Monday, October 28, 2024

Distracting the Fuck Out of Y'all

Today's entry in the catalog of things to take our minds off of all the things takes us to a place we already visit quite a bit. One could say we're experts in the subject, but I've never seen it studied quite so deeply.

I'm talking about swearing. 

And so is Jack Grieve, a foreign linguistics professor at Aston University in Birmingham, UK. Grieve examined nearly 9 million geocoded tweets to assess the relative frequency of different curse words in different parts of the U.S. Here's fuck, for example:

You'll not be shocked to learn that nearly every Gheorghie lives in a high fuck region.

From a post at the swearing-focused blog (and you thought *we* were niche) Strong Language, here's a bit more detail.

Hell, damn and bitch are especially popular in the south and southeast. Douche is relatively common in northern states. Bastard is beloved in Maine and New Hampshire, and those states – together with a band across southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas – are the areas of particular motherfucker favour. Crap is more popular inland, fuck along the coasts. Fuckboy – a rising star* – is also mainly a coastal thing, so far.

The post has a bunch of maps showing the regional frequency of other terms, like damn, douche, asshole, and motherfucker. It's a really fucking nice way to distract yourself. Enjoy. 

28 comments:

rob said...

ten hag out! kind of a bummer. enjoyed watching man u suck quite a bit.

Whitney said...

Interesting. Only Danimal lives in a non-cussery spot? (Danimal, you prude.)

rob said...

jax favors bitch, damn, and pussy, as it turns out

Whitney said...

Consider the sociology and psychology of bitch versus cunt. (Mild apologies to those offended there.)

To say that "bitch" is especially popular in the south and southeast is a vast understatement. It's solid orange from SEVA to SETX with a whole lotta blue across much of the country.

The c-word, however, has no home in the deep south whatsoever. All blue. "I do declayah, my Winston, I've nevah heahd such offensive language from that vile woman. What a common bitch!"

Whitney said...

Iowa: 100% orange on "douche." Now ya know.

Whitney said...

New England: no use for "gosh," all in on "cunt." Now ya really know.

Whitney said...

And that this word isn't used in South Carolina is puzzling, to say the least.

rob said...

i believe we've hit on a subject that whitney enjoys

rootsminer said...

You threw a big fucking meatball right into his power zone.

rob said...

IMPORTANT UPDATE SO I'M CAPITALIZING SHIT: i was totally wrong on the timing of the fedex fall points race on the pga tour, so while our man joel is indeed inside the top 125, there are three events left in the season. so he's not safe. we regret this error and will endeavor to be more accurate in our future reporting.

Whitney said...

sloppy journalism

rob said...

fake news

Mark said...

First middle school soccer game was a success. Kid started at right back. Beat our beachside rivals 6-1.

Whitney said...

Nice work

rob said...

i thought she was a goalkeeper

Mark said...

She was for a few years and then moved away from it towards the enbd of her comp career. A combination of her coach making her dislike it due to the pressure he put on her and wanting to have a more active role. It's just as well - as I'm sure you can guess - she's not very tall and will not ever be. The keeper for her team at school is almost as tall as me.

rob said...

nice. and fuck that coach.

Whitney said...

rob is not tall and never will be, presumably, but he was the W&M intramural soccer star of the playoffs in 1991 as a goalkeeper. Dude went horizontal.

But yeah, it makes sense.

rob said...

flying squirrel, some might say

rob said...

we lost teri garr. bummer.

Professor G. Truck said...

fuck no!

OBX dave said...

Frohei Frohtani, right?

rob said...

the yankees are gonna let those two fucksticks who mauled mookie betts back into the building tonight. those preening dopes'll be pounding their chests like silverbacks. they'll have a show on barstool by the weekend.

Whitney said...

Since that kid in 1996, Yanks trying to get their fans to help them do what they can’t do. I’d say those guys are lucky their seats were slightly elevated and the RF wasn’t someone like, say, Darryl Strawberry.

mr kq said...

Or Dave Winfield.

rob said...

or dave kingman

Danimal said...

or dave osborne

anyone else here pushed to near walking away from the job due to your annual budget process? just curious

OBX dave said...

Don't know if we can put a bow on Betts interference episode without some zman jabroni explanation and reaction.