Is This The Most Unacceptable Word In The English Language? - Mark Normand

Duration: 8:10 1579 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

The podcast opens with a discussion on cultural differences regarding profanity, specifically contrasting British and American attitudes toward swear words. The host notes that while Americans are generally more uptight about language, Scottish speakers often find it difficult to refrain from using expletives as they naturally fall out of them during conversation. In contrast, the use of strong language in England is described as a "weapon of mass destruction," where certain terms like the F-word or specific slurs carry significantly heavier weight and are considered unacceptable even among friends. This linguistic boundary creates a distinct social dynamic; calling someone these words with an American friend might be seen as playful banter, whereas using them casually in the UK can escalate into serious conflict immediately. The conversation then shifts to the phenomenon of filler words, particularly "um" and "uh," which are identified not merely as errors but as functional tools for speech production. A linguistic expert explains that these sounds serve different purposes: "uh" often indicates a search for specific vocabulary or direction in thought, while "um" acts as a holding pattern to approximate the noise of talking when one is struggling to formulate an idea. The transcript highlights how modern speakers frequently overuse these fillers, sometimes substituting them with invented nonsense words like "fouch," which was created by researchers to study pain tolerance. These made-up terms were designed to evoke emotion or humor without carrying the historical baggage of real curse words, yet they failed to replicate the analgesic effects found in genuine swearing during ice water experiments. A significant portion of the dialogue is dedicated to a fascinating scientific study regarding the physiological impact of profanity on pain perception. Researchers Stevens and Robertson discovered that repeating actual swear words could increase an individual's threshold for pain, likely due to autonomic arousal caused by intense emotion acting as a distraction mechanism. However, when subjects recited invented curse words like "fouch" or humorous terms like "twiz pipe," the pain-relieving effects were absent. This suggests that the emotional intensity and perhaps even the taboo nature of real swear words are crucial for this biological response, whereas made-up alternatives lack the necessary psychological weight to trigger such a reaction in the brain during stressful physical situations. The discussion inevitably turns to one of the most sensitive topics: the N-word. The host reflects on its complex history as a term that was once used casually by white people referencing police reports but has since become so charged with historical trauma related to slavery and systemic racism that it can no longer be referenced or spoken outside specific contexts. While acknowledging the narrative where Black communities reclaimed the word, the speaker emphasizes the absolute boundary around its usage today; using it without authorization is viewed as an act of aggression rather than empowerment. The host admits his own past struggles with this issue, noting how he eventually learned to say it among friends but recognizing that for many others, crossing that line remains a severe violation of social norms and safety. Throughout the episode, there are moments where the casual use of language clashes with its serious implications, such as when comedians or media figures pepper sentences with expletives in ways that might seem trivial to some but feel like an epidemic to others who find it frustratingly dumbing down discourse. The host also touches upon how even seemingly innocent words can carry hidden connotations, citing a British slur disguised within the made-up word "twiz pipe" as an example of language being abused and misused across cultures. Ultimately, the conversation underscores that while filler words help structure speech and swear words offer unique psychological benefits in pain management, certain terms remain strictly off-limits due to their deep historical roots and current social significance, requiring a careful navigation of what is acceptable versus unacceptable in public discourse.

Read the full video transcript

especially being British there's a problem Americans have a problem with you uh peppering a sentence with swear words yeah Daniel SLO has a fantastic bit about this he's good where he's pretending to play the drums and each different part of the drum is a swear word and he says as Scottish people it just come it sort of falls out of you very very quickly uh whereas with Americans it's you are apart from maybe the comedy World much more sort of uptight around profanity there's still yes a big concern I mean I used the c word on my it's a different thing here on my do normalin in England yes here it's heavy duty it's yeah it's a real weapon of mass destruction there's no there's no other acceptable unacceptable more unacceptable acceptable word like you after after that you're onto the nword you're into real no man's land territory ex yeah you call a woman a it's it's fighting words yeah it's game on whereas you call your friends that in the UK yeah so yeah just learning reentering the scope of my linguistic usage and realizing what words are in and what words are out and what I can say and what I can't say yeah yeah we do we do the the f word a lot it's all a buffer it's all like I'm trying to think of something so I'll what's the name of that [ __ ] uh that drink you sell and it's it's not good and Comics use it too much the problem now is the word like this is like an American epidemic this is a real problem you watch like genen Z and all these people everything is like you know you watch a Candace Owens or something go yell at a college kid yes and they're going well like you you said like uh you were eating and it's like no no not like she was eating she was eating but they they fill it with like and it's so [ __ ] frustrating you sound Dumber it bleeds into everything I had a a really great conversation two years ago with a linguistic analysis lady and she was explaining what's going on here and they're referred to as filler wordss yes so found this out this is fantastic so um and uh are two different use cases people will um and uh at different times uh is knowing what they need to say but searching for the word okay more commonly and um is trying to work out the direction that they actually want to talk in the reason being if you were to just open your mouth and make a noise of talking what you end up with is something like uh like it's that it's it's just the noise of you use a Macbook and it's got that spinning colored wheel it's the spinning colored wheel of linguistics the Mitch mcel we call that there you go perfect um that's it's a holding pattern and like has come in to say it is something approximating this next thing that I'm about to say that's what like is but it's also been used as a filler word and it's it's taken up both of those which is why the frequencies increase so much great great Point yeah because it it is a useful word this tastes like chicken yes so now we're going okay it's similar to chicken correct but everything has become I was reading like a book no you were reading a book you IDI you were reading the Quran like just say the book but it's just a filler but you're right it's a filler and it's a the other thing you said here's a second uh swearing study that I thought was brilliant repeating the fword can improve threshold for pain I've heard during an ice water challenge recent study found that repeating the F for during an ice water experiment increased subjects tolerance and threshold for pain however reciting madeup swear words showed no such pain reducing effects numerous Studies have shown that the use of swear words can strengthen pain tolerance during an ice water experiment UK researchers Stevens and Robertson set out to explore the mechanism behind this pain relieving effect in a unique way team of Specialists invented two new swear words with properties similar to known curse words they then tested the invented words on a cold presser experiment to see whether they would mimic the pain reducing effects of known swear words one Theory suggests that the swearing produces analgesic effects through autonomic arousal caused by increased emotion so you're basically distracting yourself from what you're feeling by increasing the emotion inside of you it's like getting angry and then punching something right to explore this idea researchers chose the madeup swear word Fouch ah selected for Fouch yeah what a Fouch selected for its emotion-provoking potential another theory suggests that swearing alleviates the Pain by distracting attention away from the painful event researchers accordingly chose the second madeup curse word twiz pipe for its potential to evoke distraction through humor so Fouch and twiz pipe don't work as well as just screaming the FW if you're in pain that makes sense but twiz pipe sounds like a a a slur for British people doesn't it there [ __ ] twist pipes over here yeah a little bit I don't know it's fascinating how language gets sort of used and abused and I was thinking as I often do when I wake up first thing in the morning was thinking about the nword and I it's so what what had I seen I'd seen Derek Poston uh doing his podcast and I think they're playing it's kind of like Wheel of Fortune but it's called who's that nword ah and they show they put it up on the um on the screen and then they've got a gas is it all black people yes okay and uh I was like it is absolutely why and it's just the most liberal use of that it's every it's the saying like smattering a word with [ __ ] right like or like it's that but and I just thought it is so insane that we have this it's fascinating isn't it boundary around that particular word itself I know I blame slavery it's the only reason that it could be this powerful you know because obviously it's silly I grew up I went to public school and all my black friends be like come on say it and I was like I'm not saying it like come on and then then eventually after an hour you'd say it and they were like ah so it just proves like okay you can exist with a white person saying this word and not lose complete control and beat the [ __ ] out of me but it is it's just something about that word it's just garnered this because people used to say it on the news and stuff in the 90s no way oh yeah they'd be like uh they'd be reading like a police report and and the the the man said two you know and it was just like you couldn't say it at somebody but you could still say it reference it you could still reference it and now you can't even reference it wow yeah and that that talk about empowering that's the ultimate empowering by the way another thing white people invented the nword but uh and black people took it and made it cool but uh it is empower the that is Empower like using it only you guys can use it and you can't and if you do we get to [ __ ] you up we'll get back to talking to Mark in one minute but first I need to tell you about manscaped if you're still using an old face shaver from Four Christmases ago to trim your gentleman's area join us in the modern world there are purpose built tools for the job and the manscaped lawn mower 5.0 Ultra is exactly what you need it's got a Cutting Edge ceramic blade to reduced grooming accidents a 90-minute battery which can help you to take a longer shap waterproof technology so that you can shave in the shower and an LED light which illuminates grooming areas for a closer and more precise trim or if you're just a particularly crassy person that likes to do it in the dark more than 10 million men worldwide trim their most precious area with manscaped and you can join them or if you need to get the man in your life a gift or if you just need to hint at them that perhaps they're a little bit hairier than you would like them to be this is the perfect socially acceptable gesture also there is free shipping worldwide plus a 20% discount if you go to the link in the show notes below or head to manscaped.com wisdom and use the code modern wisdom a checkout that's manscaped.com slod wisdom and modern wisdom a checkout thank thank you very much for tuning in if you enjoyed that clip with Mark or at least weren't too offended you can watch the full episode right here by pressing right here