2min chapter

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540. Swearing Is More Important Than You Think

Freakonomics Radio

CHAPTER

The New Taboo on Words Concerning Sex and Excretion

Melissa Moore is the author of a book called Holy Sh***, A Brief History of Swearing. She had planned on being an academic and she got a PhD in medieval and renaissance English literature. But somehow she got sidetracked by swearing. The kinds of language that people were getting upset about was religious in nature. And so I got interested in how and why that transition happened.

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