Swear Words by Location

I recently read an article written by a linguist who documented what swear words are used most in areas of the United States. (No doubt paid for by a grant from the government at the taxpayers expense.) This particular linguist chose eighteen offensive words and how prevalent their use was across this great land of ours. Since civilized journalist don't use those words in print, they typed the first and last letters of the word, with asterisks in between. After perusing the list, I decided that I'm either getting old or don't get around much. While I knew what most of them were, I didn't have a clue as to what some of the words they were they were "asterisking out" were supposed to represent.

I live where the f-word is used less frequently. It appears all coastal regions, including those around the Great Lakes, use this word with much more frequency than the rest of the country. If the people who live in those areas hear that word more than I do, they must really be sick of hearing it!

They have also deduced that my area uses the words gosh, darn, crap, and douche more frequently than other regions. ("Gosh" is a swear word???) Oddly, those words weren't "asterisked out", so I have a hard time calling them real swear words. I rarely say gosh, darn, or douche, but I have been known to utter "crap" from time to time. The article didn't mention the word "poop", which is my expletive of choice. Yup ... when I'm mad or disappointed, I say poop or poo. I guess that makes me a real potty mouth (no pun intended).