Seven Dirty Words

**Seven Dirty Words**, also known as **Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television**, **Forbidden Words**, **Dirty Words**, or **Filthy Words**, is a famous comedy routine by George Carlin, first appearing in his 1972 album, *Class Clown*. The words, in the order that Carlin listed them, are: "shit", "piss", "fuck", "cunt", "cocksucker, "motherfucker", and "tits".

At the time, the words were considered highly inappropriate and unsuitable for broadcast on the public airwaves in the United States, whether radio or television. As such, they were avoided in scripted material and bleep censored in the rare cases in which they were used. Broadcast standards differ in different parts of the world, then and now, although most of the words on Carlin's original list remain taboo on American broadcast television. The list was not an official enumeration of forbidden words, but rather were compiled by Carlin to flow better in a comedy routine. Nonetheless, a radio broadcast featuring these words led to a Supreme Court decision in *FCC v. Pacifica Foundation* that helped define the extent to which the federal government could regulate speech on broadcast television and radio in the United States.

## Background

During a performance in 1966, comedian Lenny Bruce said he had been arrested for saying nine words: "ass", "balls", "cocksucker", "cunt", "fuck", "motherfucker", "piss", "shit", and "tits". In 1972, comedian George Carlin released his fourth stand-up album *Class Clown*. One track on the album, "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television", was a monologue in which he identified these words and expressed amazement that they could not be used regardless of context. In a 2004 NPR interview, he said:

I don't know that there was a "eureka" moment or anything like that. [...] On these other things, we get into the field of hypocrisy. Where you really cannot pin down what these rules they want to enforce are. It's just impossible to say "this is a blanket rule". You'll see some newspapers print "f *blank blank* k". Some print "f *asterisk asterisk* k". Some put "f *blank blank blank*". Some put the word "bleep". Some put "expletive deleted". So there's no real consistent standard. It's not a science. It's a notion that they have and it's superstitious. These words have no power. We give them this power by refusing to be free and easy with them. We give them great power over us. They really, in themselves, have no power. It's the thrust of the sentence that makes them either good or bad.

Carlin was arrested for disturbing the peace when he performed the routine at a show at Summerfest in Milwaukee in 1972. On his next album, 1973's *Occupation: Foole*, he performed a similar routine titled "Filthy Words", dealing with the same list and many of the same themes. Pacifica station WBAI broadcast this version of the routine uncensored on October 30 that year.

## Availability

Carlin performed the routine many times and included it, in whole or in part on several of his records and HBO specials. Parts or all of the performance appear on the following releases:

* 1972 – *Class Clown* – Audio recording – "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television"
* 1973 – *Occupation: Foole* – Audio recording – "Filthy Words"
* 1977 – *George Carlin at USC* – HBO special – "Forbidden Words"
* 1978 – *George Carlin: Again!* – HBO special – "Dirty Words"
* 1983 – *Carlin at Carnegie* – HBO special – "Filthy Words"

The *Carlin at Carnegie* version can be heard as "An Incomplete List of Impolite Words" on the 1984 album *Carlin on Campus* (but not in the HBO special, *Carlin on Campus*). That version of the list features over 300 dirty words and phrases in an effort to stop people telling him that he left something off the list. Four days after Carlin's original *Class Clown* recording, the routine was performed again for students at the University of California, Los Angeles. This would be months before its first official release. The recording was restored in December, 2013 and uploaded to YouTube by archivists at UCLA and could be accessed free of charge, but is no longer available due to a claim of copyright infringement. The FCC ruling is referenced in "Offensive Language" from the album *Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics* and HBO special *Doin' It Again*, both 1990 recordings of the same performance; however, the routine that follows is entirely different.

The *Class Clown* version can also be heard on the vinyl/cassette only release *Indecent Exposure* (1978). The *Occupation: Foole* version can also be heard on *Classic Gold* (1992). Both versions were re-released again as part of *The Little David Years (1971–1977)*.

## References

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