dear old Auntie Beeb has
a constantly changing register

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of expletives, reflecting
the cultural acceptability

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of taboo words,
ranging in severity from the mild,

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all the way down
to the kind that have to be

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referred up to the highest
echelons if they're to be used.

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There'll be a few of those
in this programme.

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See if you can guess
which they'll be.

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While English has a particularly
rich seam of dirty words,

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it's not the only
profanity-laden language.

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Step into any society and you will
find words that are taboo.

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And I'm willing to bet
that the Turkana of East Africa
are no exception.

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Of course,
what's rude in one language

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is innocent as the driven snow
in another.

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If I were to offer you a bucket
of toss in England you might be

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rather upset, but over here you'd
be very happy to have something

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to wash your clothes with.

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'So what are the dirty words,
the filthy phrases

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'and foul language that
the Turkana use?'

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She is saying, "When a man abuses
me, that collapse kind of uterus,

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"of the vagina, I say,
you the big penis of a donkey."

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That's an insult? Yeah.

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That's a bad thing? Yeah.

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In my country that will be
a compliment!

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Another Turkana insult is any
reference to "your mother",

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and talking about menstrual blood
is an absolute no-no.

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Their swear words are drawn
from the same pool of taboos

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and anxieties - religion, sex,
death, illness, excretion

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and bodily fluids - as our own
dear swear words are drawn from.

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So what is it about these
subjects that make them

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such a rich source of obscenities?

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Cognitive scientist
and language guru

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Professor Steven Pinker
has a theory.

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It's generally topics that
are surrounded by negative emotion,

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that seems to be
the common denominator,

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that are highly arousing.

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Excretion, which elicits
the emotion of disgust.

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Religion, which elicits
the emotion of awe

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and dread of supernatural powers.

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Sexuality, which elicits the emotion
of revulsion to sexual depravity.

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It's not a coincidence that
sexuality gives rise to taboo,

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despite the fact that one could
say that's it's just a source

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of wholesome mutual pleasure, because
that isn't really true of sexuality.

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There are a...

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It does give rise to a heck
of a lot of problems! Yeah, exactly.

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I mean, there are consenting adults,
but then there's also adultery,

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there's also illegitimacy, there's
also rape, there's also incest,

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there's also exploitation,
there's jealousy and cuckoldry.

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Sexuality is, contrary to some
of the fantasies of the 1960s,

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it's a highly inflammatory
thought to humans

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and so it's not
a complete coincidence

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that words that refer to sexuality
can pass over into taboo.

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Sex has given us one of our
most versatile swear words.

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It can be used as a verb,
a noun and an adjective.

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It is, of course, the F word.

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And you are about to hear it,
repeatedly.

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I love Basingstoke! Fuck.

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You're the only person
on Earth who does.

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I love sheepskin. Fuck. Biscuit.

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I love - biscuit - sheep. Fuck!

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'Jess Thom has Tourette's syndrome,

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'which involves involuntary
movements and vocal tics,

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'random noises and words,
like, in her case, "biscuit".'

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The first - fuck - noise I can
remember was a squeaky one

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when I was about six.

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My tics when I was younger
and all through my childhood were

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much more motor and also much more
mild - fuck - than they are now.

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Fuck. For lots of people, Tourette's
gets better as they get older.

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Fuck. For me in adulthood and in my
early 20s, my tics got much more

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noticeable to other people - fuck -
although the sensation for me -
biscuit - didn't change that much.

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Fuck.

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'It was in her 20s that Jess
developed coprolalia,

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'the uncontrollable use of
obscene words that affects
only 10% of Touretters.'

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I was speaking to my dad on
the phone - fuck - the other day

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and he's used to very rude swearing
in our conversations, constantly

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peppered with tics, but sort of
understands them for what they are.

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Fuck. But then I used "fuck"
to describe something.

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I said "something was fucking
something" and he knew instantly

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and told me off and told me and
told me to mind my language. Fuck.

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And it really made me laugh, as it
was like he sort of - ha-ha! -

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he'd heard all the, you know,
he hadn't heard all the...

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all the... all the offensive words

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because he knew they were tics
and had no meaning,

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but as soon as I'd used something
deliberately he pulled me up on it.

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It just proves it's not the words
themselves, it's where they
come from. Exactly.

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And it's what spin
they're given by the speaker.

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Absolutely, and I think lots
of people misunderstand Tourette's

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when they say, "I wish I had
Tourette's, "I could get
away with swearing,"

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or, "It means I could say
whatever I - biscuit, biscuit -
whatever I wanted to."

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The whole point is
I can't say whatever I want to.

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Lots of what I say I don't want
to say, I just...

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It's just there - fuck - and it's
- biscuit, biscuit, biscuit!

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Happy Christmas - but, you know,
that doesn't mean that I haven't...

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I can't articulate my thoughts
and make myself understood.

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Fuck. Biscuit.

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'As an attempt to tackle
misconceptions of Tourette's
syndrome head on,

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'Jess has been keeping
a diary of her complex tics

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'and using them to inspire
fantastical visual works.'

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I think one has to be creative about
it to have a decent quality of life,

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and not let the tics impact on me,
especially socially.

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Part of the - biscuit! - one of
the big elements of Tourette's

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is the social - fuck - impact it has,

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and by engaging with people and
engaging with it creatively - fuck -

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and celebrating the humour and
saying, "Look, it's not OK to laugh

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"because I have Tourette's,
but it's all right to laugh."

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Fuck. I'm saying laugh at
the funny things - fuck -

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that I say as tics that are
the result of Tourette's - biscuit -

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because they're often - fuck,
biscuit - very visual.

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It's almost a surreal use of
the accidental collision of words,

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and to make something out of them.

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Jess has also created an alter ego,
Tourette's Hero,

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to encourage other Touretters, young
and old, to embrace their condition.

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Do parents of the kids
you work with,

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do they worry about
your language at all?

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Fuck - I think there's always a
concern with children and swearing.

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But I think open and honesty is
the key to them feeling comfortable,

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and families - fuck -
feeling confident

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and just getting on with what
you're doing, but answering

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and addressing any concerns
that they might have, that's the...

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That's the sort of way - fuck,
biscuit - the way forward. Ha!

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Why do you keep going like that?

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Because I have Tourette's syndrome
and that means my body moves

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and makes noises I can't control.

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But it's not a big problem,
in fact, it's not really a problem,

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it's my power.

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Look, we can we can wave.
We've got the cameras.

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Jess and other people with
Tourette's syndrome provide

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an insight into what is going
on inside our brains when we swear.

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What's interesting is that
swear words tap into the most

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primitive part of our brains,

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the parts that control many
aspects of our lives,

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from movement, habits
and emotions, to our speech.

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It's like a signal box
for the brain,

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and our swearing researcher
Timothy Jay explains

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that this has been identified
as the basal ganglia.

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The basal ganglia,
perhaps you can explain to me,

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they are more associated
with emotion than with reason,

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is that a fair description?
Er, and movement, yes.

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Yeah, and I think that's why,
that's the problem with the moving,

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the inappropriate moving,
those can't be inhibited.

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You have to have that balance
between action

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and inhibition... Yes. Inhibition.
..or you have seizure. Yeah.

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Exactly, and so it might be
suggested that people with Tourette's

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therefore are... their brains are
not inhibiting the things that...

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Yes, yeah...And they're just
going directly, this... Yeah.

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And I think looking at these
people with various kinds of brain

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disorders, this really gets to the
deeper picture of what cursing is.

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The depth of the recesses
of the mind, the various,

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the limbic system, the amygdala,
the basal ganglia, the bits that are

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really to do with our most primitive
and deep-seated emotions.

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Yeah, see, a lot of early
language analysis looked at it,
kind of, very superficially,

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and emotion wasn't really part
of that, not good or bad emotion,

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so it gave kind of a polite,
but false, view of language,

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and you really, I mean,
everybody has this built in to them.

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I think of it as kind of like
the warning system in your car.

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How you use it depends on you,
but we've evolved this,

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erm, kind of through the fight or
flight response to respond to threats

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and to be aggressive.
I think that's in that lower part

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of the brain, the basal ganglia,
where that comes from.

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'When the basal ganglia malfunction,
we lose inhibition,

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'as in Tourette's.

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'I want to see if they are also
involved in controlling my speech,

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'so I'm going to deliberately
suppress or inhibit words

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'whilst having a brain scan.

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'My task is to talk about different
topics without repeating any words.

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'It's a bit like the radio show
Just A Minute,

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'and my subject is swearing.'

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All kinds of, as it were, Krypton or
internal languages used by...

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'As well as the usual parts of my
brain that are involved in selecting

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'words, other parts of my brain are
marking words that have already been

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'said as taboo,
like swear words are,

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'and then inhibiting their re-use.

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00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,445
'Professor Cathy Price takes me
through the results.'

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What you're doing is you're
inhibiting the repetition of words.

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So what we predicted
was that you would activate

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your left head of caudate,
which is what we see here. Right.

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This tiny little structure here, and
there's a lot else going on here.

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Another thing that we predicted

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was that, um, you see this, this
activation in the frontal lobes,

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because, the frontal lobes are
involved in controlling what you're

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saying, and sort of selecting
words and inhibiting words, so...

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this will please, you know,
several people in the literature!

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It all makes sense
with the current theories.

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This is amazing. It confirms
that the lower part of the brain,

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the head of caudate
in the basal ganglia,

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are directly involved with
inhibiting speech.

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What's also fascinating is that

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if these parts of the brain
are damaged,

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by stroke, for example, then
language can be suddenly disrupted.

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Cathy compares my scan with
those of a patient who has had
such damage to this area.

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'His language disorder was
worse than Tourette's -

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'initially all
he could do was swear.'

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This is you on the left,
it's your brain,

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and these are the areas that you
activated when you were doing

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Just A Minute and you were
inhibiting saying other words.

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00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:49,520
If we look at where this patient's
got damage, you can see, here,

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this is your left head of caudate
here

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and you can see
the activation in here.

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If you look here, it's missing.

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It's been damaged.

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So this is basically showing you
that this patient has damaged

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the left head of caudate,
which you needed for Just A Minute

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and he probably needed to stop
himself swearing.

226
00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:13,445
And here's Leslie,
the patient Cathy's talking about.

227
00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,520
I'm going to say a sentence and if
you could repeat each after me.

228
00:13:17,555 --> 00:13:20,960
All right? The cat chased the bird.

229
00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,325
The cat...chased...the bird.

230
00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:30,540
'For me, the thought of losing
such a crucial part of myself

231
00:13:30,575 --> 00:13:34,720
'is terrifying, but Leslie has
worked hard for the past 14 years

232
00:13:34,755 --> 00:13:36,925
'to go beyond just swearing.'

233
00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:39,045
And those are the words
that came easily?

234
00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,220
The only words that came easily
were the swear words? Yeah.

235
00:13:42,255 --> 00:13:45,360
This is a common thing, but
it must have surprised you. Yeah.

236
00:13:45,395 --> 00:13:47,485
And you must have been
distraught, as well.

237
00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:50,400
Yeah, I was. It was, it was
frightening, really frightening.

238
00:13:50,435 --> 00:13:51,765
Surprised myself.

239
00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,725
You surprised yourself
with your language, even?

240
00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:57,720
It was the first bit of noise
that came out of my mouth for...

241
00:13:57,755 --> 00:14:01,360
Oh, two or three days
you sort of just lay there,

242
00:14:01,395 --> 00:14:03,960
didn't do anything, did you?

243
00:14:03,995 --> 00:14:05,085
Even to feed him.

244
00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:08,480
And it was a good crunchy
Anglo-Saxon word? Yes!

245
00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:14,480
'Leslie is one of many who have been
cursed with swearing after a stroke.

246
00:14:14,515 --> 00:14:17,840
'Swear words are some of the most
powerful and resonant words'

247
00:14:17,875 --> 00:14:19,605
of any in our language.

248
00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:24,040
So why do swear words remain
when all other language is lost?

249
00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:29,960
When you've had a stroke,
the first thing to recover
are the easiest words,

250
00:14:29,995 --> 00:14:33,565
the most automatic things
start to recover first,

251
00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:38,440
so if you used to swear and use
swear words, even if you inhibited

252
00:14:38,475 --> 00:14:43,280
them in certain situations, they
might be the first to come back.

253
00:14:43,315 --> 00:14:44,805
The problem there, though,

254
00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,660
is that they might be
the first ones to come back,

255
00:14:47,695 --> 00:14:50,445
but then you've also got
to be able to inhibit them,

256
00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:55,040
so if you've got damage to mechanisms
such as your left head of caudate

257
00:14:55,075 --> 00:14:58,497
that are involved in suppressing
words, and you've got a patient

258
00:14:58,532 --> 00:15:02,166
that's just recovering their
automatic speech, they might end up

259
00:15:02,201 --> 00:15:05,765
swearing too much because they can't
inhibit what they're saying.

260
00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:09,840
So what you're saying is
not that they put swearing
into their normal speech,

261
00:15:09,875 --> 00:15:13,880
but the swearing is
the only thing they can do often
or at least at first?

262
00:15:13,915 --> 00:15:18,360
Yes, the frequency might
increase in the post-stroke phase,

263
00:15:18,395 --> 00:15:22,165
partly because they're unable
to inhibit it,

264
00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:26,045
partly because it might be the only
thing that they're able to say

265
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:33,600
and to generate, and partly
because there might be a lot of
emotion driving the system, as well.

266
00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:36,885
'Professor Timothy Jay has a theory

267
00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,605
'for why rude words are linked
to emotions.'

268
00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,720
The valence of these words,
the arousal level of these words

269
00:15:43,755 --> 00:15:46,920
comes from the surround
of learning them,

270
00:15:46,955 --> 00:15:49,445
whether your parents are punitive

271
00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,685
or they laughed
the first time you say "fuck"

272
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:56,180
or do they get angry and and punish
you? There's no other language that

273
00:15:56,215 --> 00:16:00,640
gets this reaction, so it has this,
"Wow, this is a very powerful thing

274
00:16:00,675 --> 00:16:04,040
"I just said, I can tell that by
the way my mom reacted to me",

275
00:16:04,075 --> 00:16:09,565
and I think that emotional tag
gets stored with the word

276
00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,765
in a way that other language
doesn't have those kind of tags.

277
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:16,340
We're the only animal that can
express these emotions symbolically,

278
00:16:16,375 --> 00:16:19,647
so we can say, "fuck you" instead
of hitting you or biting you.

279
00:16:19,682 --> 00:16:22,841
And little kids, it's funny,
little kids, before they really

280
00:16:22,876 --> 00:16:26,000
learn how to swear and say,
"I hate you, Mommy" or, you know,

281
00:16:26,035 --> 00:16:27,685
"fuck you", they will,

282
00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,960
three year olds will bite you
and scratch you, you know?

283
00:16:30,995 --> 00:16:33,365
Anybody who's sent a kid to
day care will see that.

284
00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,520
But when we learn how to use
language to express that emotion,

285
00:16:36,555 --> 00:16:39,885
that primitive animal
anger goes away. Aah!

286
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:42,600
So I think there's
an evolutionary advantage to...

287
00:16:42,635 --> 00:16:43,925
That's very interesting.

288
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,760
Yeah, to be able to emote or
verbally aggress towards someone.

289
00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,040
The idea that swear words
play a positive role

290
00:16:53,075 --> 00:16:56,125
in human social
interactions intrigues me.

291
00:16:56,160 --> 00:17:01,240
It makes me wonder whether
there are any other beneficial
uses of abusive language...

292
00:17:01,275 --> 00:17:04,680
To find out, I'm going to compare
myself with one of the most

293
00:17:04,715 --> 00:17:09,120
prolific users of profanities
in the kingdom.

294
00:17:09,155 --> 00:17:12,057
Brian Blessed!
Stephen, how are you?

295
00:17:12,092 --> 00:17:14,925
Good to see you.
Delighted to see you.

296
00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:18,920
'Brian and I are going to be
guinea pigs for Dr Richard Stevens,

297
00:17:18,955 --> 00:17:22,377
'who is researching the link
between swearing and pain.

298
00:17:22,412 --> 00:17:26,226
'He was inspired by his wife's
experience in childbirth.'

299
00:17:26,261 --> 00:17:29,530
During the bad contractions,
she found it useful to swear

300
00:17:29,565 --> 00:17:32,765
and as the contractions eased
she was a bit apologetic,

301
00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:37,960
and the midwife said,
"Don't apologise, we hear this
language all the time."

302
00:17:37,995 --> 00:17:40,365
And that was really what
sparked my interest -

303
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:45,480
childbirth, all these women swearing,
this supposedly beautiful moment,

304
00:17:45,515 --> 00:17:48,525
isn't that interesting? Why do
swearing and pain go together?

305
00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:52,640
Plus I injured myself
a few times along the way
as well and swore a bit.

306
00:17:52,675 --> 00:17:56,720
'But Brian doesn't need to be in
pain to unleash a torrent of abuse.'

307
00:17:56,755 --> 00:17:58,885
There was a woman. A... A...

308
00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,285
Shit, I'll start again. Take two!

309
00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:05,485
"Oh, shit, I've said fuck!
Oh, fuck, I've said shit!"

310
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:09,740
No, look! "I name this ship
Felicity Ann, and God save all those

311
00:18:09,775 --> 00:18:13,960
"who sail in there. Up there.
Oh, shit. Oh, fuck, I've said shit.

312
00:18:13,995 --> 00:18:15,605
"Oh! Shit, I've said fuck!"

313
00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:19,645
No. There was a woman down
the alleyway, Mrs Holmes,

314
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,620
and she's going to report me for
saying "bugger", you know.

315
00:18:22,655 --> 00:18:25,387
"Oh, just wait till I see your
mother. You're in real trouble."

316
00:18:25,422 --> 00:18:28,085
"Oh, if you're going to go
and see her, then tell her this -

317
00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:31,720
"bugger, shit, fuck, shit, fucking
sphincter, arsehole, up your arse,

318
00:18:31,755 --> 00:18:35,320
"up your cunt, fuck you sideways,
you fucking boring fucking whore,

319
00:18:35,355 --> 00:18:36,805
"fuck off, you cow!

320
00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,400
"Go and fucking repeat
that to my mother."

321
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,000
'Unfazed, Richard starts us off
with a demonstration to show

322
00:18:44,035 --> 00:18:46,400
'the subliminal effect
of swear words.

323
00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:48,525
Right, get ready.

324
00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:51,120
Some words are going to flash up
on the screen

325
00:18:51,155 --> 00:18:52,680
in different coloured inks.

326
00:18:52,715 --> 00:18:53,885
Yes, yes.

327
00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,400
OK? Try and ignore the word
altogether and just tell me
the colour of the ink.

328
00:18:57,435 --> 00:19:00,280
Right. Right.
Just say it out loud
and say it together.

329
00:19:00,315 --> 00:19:05,520
Green. Orange. Brown. Blue.
Red. Orange.

330
00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:10,400
And we've got one final one
to do again. Exactly the same task.

331
00:19:10,435 --> 00:19:11,405
Same thing? Yeah.

332
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:15,360
Try and ignore the word, try
and tell us the colour of the ink.
Colour of the ink only.

333
00:19:15,395 --> 00:19:16,365
OK, here we go.

334
00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:21,720
Red, green, brown, blue

335
00:19:21,755 --> 00:19:25,125
orange...red! Green!

336
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,440
Brown...blue, orange, red, blue!

337
00:19:29,475 --> 00:19:33,720
Oh, pussy, orange! Green. Blue.

338
00:19:36,672 --> 00:19:39,485
Oh! Fantastic.

339
00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:43,165
But you want to say dick! Pussy.

340
00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,725
You've got written on there dick
and pussy, you want to say
dick and pussy!

341
00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:51,880
Well, I don't know what
it's supposed to prove except
that it's extremely good fun.

342
00:19:51,915 --> 00:19:57,245
What this demonstration
is designed to show us is that

343
00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:04,485
you cannot help but process
and understand swear words, OK?

344
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:10,200
They're powerful, emotional words,
even if you're trying to ignore them.

345
00:20:10,235 --> 00:20:14,200
'The next demonstration should
show how these powerful words

346
00:20:14,235 --> 00:20:16,285
'of abuse can be used
to good effect.

347
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,480
'But, first of all, we've got to do
a control experiment...

348
00:20:19,515 --> 00:20:21,445
'with neutral words.'

349
00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:25,360
Before you go I want you
to think of a word you'd
use to describe a table.

350
00:20:25,395 --> 00:20:27,765
A word to describe it?

351
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,600
A single word that you would
describe a table with.

352
00:20:30,635 --> 00:20:32,805
Functional.
OK, that's a good word.

353
00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:35,720
So when you put your hand in
the water I'd like you to repeat

354
00:20:35,755 --> 00:20:38,360
that word at an even and steady pace.

355
00:20:38,395 --> 00:20:39,405
A steady volume.

356
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,920
Keep your hand in as long as you can
and take it out when you're ready.

357
00:20:42,955 --> 00:20:45,245
Just to let everyone know,
these are not plastic.

358
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,760
These are real ice cubes. That is
cold actually. Functional.

359
00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:51,565
Functional.

360
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:58,520
Functional. Functional. Functional.
Functional. It's beginning to hurt.

361
00:20:58,555 --> 00:21:01,005
Functional. Functional.

362
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,525
Functional. Fuck! Don't swear.

363
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,720
I'm not to swear, I'm sorry.
Functional. Functional. Functional.

364
00:21:07,755 --> 00:21:10,240
Functional. This really hurts.
Functional.

365
00:21:10,275 --> 00:21:12,005
I'm going to get hypothermia.

366
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,200
Functional. Oh, God,
I can't take it, I'm sorry. Ohh!

367
00:21:15,235 --> 00:21:17,845
It's actually worse when you
take it out!

368
00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,125
Fantastic. I'd like you to do
that again, I'm afraid.

369
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:24,440
Oh, hell. Yes? This time I'd like
you to... Can you tell me a word

370
00:21:24,475 --> 00:21:26,965
you might say if you hit your finger
with a hammer?

371
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,920
Well, I'm afraid, I'll be dull
and it would be "fuck". Good.

372
00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:34,720
Oh, yes. Ohh, yes.

373
00:21:34,755 --> 00:21:36,800
Good. Fuck.

374
00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,445
Ah-ha! Fuck.
It's all right for the moment.

375
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,760
I'm going to save them up. It's not
too cold, but I will go "fuck".

376
00:21:46,795 --> 00:21:52,160
Oh, fuck this for a game
of fucking soldiers.

377
00:21:52,195 --> 00:21:55,085
Fucking... Oh, fuck.
Terrible language.

378
00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:59,640
I'm so fucking sorry! It feels
better, it feels better.

379
00:21:59,675 --> 00:22:02,040
Saying "fuck",
it actually doesn't feel so bad.

380
00:22:02,075 --> 00:22:04,005
Fuck me, I could stay here forever,

381
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:06,360
especially if I could say
"wanker" and "cunt".

382
00:22:06,395 --> 00:22:10,920
Fuck! Fuckity, fuckity
fuckity fuck poo.

383
00:22:10,955 --> 00:22:13,125
What's it feel like, Stephen?

384
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:17,260
Very cold. Numb. Tingly.
Very tingly. Very tingly.

385
00:22:17,295 --> 00:22:21,325
I can keep it in here
in a way that I couldn't before.

386
00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:24,880
I genuinely mean that. That's quite
extraordinary. There it goes.

387
00:22:24,915 --> 00:22:28,885
Well done. Lovely. Thank you
very much. Well done.

388
00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:35,400
'But Richard also wants to find out
how this works for a hard-core
swearer like Brian Blessed.'

389
00:22:35,435 --> 00:22:39,640
Same thing again. Right-oh.
Oh, it's lovely and warm.

390
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,840
Wooden. Wooden. Wooden. Wooden.

391
00:22:45,875 --> 00:22:48,437
It is cold, isn't it? Oh, it is.

392
00:22:48,472 --> 00:22:50,965
What sort of actor is Ralph Fiennes?

393
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,680
I've never met him. Oh, you're
supposed to say "wooden"!

394
00:22:53,715 --> 00:22:56,965
Wooden. Oh, wooden!
Oh, I'm not picking this up.

395
00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:03,080
Ken Brannagh. Wooden. Patrick
Stewart. Very wooden. A fire risk.

396
00:23:03,115 --> 00:23:05,120
Cor, fuck, it's getting cold now.

397
00:23:05,155 --> 00:23:06,405
No, you mustn't swear.

398
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:12,560
No, that's a point. Wooden.
Wooden. Wooden. Wooden!!

399
00:23:12,595 --> 00:23:15,200
Wooden. Wooden.
Steady, even pace, please.

400
00:23:15,235 --> 00:23:18,965
Wooden. Wooden. I'll take it out.

401
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,565
Well done.
It's really cold, isn't it?

402
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,960
Excellent, I'll just make
a little note of that time.

403
00:23:25,995 --> 00:23:29,285
OK, Brian, and so this time I'd like
you to use a word

404
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,640
you might use if you hit yourself
on the thumb with a hammer.

405
00:23:32,675 --> 00:23:34,765
Can you give me your word
that you might use?

406
00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,800
Yes, I'd say, "Bollocks. Fuck it."
Just one word. "Bollocks". OK.

407
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,560
Oh. Oh, bollocks. Oh, bollocks.

408
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,600
Bollocks. Is that all
I can say, is "bollocks"?

409
00:23:48,635 --> 00:23:50,040
Afraid so. Oh, bollocks!

410
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:53,125
Bollocks!

411
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,925
Steady, even pace, please.

412
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,040
Steady? Can't keep the fucking
thing... Steady pace.

413
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:01,920
Bollocks.

414
00:24:01,955 --> 00:24:03,657
Bollocks.

415
00:24:03,692 --> 00:24:05,325
Bollocks!

416
00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:07,605
Bollocks. Oh, fuck it.

417
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,840
Well done. That's great. Thank you.
So, you have data for us.

418
00:24:11,875 --> 00:24:14,397
It's worked out pretty much
as I thought it would.

419
00:24:14,432 --> 00:24:16,885
At least, with you, Stephen,
we found exactly what

420
00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:19,980
we did in the experiment
for the majority of people, which is

421
00:24:20,015 --> 00:24:23,040
that if you swear while you've
got your hands in the ice cold

422
00:24:23,075 --> 00:24:24,765
water you keep it in there
for longer.

423
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,540
You don't find it as painful.
You tolerate the pain better.

424
00:24:28,575 --> 00:24:32,280
So you kept your hand in for 38
seconds with the neutral word,

425
00:24:32,315 --> 00:24:35,117
but for two minutes 29 seconds
when...

426
00:24:35,152 --> 00:24:37,885
Was it really?
..With the swear words.

427
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:42,080
And you were commenting while it was
going on about feeling much better.

428
00:24:42,115 --> 00:24:43,645
It definitely felt much better.

429
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,045
So it's like you're having
an emotional reaction,

430
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,000
sparking off an emotional
reaction in yourself in swearing.

431
00:24:49,035 --> 00:24:51,920
In effect, you're shocking yourself
to a certain degree,

432
00:24:51,955 --> 00:24:54,085
as if you're
shocked by your swearing.

433
00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:58,520
And then you have it, it's called
the flight or fight response,
which is the adrenalin.

434
00:24:58,555 --> 00:25:02,165
Our most recent study which
we've done is we decided to

435
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:06,285
take into account how much people
swear on an everyday basis.

436
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:13,040
And Brian, I formed an impression of
you from the moments this morning.

437
00:25:13,075 --> 00:25:16,480
So, as someone who swears a lot,
you can habituate to swearing.

438
00:25:16,515 --> 00:25:19,285
It kind of loses its potency.

439
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:22,045
And with you, you kept your hand
in for one minute 27

440
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:26,560
in the neutral condition and for
slightly less, one minute 22,
in the swearing conditions.

441
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:32,000
'So swear words are most effective
if they are not overused.

442
00:25:32,035 --> 00:25:34,560
'Their power comes from the taboo
we put on them.'

443
00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:41,245
But swear words are more than just
cathartic pain relievers.

444
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:45,400
They help us bond with people, in
particular through jokes and humour.

445
00:25:45,435 --> 00:25:48,765
Evening all. Evening, Joe.
'Allo, Gilbert.

446
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:54,000
Oh, bit (BLEEP) nippy. Think we're in
for (BLEEP) fall of (BLEEP) snow.

447
00:25:54,035 --> 00:25:55,445
That's all we (BLEEP) need.

448
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,760
That one will cost you 20p! Got a
(BLEEP) swear box in here now!

449
00:25:59,795 --> 00:26:01,837
Don't worry, have these on me.

450
00:26:01,872 --> 00:26:03,845
That's a (BLEEP) good idea.

451
00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,165
Like at church. 5p a time.
Quite right, too.

452
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,360
About time this did something
like the (BLEEP) church.

453
00:26:09,395 --> 00:26:12,325
Dozy lot of (BLEEP).
That will cost you 10p.

454
00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:16,920
When uttered at the right moment,
a rude word can suddenly bring

455
00:26:16,955 --> 00:26:21,480
an otherwise dull and lifeless
sentence dramatically to life.

456
00:26:21,515 --> 00:26:24,800
In the distinctly unamusing
world of humour research,

457
00:26:24,835 --> 00:26:27,445
this is known as a "jab line".

458
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:30,040
It adds emphasis
and a touch of the unexpected -

459
00:26:30,075 --> 00:26:31,405
a common component of humour.

460
00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:36,920
But nowhere has swearing been taken
to such operatic levels

461
00:26:36,955 --> 00:26:38,885
as in The Thick Of It.

462
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,520
No, I don't use lifts,
I'm claustrophobic.

463
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:47,005
You're what?

464
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,800
Not hugely.
I can be in rooms, you've seen that.

465
00:26:49,835 --> 00:26:51,560
I just don't do lifts, that's all.

466
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,000
This lift is...
I mean, it's fucking huge!

467
00:26:56,035 --> 00:26:58,205
This is bigger than some rooms!

468
00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,140
This is bigger than some
people's flats!

469
00:27:00,175 --> 00:27:02,005
It's about not being able
to get out.

470
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,480
Oh, well, that's great(!)
That's fucking great.

471
00:27:05,515 --> 00:27:07,557
That's another fucking thing,
right there.

472
00:27:07,592 --> 00:27:09,836
Not only have you got
a fucking bent husband

473
00:27:09,871 --> 00:27:12,045
and a fucking daughter
that gets taken to school

474
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:15,045
on a fucking sedan chair,
you're also fucking mental!

475
00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:19,200
Jesus Christ, see you,
you are a fucking omni-shambles,
that's what you are.

476
00:27:19,235 --> 00:27:21,520
You're like that coffee machine,
you know,

477
00:27:21,555 --> 00:27:23,645
"From bean to cup, you fuck up."

478
00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:30,080
'The brains behind the Baroque
language of The Thick Of It
is Armando Iannucci.'

479
00:27:30,115 --> 00:27:32,417
People have strange views
about swearing,

480
00:27:32,452 --> 00:27:34,685
and we all do.
Some people worship it,

481
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,085
almost to a mad excess,
some people are afraid of it

482
00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:40,360
or decry it to a... what I would
consider an equally mad excess,

483
00:27:40,395 --> 00:27:43,600
but I think one of the things
it's hard to deny is that it...

484
00:27:43,635 --> 00:27:45,325
it fuels a sentiment... Yes.

485
00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:49,640
..gives it an energy and
a drive that any replacement word
just doesn't. Yeah. Yeah.

486
00:27:49,675 --> 00:27:52,640
There is a difference between,
"What do you think you're doing?"

487
00:27:52,675 --> 00:27:54,880
and, "What the fuck do you
think you're doing?"

488
00:27:54,915 --> 00:27:57,005
Yes, and also, you know, it...

489
00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:59,805
it works as a, you know,
a verb and an adverb

490
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:03,320
and it has many functions, there's
a line people keep quoting back

491
00:28:03,355 --> 00:28:06,765
to us of Malcolm Tucker's,
is his phrase when someone knocks on

492
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:10,280
the door - "Come the fuck in or fuck
the fuck off", where it's used...

493
00:28:10,315 --> 00:28:12,085
It's delicious.

494
00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:14,920
It's kind of used in different...
it's different...

495
00:28:14,955 --> 00:28:16,120
It pars in three ways.

496
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:23,280
The reason swearing is there
in The Thick Of It is primarily

497
00:28:23,315 --> 00:28:26,045
because I wanted it to
feel authentic.

498
00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,400
And I wanted the viewer to think
that you were genuinely

499
00:28:29,435 --> 00:28:32,960
eavesdropping on what
the world behind closed doors

500
00:28:32,995 --> 00:28:34,965
in Whitehall was really like.

501
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:38,165
It got this kind of endorsement
from the, you know,

502
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:42,920
the political world saying,
"Yes, no, this is what it's like".

503
00:28:42,955 --> 00:28:45,525
We seemed to kind of get away
with it to the extent that

504
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:49,725
I got letters from, you know,
84-year-old ladies saying that they

505
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:54,140
found Malcolm Tucker's language kind
of positively Shakespearian and...

506
00:28:54,175 --> 00:28:58,520
Yeah, there is an element of that,
I mean you think of Ben Johnson,

507
00:28:58,555 --> 00:29:01,765
a character like, er, Sir
Humphrey Wasp, do you remember,

508
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,245
in, is it Bartholomew Fair,
who's great phrase is
"a turd in your teeth"?

509
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:09,400
Yes. Yeah, yeah. You can almost
imagine Malcolm Tucker saying
"a turd in your teeth".

510
00:29:09,435 --> 00:29:12,520
Oh, yes, it's Elizabethan,
it's Chaucerian, shall we say?

511
00:29:12,555 --> 00:29:15,477
There is a good... good
get out word, isn't it?

512
00:29:15,512 --> 00:29:18,365
It's full of it,
and therefore we were allowed,

513
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:23,960
we effectively ran up to about
100 fucks a programme, really.

514
00:29:23,995 --> 00:29:27,920
Did you have negotiations about
how many fucks per cunt?

515
00:29:27,955 --> 00:29:29,605
Well, yes, in the end I had to...

516
00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,280
There was a series,
there was an e-mail exchange

517
00:29:32,315 --> 00:29:34,925
where for the new series I was told,

518
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,285
erm, you know,
if I wanted up to three cunts

519
00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:41,125
I would have to get the fuck rate
under 100 per episode,

520
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,740
and I remember saying, "Well, we've
only got plans for one cunt

521
00:29:44,775 --> 00:29:48,320
"this episode, so, am I allowed to
go beyond 100 fucks per ep?"

522
00:29:48,355 --> 00:29:51,320
Er, I don't know where we got to,
but anyway.

523
00:29:51,355 --> 00:29:52,725
What about wanks?

524
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:56,920
Wanks. Oh... They're
just like breathing!

525
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:07,720
The acceptability of swear words
has changed considerably over

526
00:30:07,755 --> 00:30:08,885
the past 100 years.

527
00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:12,360
An oft-quoted turning point
was when Penguin Books

528
00:30:12,395 --> 00:30:15,765
won the right to publish
Lady Chatterley's Lover,

529
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:20,360
despite its previously unprintable
four-letter C and F words.

530
00:30:20,395 --> 00:30:22,677
Are you going to put this book
on open shelves?

531
00:30:22,712 --> 00:30:24,960
Are you going to display it in
the library?

532
00:30:24,995 --> 00:30:27,525
No, we shan't do that. Why not?

533
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:31,960
The reason for that is we don't want
the book to fall into the hands

534
00:30:31,995 --> 00:30:36,165
of unsuspecting people,
who might be shocked.

535
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:40,680
You can now buy Lady Chatterley
in any bookshop, but while some

536
00:30:40,715 --> 00:30:44,120
words are more acceptable,
others are becoming more taboo.

537
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:49,285
We are a bit less scandalised by

538
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:52,485
sex, sexual language.
"Fuck" isn't as

539
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,285
incendiary as it might have been
50 years ago.

540
00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:58,840
However, we're still very,
very touchy about race and gender

541
00:30:58,875 --> 00:31:00,805
and sexual orientation.

542
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:04,520
We have words for the word, like
the N word is what you'd see in an

543
00:31:04,555 --> 00:31:08,200
American newspaper and an American
newspaper would not print that word.

544
00:31:08,235 --> 00:31:11,080
Even if it might print a word
like "piss", which would have

545
00:31:11,115 --> 00:31:14,197
been beyond the pale
a few decades ago, and...

546
00:31:14,232 --> 00:31:17,016
And even the word "niggardly"
has apparently...

547
00:31:17,051 --> 00:31:19,800
Did you ready about that?
Yeah, by association.

548
00:31:19,835 --> 00:31:20,965
What happened there?

549
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,445
An employee of the city
of Washington DC,

550
00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:28,165
who at a staff meeting
talked about "the niggardly budget".

551
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,680
Now, "niggardly" is an old Norse word
that has nothing to do with

552
00:31:31,715 --> 00:31:34,605
the Spanish word "negro" for "black"

553
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:38,280
It's just sheer coincidence it
happens to have the same sound.

554
00:31:38,315 --> 00:31:40,765
But he was accused of using
a racial epithet

555
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:44,845
and he was actually fired.
He was then offered his job back,

556
00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:48,560
but because people took umbrage.
That tells us about the sensitivity.

557
00:31:48,595 --> 00:31:51,280
It tells us the words matter
to people, desperately.

558
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,480
'For middle-aged,
middle-class white men like me,

559
00:31:56,515 --> 00:31:59,525
'the N-word is a definite taboo.

560
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:04,520
'I want to find out whether comedian
Stephen K Amos thinks racial

561
00:32:04,555 --> 00:32:08,577
'or sexual epithets are ever
acceptable or even funny.'

562
00:32:08,612 --> 00:32:12,600
Stephen, you are, like me,
a member of proud minorities...

563
00:32:12,635 --> 00:32:14,325
Oh, yes.

564
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,005
You're very obviously gay,
but I believe you're also,

565
00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,085
you came out recently as being
black. Is that... is that correct?

566
00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,800
Yeah, much to the confusion of the
audience. They were like, "really?"

567
00:32:23,835 --> 00:32:25,645
"Tell somebody." Yeah.

568
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:29,440
No, I am a member of both communities
and very proudly so, yeah.

569
00:32:29,475 --> 00:32:31,885
Somebody said to me at a gig
not that long ago,

570
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:35,900
I think it was near Essex kind of
way - not that all Essex people are

571
00:32:35,935 --> 00:32:39,880
like this gentleman, but he went,
"Oh, can I tell you this joke?"

572
00:32:39,915 --> 00:32:42,400
And I went, "You don't really
tell a comic a joke."

573
00:32:42,435 --> 00:32:44,565
He went, "Oh, no,
it's funny, it's funny."

574
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:47,165
"All right then," and he goes,
"Well, guess what,

575
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,200
"There's this coon, yeah?" and
I went, "Mate, I beg your pardon?"

576
00:32:50,235 --> 00:32:53,200
And he went, "Not you!" What?
Like I was going to go,

577
00:32:53,235 --> 00:32:56,165
"Why, pray continue,
Oscar Wilde, tell me more!"

578
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:59,160
I was just incensed, and then
when I pulled him up on this,

579
00:32:59,195 --> 00:33:00,845
I went, "how can you say it?"

580
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:03,760
And he went, "But you're doing,
you're doing black jokes."

581
00:33:03,795 --> 00:33:05,485
I'm like, "It's not the same!"

582
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:09,560
Yeah, now, that's a really
interesting point, because

583
00:33:09,595 --> 00:33:14,077
Chris Rock, who I think
is brilliant, one of the best,

584
00:33:14,112 --> 00:33:18,525
the American comedian, he uses
the N word quite freely,

585
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,820
and, indeed, so do a lot of,
you know, gangster rappers and,

586
00:33:21,855 --> 00:33:25,080
you know, a lot of black comedians.
I don't know if you use it.

587
00:33:25,115 --> 00:33:26,885
I still can't say it.

588
00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:28,885
I have to say "the N word"
cos I'd blush

589
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:31,900
if I said it to you.
I'd feel very self-conscious.

590
00:33:31,935 --> 00:33:34,467
It's crazy, but...
Do you think that's OK, then?

591
00:33:34,502 --> 00:33:36,965
Like, like we can say "queer"
because we are,

592
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:41,040
or I can say "kike" cos I'm Jewish
or whatever, does that..?

593
00:33:41,075 --> 00:33:42,445
I personally think you can,

594
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,400
because again it goes back to what
I was saying about the intent.

595
00:33:45,435 --> 00:33:47,085
If I or you use the word "queer",

596
00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:49,525
it's clear that we're
not being derogatory.

597
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:53,645
If a black person, be they a rapper
or a comic, uses the N word,

598
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:57,160
I would like to think it's quite
clear that they're not being racist.

599
00:33:57,195 --> 00:33:59,920
There's a whole,
there was a whole group called NWA,

600
00:33:59,955 --> 00:34:03,000
wasn't there,
stood for "N With Attitude".

601
00:34:03,035 --> 00:34:05,520
I still can't say it! Niggers!

602
00:34:05,555 --> 00:34:06,605
Oh, thank you!

603
00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:08,605
Wash your mouth out!

604
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:12,340
I don't personally use it myself,
um, because I come personally

605
00:34:12,375 --> 00:34:16,040
from a generation where I remember
it being such a derogative word.

606
00:34:16,075 --> 00:34:17,325
That's why I don't use it.

607
00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:22,685
I can remember right now
being called that same word many,

608
00:34:22,720 --> 00:34:26,080
many years ago, as a kid, walking
down the street, with my mum.

609
00:34:26,115 --> 00:34:27,605
Someone shouted it out of a car.

610
00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:31,400
That, at that moment, there was
a very, very different feeling,

611
00:34:31,435 --> 00:34:32,977
you know?

612
00:34:33,012 --> 00:34:34,485
Wow. Yeah.

613
00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:38,160
And so I can understand the kind of
less demonising of the word,

614
00:34:38,195 --> 00:34:42,125
now it's so liberally used
in songs and in stand up.

615
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:46,440
If you say to someone, you know,
racial taunts, language, leads

616
00:34:46,475 --> 00:34:50,317
to violence, can lead to death,
even, they'll say, "Oh, come on,

617
00:34:50,352 --> 00:34:54,160
"sticks and stones may break
my bones, but words cannot hurt me."

618
00:34:54,195 --> 00:34:56,165
What would you say to that?

619
00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:58,885
This documentary I did
called Batty Man, you know,

620
00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:02,360
I asked inner city young people
what they think about gay people.

621
00:35:02,395 --> 00:35:06,277
A lot of them were quoting
the lyrics, the language,

622
00:35:06,312 --> 00:35:09,756
the words, of some ragga
superstar, who was basically

623
00:35:09,791 --> 00:35:13,165
telling them that gay people
were allowed to be shot.

624
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,160
"That batty man down the street,
you know, oh, look at him,

625
00:35:16,195 --> 00:35:18,920
"shoot him, man,"
but they were repeating that to me

626
00:35:18,955 --> 00:35:21,405
with big smiles on their faces,

627
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:25,560
because it was just indoctrinated
into their souls that this was...

628
00:35:25,595 --> 00:35:27,005
Yeah.

629
00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,525
But they couldn't make
the connection between

630
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,920
that's what white southerners
in Georgia and Alabama

631
00:35:32,955 --> 00:35:36,280
thought about lynching
black people...

632
00:35:36,315 --> 00:35:38,005
That it was OK, singing songs.

633
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:41,520
I would argue that no-one was
ever pushed into gas ovens

634
00:35:41,555 --> 00:35:44,165
or beaten to death on Clapham Common

635
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:49,520
because the word "fuck" had been
used, or "shit", or swearing.

636
00:35:49,555 --> 00:35:52,280
Mmm. It hasn't done
any harm to anybody.

637
00:35:52,315 --> 00:35:54,645
Personally, I would argue that.

638
00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:58,005
Whereas, say, "you Jew",
"you nigger", whatever,

639
00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:02,820
does seem to lead to an attitude
of almost dehumanising people

640
00:36:02,855 --> 00:36:07,600
from minorities. And once they're
dehumanised, you can kill them,

641
00:36:07,635 --> 00:36:10,720
as the Nazis showed
on an industrial scale.

642
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,040
It's not just classic swear words
that can be used to foment hate.

643
00:36:26,075 --> 00:36:28,365
Some fairly ordinary words
were used by Hitler

644
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:32,680
and his propagandist Joseph Goebbels
to terrible deadly effect.

645
00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:42,520
A tirade of hate speech
labelled Jews as rats,

646
00:36:42,555 --> 00:36:46,365
vermin and bacillus,
infecting the German nation.

647
00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:50,540
The persistent use of these words
dehumanised the Jews

648
00:36:50,575 --> 00:36:54,680
and allowed the Nazis to make
anti-Semitism acceptable.

649
00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:00,040
One of the most chilling aspects
of the Nazis and the Holocaust

650
00:37:00,075 --> 00:37:02,765
is the way the unspeakably
despicable acts

651
00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:08,480
of murder and violence of the death
camps were veiled by anodyne words.

652
00:37:08,515 --> 00:37:11,200
Hate speech gave way
to something more subtle

653
00:37:11,235 --> 00:37:13,440
and, arguably, more insidious -

654
00:37:13,475 --> 00:37:15,005
euphemism.

655
00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:20,320
Annihilating a whole ethnic group
was called The Final Solution.

656
00:37:20,355 --> 00:37:23,645
The murderous industry
was disguised by expressions like

657
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:28,480
"special treatment", "bathhouses",
and "auxiliary equipment".

658
00:37:28,515 --> 00:37:32,245
These bland, neutral words
allowed the perpetrators

659
00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:36,525
to disassociate from reality
and disconnect from their emotions.

660
00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:43,440
Used this way, euphemisms are
more dangerous and infinitely
more obscene than swear words.

661
00:37:43,475 --> 00:37:46,817
But it's not just tyrants
and dictators

662
00:37:46,852 --> 00:37:50,160
who use loaded language
and weasel words,

663
00:37:50,195 --> 00:37:52,525
as Professor Pinker points out.

664
00:37:52,560 --> 00:38:00,085
Politicians have to be
masters of the strategic
ambiguity in language

665
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:05,520
to be able to promise something
to one constituent without
alienating another.

666
00:38:05,555 --> 00:38:11,605
Often, great crimes are hidden
with the use of euphemism,

667
00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:15,200
as George Orwell pointed out
in Politics Of The English Language.

668
00:38:15,235 --> 00:38:19,057
We talk about "collateral damage",
meaning the, er,

669
00:38:19,092 --> 00:38:22,845
obliteration of villages,
the massacre of civilians

670
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:28,160
or "transfer of populations",
which refers to horrific
forced displacements.

671
00:38:28,195 --> 00:38:33,440
'But this verbal slipperiness
is grist to the mill
for political satirists.'

672
00:38:33,475 --> 00:38:39,497
Over the last 20 years,
maybe from Major and Blair onwards,

673
00:38:39,532 --> 00:38:45,520
there's been a withdrawal
of the active in political language.

674
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:51,120
If, for example, a politician
says something offensive,

675
00:38:51,155 --> 00:38:55,680
he or she won't say
"I apologise for causing offence,"

676
00:38:55,715 --> 00:38:59,485
they'll say "I apologise
if offence was caused."

677
00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:04,320
Because that shifts the blame
on to you for being bloody offended
in the first place,

678
00:39:04,355 --> 00:39:08,800
rather than the politician,
so suddenly, they sort
of devolve themselves

679
00:39:08,835 --> 00:39:11,325
of active responsibility
for anything.

680
00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:14,005
It is a subtle alteration
of agency, I suppose.

681
00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:18,485
Once you click on to that
and start analysing other things
that they say,

682
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:23,320
in terms of how they put their
policies out or what they're going
to do for Britain, as a whole,

683
00:39:23,355 --> 00:39:27,080
you start noticing this thread
running through all of that.

684
00:39:27,115 --> 00:39:31,005
I think it's a way of being
able to negotiate policies

685
00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:36,600
that if they go badly wrong,
won't come back to, er, bite...
Bite them in the arse.

686
00:39:36,635 --> 00:39:37,640
Exactly.

687
00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:42,720
While politicians are infamous
for being disingenuous,

688
00:39:42,755 --> 00:39:45,365
we're all guilty
of not saying what we mean,

689
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:48,720
of telling little white lies,
for the sake of diplomacy.

690
00:39:48,755 --> 00:39:50,920
It's called politeness.

691
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:56,685
In some ways, politeness
is another form of euphemism.

692
00:39:56,720 --> 00:40:02,080
It's a way of not saying
what you really mean, in order
to protect people's feelings.

693
00:40:02,115 --> 00:40:05,165
Politeness lubricates the wheels
of social intercourse,

694
00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:09,440
and if you're not well versed
in the codes of conduct,
it can be confusing.

695
00:40:09,475 --> 00:40:13,837
'All cultures have their own rules,
and I'm hoping Omid Djalili

696
00:40:13,872 --> 00:40:18,200
'will enlighten me on the puzzling
politeness of the Persians.'

697
00:40:18,235 --> 00:40:21,845
Iran... Yes.
..has quite a famous,

698
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:27,160
but nonetheless, mystifying,
code of etiquette called Taarof.

699
00:40:27,195 --> 00:40:30,120
I'm so sorry,
let me apologise immediately.

700
00:40:30,155 --> 00:40:31,725
No, it's wonderful.

701
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:36,200
That sounds more Britain's
code of etiquette, apology.

702
00:40:36,235 --> 00:40:38,005
But erm, do you...
how did this arise

703
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:42,240
and does it really, er, count
in all levels of Iranian society?

704
00:40:42,275 --> 00:40:47,360
It's a dance you play to show,
I suppose, social parity.

705
00:40:47,395 --> 00:40:49,405
Social equity,
that we're all equals.

706
00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:54,640
If I was to come in here,
there'd be a little dance
we have where he would give me

707
00:40:54,675 --> 00:40:58,280
the best food and I would say
"Thank you so much,
can I have the bill?"

708
00:40:58,315 --> 00:41:03,400
And he will say, "My food's not
really worth you paying anything."

709
00:41:03,435 --> 00:41:05,400
"Please," I said,
"No, please, I must pay."

710
00:41:05,435 --> 00:41:08,057
He goes, "No, no, no, no,
of course...

711
00:41:08,092 --> 00:41:10,645
"You are a huge person
in our community."

712
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:13,045
And I said, "I will, I must pay,"
and he'll go,

713
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:17,720
"but really, you mustn't pay."
And I say, "I really,
really must pay."

714
00:41:17,755 --> 00:41:19,565
And he'll go,
"I'll get the bill then."

715
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:23,525
He has every intention
of charging me, I have
every intention of paying,

716
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:28,520
and yet we play this wonderful
dance, er, of giving eulogies.
It's about giving eulogies as well.

717
00:41:28,555 --> 00:41:31,565
It's about giving lots
of compliments to someone.

718
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:35,920
We want to show we're a loving
culture. But it's also
about humility.

719
00:41:35,955 --> 00:41:38,365
We say, "Cheshm ro ghadamet"
which means,

720
00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:41,605
"May you walk on my eyeballs",
which means "How low can I get?"

721
00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:47,200
I'm bowing, I want to
get as low as I possibly can,
so you can walk over my brow...

722
00:41:47,235 --> 00:41:50,800
erm, to show that...
It's, it's a way of giving
a compliment, you see.

723
00:41:50,835 --> 00:41:54,680
Right. But it's not seen
as servile or, er, you know,

724
00:41:54,715 --> 00:41:57,200
and sort of greasy or...
No. No, it's warmth.

725
00:41:57,235 --> 00:41:59,365
We give all this love out

726
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:05,680
and yet English people
feel it's great, until...
"Am I supposed to do the same?"

727
00:42:05,715 --> 00:42:07,245
This person wants to...

728
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:10,120
I often say, I love you so much
I'm going to cut my arm

729
00:42:10,155 --> 00:42:12,237
and write you a poem
in my own blood.

730
00:42:12,272 --> 00:42:14,316
And people say,
"Oh, lovely but...

731
00:42:14,351 --> 00:42:16,325
"don't expect that from me." Yes.

732
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:18,940
It's a bit too much. I remember
John Cleese... Yes.

733
00:42:18,975 --> 00:42:21,485
..saying to me years ago,
when I first got to know him,

734
00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:24,440
he said, "You know, you will never
get anywhere in this business

735
00:42:24,475 --> 00:42:26,365
"unless you stop being
so fucking polite."

736
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:29,400
He said that to you?
And I said... well, he said, yes.

737
00:42:29,435 --> 00:42:31,680
He said, "Politeness is very rude,
you know."

738
00:42:31,715 --> 00:42:33,885
I said, "What, what do you mean?"

739
00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:37,720
He said, "If someone comes up to you
and says, "I really like
this programme,"

740
00:42:37,755 --> 00:42:41,240
"and you go, "Oh, no, no,
it's nonsense," you're making
them feel stupid.

741
00:42:41,275 --> 00:42:44,960
"It's terribly easy. All you have
to do is say "Thank you."

742
00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:53,900
Whether language is perceived
as being impeccably polite,

743
00:42:53,935 --> 00:42:57,565
or downright offensive,
is a matter of place and company.

744
00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:02,440
Words and phrases that are
acceptable in a football stadium
or a building site

745
00:43:02,475 --> 00:43:05,240
would be out of order
at a vicar's tea party.

746
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:16,840
♪ You've never won fuck all
You've never won fuck all. ♪

747
00:43:16,875 --> 00:43:20,205
So we modify our language
and mince our words,

748
00:43:20,240 --> 00:43:26,440
use "darn", "crikey", "blooming"
and "shucks" instead of outright
profanities.

749
00:43:26,475 --> 00:43:31,000
We use euphemisms to protect
delicate ears and spare our blushes.

750
00:43:31,035 --> 00:43:34,297
'And as nothing shames us
more than our own bodies,

751
00:43:34,332 --> 00:43:37,666
'hospitals are breeding grounds
for euphemisms.'

752
00:43:37,701 --> 00:43:40,965
Medicine and euphemisms
have long been bedfellows.

753
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:44,840
For centuries, doctors and nurses
have used Latin technical terms

754
00:43:44,875 --> 00:43:46,445
for certain parts of the body,

755
00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,565
which are themselves
euphemisms from another culture.

756
00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:53,800
For example, the word "penis"
comes from a Latin word
meaning "tail"

757
00:43:53,835 --> 00:43:58,000
and the word "vagina" is a Roman
synonym for "sheath" or "scabbard".

758
00:43:58,035 --> 00:44:01,085
Doctors and nurses are very
comfortable using these words,

759
00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:05,660
but we often prefer
to use delicate phrases,
like "private parts"

760
00:44:05,695 --> 00:44:10,165
or "down there" or "the waterworks"
or, heaven help us, "the doings".

761
00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:15,520
Our intense embarrassment about
what our bodies should be doing
naturally can cause problems

762
00:44:15,555 --> 00:44:18,805
when it comes to speaking to
strangers about our condition.

763
00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:23,480
Morning, everybody. We're going
to go through some of the terminology
that you've been hearing,

764
00:44:23,515 --> 00:44:28,600
and we look at some of the
terminology that you've learned
about the English language...

765
00:44:28,635 --> 00:44:32,040
'But the fact that we prefer to use
all manner of colloquialisms

766
00:44:32,075 --> 00:44:35,360
'and colourful language,
instead of saying what's wrong,

767
00:44:35,395 --> 00:44:37,640
'can cause confusion
for foreign nurses.

768
00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:43,240
'Julia Saunders runs courses
designed to disambiguate
new staff

769
00:44:43,275 --> 00:44:46,485
'at the Queen Elizabeth
Hospital in King's Lynn, Norfolk.'

770
00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:51,600
Has anybody ever come up to you
and said, "My arm or my leg is giving
me a bit of gyp?" Yeah.

771
00:44:51,635 --> 00:44:54,805
That's quite a Norfolk term.
Giving you trouble, giving you pain.

772
00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:58,720
Giving me trouble,
giving me pain, or they'll say,
"this gammy leg of mine".

773
00:44:58,755 --> 00:45:02,077
'Julia tells me
about one Portuguese nurse

774
00:45:02,112 --> 00:45:05,365
'who was flummoxed
by our funny phrases.'

775
00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:08,280
He was on the ward one day
and a lady called him over and says,

776
00:45:08,315 --> 00:45:10,005
"I need to spend a penny."

777
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:12,860
"And he said "That's fine.
I'll be with you in a moment."

778
00:45:12,895 --> 00:45:15,547
She again called him over
and said "I need to spend a penny"

779
00:45:15,582 --> 00:45:18,191
and he said, "I truly will be
with you, Madam, in a moment,"

780
00:45:18,226 --> 00:45:20,800
very polite and then
the third time he went over he said,

781
00:45:20,835 --> 00:45:23,405
"My dear, he said the paper
lady's in the next bay

782
00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:26,645
"and you can spend as many pennies
as you like when she comes,"

783
00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:30,520
and then the staff nurse came in
and said "George, she needs to go
to the toilet."

784
00:45:30,555 --> 00:45:33,125
And he was mortified,
he said he felt so silly,

785
00:45:33,160 --> 00:45:37,520
he wouldn't have made her wait
if he'd have realised what
that phrase meant.

786
00:45:37,555 --> 00:45:39,645
'But hospital staff themselves

787
00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:44,120
'use euphemisms to soften the harsh
realities of life and death.'

788
00:45:44,155 --> 00:45:46,525
If you've got somebody who's died,

789
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:49,100
you may want the body
to be taken off the ward.

790
00:45:49,135 --> 00:45:51,605
So you don't stand at the head
of the desk or

791
00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:55,140
if it was in the middle
of a Nightingale ward where
the desk was in the middle,

792
00:45:55,175 --> 00:45:58,640
and say, "one for the morgue,"
even though everybody kind of knows
someone's died.

793
00:45:58,675 --> 00:46:02,400
You say to the porters, "Hello,
I've got a gentleman or a lady..."

794
00:46:02,435 --> 00:46:04,485
I would say it,
"a gentleman for Rose Cottage"

795
00:46:04,520 --> 00:46:08,240
The porters know
exactly what you mean.
Is that specific to King's Lynn?

796
00:46:08,275 --> 00:46:11,017
No, that's a term that gets
used throughout.

797
00:46:11,052 --> 00:46:13,725
And sometimes in Paediatrics
I've heard,

798
00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:16,740
I've not actually used that term,
but they sometimes say,

799
00:46:16,775 --> 00:46:19,685
"I've got a little one
for the rainbow's end."
Oh...

800
00:46:19,720 --> 00:46:24,960
I suppose also, that's
a reminder to the other people
in the ward that they might...

801
00:46:24,995 --> 00:46:29,240
One day we will all go to our
Rose Cottage or our rainbow's end.

802
00:46:32,280 --> 00:46:34,365
Death and sex seem
to win the prize

803
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:38,565
for the most
euphemisms and dysphemisms
in the English language.

804
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:44,360
Indeed, "dead" is a four-letter word
that's almost as unsayable
as the F-word itself.

805
00:46:44,395 --> 00:46:49,000
Instead we prefer "passed on",
"passed away", "pushing up daisies",

806
00:46:49,035 --> 00:46:50,365
"gone to meet his maker"

807
00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:54,760
or in the great phrase of the
immortal Monty Python parrot sketch,

808
00:46:54,795 --> 00:46:59,120
"shuffled off this
mortal coil and gone to join
the choir invisible."

809
00:46:59,155 --> 00:47:01,325
And when it comes to
the glorious act of coitus,

810
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:04,005
well there's diddled and banged
and porked and shafted

811
00:47:04,040 --> 00:47:07,000
and shagged and rogered, all giving
rise to the most marvellous

812
00:47:07,035 --> 00:47:09,640
opportunities for double entendre
and innuendo.

813
00:47:11,480 --> 00:47:16,165
♪ There's no entertainment
like the British music hall... ♪

814
00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:20,780
British entertainment has long been
a hotbed of double entendre
and euphemism.

815
00:47:20,815 --> 00:47:25,360
From music hall to Carry On films,
British audiences have lapped
up smutty puns

816
00:47:25,395 --> 00:47:27,885
and nudge-nudge wink-wink jokes.

817
00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:33,680
By not saying exactly
what they mean, entertainers get
away with murder...

818
00:47:33,715 --> 00:47:35,280
metaphorically speaking, of course.

819
00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:39,925
In the Sixties, radio programmes
like The Goon Show
and Round the Horne

820
00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:45,960
served up wordplay,
innuendo and nonsense verse
for the delectation of the nation.

821
00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:49,005
We are the Universal Party,

822
00:47:49,040 --> 00:47:53,800
so called because we're at it
right, left and centre.

823
00:47:53,835 --> 00:47:56,800
Yes, shake hands
with your prospective member.

824
00:48:04,240 --> 00:48:05,925
And what's your policy?

825
00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:08,240
We have a three-pronged manifesto.

826
00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:13,800
Three distinct prongs, it's got.
Show him. Get out your manifesto.

827
00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:22,760
One, double the building programme,
so there's latties for all. Lovely!

828
00:48:23,760 --> 00:48:27,180
Remove the American missiles
from our shores.

829
00:48:27,215 --> 00:48:30,600
Particularly that one,
what's it called, Polari.

830
00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:35,925
It wasn't till I got to university
that a friend played me

831
00:48:35,960 --> 00:48:39,840
some cassettes of Round the Horne
and Julian and Sandy in particular,

832
00:48:39,875 --> 00:48:43,685
and a group of us
used to use it in our pathetic way,

833
00:48:43,720 --> 00:48:51,000
we'd talk about trolling
along King's Parade and 'Ooh, vada
that, do you think it's trade?"

834
00:48:51,035 --> 00:48:54,325
and all those awful, contemptuous,
queeny remarks,

835
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:59,645
which we were aware were rather sort
of naughty and subversive,

836
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:04,760
because they were, sort of,
hard-edged and brittle, in the way
that queens can be.

837
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:14,800
'A lot of these expressions came
from the secret gay slang, Polari.'

838
00:49:14,835 --> 00:49:17,205
Hello, Bette. Hello.

839
00:49:17,240 --> 00:49:21,285
What are you doing here?
Can I take you for a ride?

840
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:25,480
I haven't been taken for a ride
since last I was in this street.

841
00:49:25,515 --> 00:49:27,005
In you pop.

842
00:49:27,040 --> 00:49:30,640
'Bette Bourne used to speak
Polari during its heyday.'

843
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:37,125
You had this language,
and, as you say, it was yours.

844
00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:43,080
It made you feel like it was part of
a secret club. That was wonderful.

845
00:49:43,115 --> 00:49:45,045
You were part of an exclusive club,

846
00:49:45,080 --> 00:49:50,920
it was the only bit of exclusivity
that working-class queens had,

847
00:49:50,955 --> 00:49:52,125
and it was fun.

848
00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:56,800
Vada the bona carts on that omi
over in the corner there,

849
00:49:56,835 --> 00:50:00,360
the one with the bright blue ogles.

850
00:50:02,680 --> 00:50:05,605
So it was a mixture of Italian
and, I think, backslang,

851
00:50:05,640 --> 00:50:09,680
and almost some Romany I think,
some gypsy was in there, wasn't it?

852
00:50:09,715 --> 00:50:12,485
Backslang, Romany, yeah,
all sorts of words.

853
00:50:12,520 --> 00:50:16,980
Can you see that queen zhooshing
along there, mincing along.

854
00:50:17,015 --> 00:50:21,440
There was troll, wasn't there,
trolling along the street.

855
00:50:21,475 --> 00:50:26,045
Trolling was also very much linked
with cruising.

856
00:50:26,080 --> 00:50:29,600
So if you say you're going trolling,
it meant you're going cruising.

857
00:50:29,635 --> 00:50:34,925
Then zhoosh was also
decorational trim.

858
00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:38,160
She's got a bit of zhoosh round
the edge of that frock

859
00:50:38,195 --> 00:50:41,200
or she's wearing bit of zhoosh.

860
00:50:41,235 --> 00:50:43,045
It meant a feather boa.

861
00:50:43,080 --> 00:50:46,645
How did you feel about the fact
that the writers

862
00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:53,360
of the incredibly popular radio
comedy Round the Horne, Barry Took
and Marty Feldman,

863
00:50:53,395 --> 00:50:57,920
brought it out into the open
with Kenneth Williams
and Hugh Paddick,

864
00:50:57,955 --> 00:51:00,245
"Hello I'm Julian,
and this is my friend Sandy."

865
00:51:00,280 --> 00:51:05,600
We loved it, because we didn't
think of it as particularly gay.

866
00:51:05,635 --> 00:51:07,685
It was just very, very funny.

867
00:51:07,720 --> 00:51:11,005
And my father, who was very anti-gay

868
00:51:11,040 --> 00:51:14,165
and made no secret of it to me,
later on,

869
00:51:14,200 --> 00:51:19,125
he loved that show and people
laughed like hell on Sunday,

870
00:51:19,160 --> 00:51:23,180
and also Sunday was the day off
when we could all be a bit naughty.

871
00:51:23,215 --> 00:51:27,200
They knew is was naughty,
but they didn't quite know
what it meant.

872
00:51:27,235 --> 00:51:29,005
They used to say things like,

873
00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:34,285
"Oooh isn't he butch?"
and "That's your actual French."

874
00:51:34,320 --> 00:51:41,040
To anyone with ears to hear,
it was most obvious that these
were two gay men. Yes, it was.

875
00:51:41,075 --> 00:51:44,680
The fact that the people around us
wouldn't know what the hell

876
00:51:44,715 --> 00:51:49,280
we were talking about at all
was also part of the fun.

877
00:51:56,120 --> 00:51:59,720
Secret languages and slang may
seem like an abuse of language,

878
00:51:59,755 --> 00:52:03,005
but they actually strengthen
a sense of community.

879
00:52:03,040 --> 00:52:08,800
Like secrets whispered between best
friends, collusion bonds people.

880
00:52:13,480 --> 00:52:15,365
Today, kids are speaking
a new argot.

881
00:52:15,400 --> 00:52:21,880
They smatter their language
with words their parents
and teachers struggle to comprehend.

882
00:52:21,915 --> 00:52:24,205
Slang empowers them.

883
00:52:24,240 --> 00:52:26,600
I say "'sup" like "Wassup?"

884
00:52:26,635 --> 00:52:28,925
They say you got a swag.

885
00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:31,540
Hey blood, there go the bro-skis.

886
00:52:31,575 --> 00:52:34,120
Wassup?
I say "hey" I say "hi".

887
00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:39,320
But teenspeak is like
a linguistic arms race.

888
00:52:39,355 --> 00:52:40,965
Once the code has been cracked,

889
00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:43,960
new combinations
and expressions must evolve,

890
00:52:43,995 --> 00:52:47,405
to define who's in and who's out.

891
00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:50,045
Students from Berkeley High School
in California

892
00:52:50,080 --> 00:52:55,480
published a dictionary of slang
in 2004, but already the words used
have changed.

893
00:52:55,515 --> 00:52:57,120
What's a scrub?

894
00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:03,440
It's like er, I guess you could say
a chump or like somebody...

895
00:53:03,475 --> 00:53:05,125
A loser.

896
00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:07,940
OK, he's a scrub, he's a loser.
Yeah, OK.

897
00:53:07,975 --> 00:53:10,685
This language is, like,
so out of date.

898
00:53:10,720 --> 00:53:13,600
It moves too fast, moves too
fast for us, for us old people.

899
00:53:13,635 --> 00:53:15,565
Yeah, maybe.
Moves fast for us.

900
00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:18,165
Because it's the only public school
in Berkeley,

901
00:53:18,200 --> 00:53:22,005
so everybody that's not in a private
school is here in Berkeley High.

902
00:53:22,040 --> 00:53:28,200
That's why it can change overnight,
it's because there's 3,500 kids
at the school.

903
00:53:28,235 --> 00:53:31,920
There's no difference
in how everyone talks,
it's just one giant melting pot.

904
00:53:31,955 --> 00:53:35,845
So it's just... we have all
the language and we use it all.

905
00:53:35,880 --> 00:53:39,400
Exactly, it's like good food,
you get lots of cuisine, add the
spice of different culture.

906
00:53:39,435 --> 00:53:41,405
Language does not have
a right and wrong.

907
00:53:41,440 --> 00:53:44,280
Language is just how people,
how people communicate.

908
00:53:44,315 --> 00:53:47,120
That's a very... This is just
how teenagers communicate.

909
00:53:51,440 --> 00:53:56,560
The Berkeley High School kids tell
me they pick up lots of their new
words from music.

910
00:53:56,595 --> 00:53:59,285
Nothing new there.

911
00:53:59,320 --> 00:54:04,200
We've been jazzing up our language
with cool expressions
from pop culture

912
00:54:04,235 --> 00:54:05,445
for the best part of a century.

913
00:54:05,480 --> 00:54:07,960
♪ But I wouldn't give a sucker
or a bum from the rucker

914
00:54:07,995 --> 00:54:10,360
♪ Not a dime till I made it again

915
00:54:10,395 --> 00:54:12,045
♪ Ho-tel, mo-tel,

916
00:54:12,080 --> 00:54:14,060
♪ Whatcha gonna do today?

917
00:54:14,095 --> 00:54:16,005
♪ Cos I'm a get a fly girl,

918
00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:18,320
♪ Gonna get some spank
and drive off in a def OJ.

919
00:54:18,355 --> 00:54:20,840
♪ Everybody go ho-tel, mo-tel... ♪

920
00:54:20,875 --> 00:54:22,565
For the past 40 years,

921
00:54:22,600 --> 00:54:27,280
hip-hop has been bringing
the language of the streets
into mainstream use.

922
00:54:27,315 --> 00:54:32,960
Terms like bling, jiggy,
bootylicious, dope, phat
and breakbeat

923
00:54:32,995 --> 00:54:36,357
have all been given a place
in the dictionary,

924
00:54:36,392 --> 00:54:40,056
and other words like
ill, ice, hood, whip, jet,

925
00:54:40,091 --> 00:54:43,720
spit and diss have been
given new meanings.

926
00:54:43,755 --> 00:54:46,317
Hip-hop has entered
the lingua franca,

927
00:54:46,352 --> 00:54:48,776
'but is that a good or a bad thing?'

928
00:54:48,811 --> 00:54:51,165
To say
if it's positive or negative is,

929
00:54:51,200 --> 00:54:54,040
you know, depends on your
experience with it.

930
00:54:54,075 --> 00:54:56,845
But to look at the uses of Twitter,
or Facebook,

931
00:54:56,880 --> 00:55:02,080
or status updates, you have to now
put a thought in 140 characters
or less.

932
00:55:02,115 --> 00:55:05,560
So it lends itself to short
conversation and slang and,

933
00:55:05,595 --> 00:55:08,045
er, delivering a point quickly.

934
00:55:08,080 --> 00:55:11,920
And, and of course what happens also
is that a phrase seems to start

935
00:55:11,955 --> 00:55:17,005
in the music world and in that
community then gets taken

936
00:55:17,040 --> 00:55:19,600
up by the wider culture and almost
gets, you might say it gets

937
00:55:19,635 --> 00:55:22,240
degraded, so phrases,
obviously you think of, like,

938
00:55:22,275 --> 00:55:24,165
"Yo homie". You know. "Whassup?"

939
00:55:24,200 --> 00:55:27,120
Right. And that suddenly enters
a beer commercial.

940
00:55:27,155 --> 00:55:30,005
I was in the locker room
working out in the gym

941
00:55:30,040 --> 00:55:35,720
and I hear an older white gentleman,
something like 60 years old

942
00:55:35,755 --> 00:55:39,405
talking on his cell phone
and he ends his conversation

943
00:55:39,440 --> 00:55:42,600
and I didn't know who it was.
I was, sort of, listening behind me.

944
00:55:42,635 --> 00:55:47,920
He says "Hit me back later,"
and I say, "What, since when?!"

945
00:55:47,955 --> 00:55:51,485
Language circulates and,
as soon as you speak it

946
00:55:51,520 --> 00:55:55,200
and put it out in the public,
it gets picked up, whether
it's through media,

947
00:55:55,235 --> 00:55:56,925
or people travelling,
and circulates.

948
00:55:56,960 --> 00:56:02,520
As soon as I say, "pop your collar",
it ends up in Germany, right,

949
00:56:02,555 --> 00:56:06,485
it ends up in Tanzania,
and it ends up in Australia.

950
00:56:06,520 --> 00:56:10,720
Because of the same circulation
through popular media
and cultural flows

951
00:56:10,755 --> 00:56:13,965
and so a lot of this stuff is
happening sort of everywhere.

952
00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:18,085
As you say there's, it's both,
like, it's a local thing,
a neighbourhood thing,

953
00:56:18,120 --> 00:56:23,080
but also a kind of citizen
of the world thing, and the two
can coexist. Yeah, exactly.

954
00:56:23,115 --> 00:56:24,565
And the music is a vector for

955
00:56:24,600 --> 00:56:27,820
the ideas that are smuggled
inside it, in some instances.

956
00:56:27,855 --> 00:56:31,040
Yeah, yeah, that get circulated,
that get circulated.

957
00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:36,820
Whether you like it or not,
hip-hop is very powerful,

958
00:56:36,855 --> 00:56:40,167
not just in influencing trends
in slang and fashion,

959
00:56:40,202 --> 00:56:43,441
but in acting as a voice
of the disenfranchised.

960
00:56:43,476 --> 00:56:46,645
It provided a soundtrack
to the Arab revolutions

961
00:56:46,680 --> 00:56:51,360
and one artist has even
been credited with sparking
the Tunisian revolt.

962
00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:11,000
The power of language,
whether to foment civil unrest,
or promote racist ideologies,

963
00:57:11,035 --> 00:57:13,165
should never be underestimated.

964
00:57:13,200 --> 00:57:17,360
But there is a fine line between
wanting to prevent hate speech

965
00:57:17,395 --> 00:57:20,005
and stifling free speech.

966
00:57:20,040 --> 00:57:23,820
While we should all be aware
how we use or abuse words,

967
00:57:23,855 --> 00:57:27,600
I would argue that we shouldn't
try to suppress them.

968
00:57:27,635 --> 00:57:29,125
As we've seen from swearing,

969
00:57:29,160 --> 00:57:33,205
making something taboo
only adds to its power.

970
00:57:33,240 --> 00:57:37,680
For me, language in both its
graceful and disgraceful forms,

971
00:57:37,715 --> 00:57:40,165
whether it's swearing, slang,
double entendre,

972
00:57:40,200 --> 00:57:44,960
dysphemism or euphemism, should be
celebrated for its creativeness.

973
00:57:44,995 --> 00:57:47,765
We should ignore the pedants
and purists

974
00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:53,080
and revel in its rebelliousness
and allow language to evolve
organically.

975
00:57:53,115 --> 00:57:57,160
And above all, we should use it
with relish and delight.

976
00:57:57,195 --> 00:57:58,645
'Next time,

977
00:57:58,680 --> 00:58:02,965
'I'll be looking at how
we spread the word...with writing.

978
00:58:03,000 --> 00:58:07,160
'I'm going to see some of the oldest
and most precious written words...'

979
00:58:08,320 --> 00:58:10,405
All of the Ten Commandments.

980
00:58:10,440 --> 00:58:13,245
Amazing. So that alone
is a priceless document.

981
00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:19,080
'..some of the most beautiful
scripts and world-changing books,

982
00:58:19,115 --> 00:58:22,320
'as well as some very futuristic
modes of communication.'

983
00:58:22,355 --> 00:58:24,840
Oh, my goodness,
this is magical!

984
00:58:42,400 --> 00:58:45,440
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

985
00:58:45,475 --> 00:58:48,480
E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk