I don’t get it. These words restrict what can be on TV and radio. They change the ratings of games and movies. We go through all this effort to keep these words hidden away from our children, even though the second they hit school they are going to pick them up from another kid most likely.
Why is it that we treat these words like black sheep?
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In the US, this a throwback from our british “class system” roots. Most of these words have vulgar connotations because high born gentlemen and ladies didn’t use them, only the low born poor did. So to use them gave you the appearance of being low class. When radio became popular efforts were made to avoid offending the upper classes who helped sustain the business model and a law was written prohibiting the broadcasting of obscene, indecent, or profane content.
That law still exists and many of the “forbidden” words are unacceptable for television censors because they have sexual connotations (descriptive of genitalia or sex acts)
the censors are particularly strict with the broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) because their content is public and not restricted by a paywall like cable or satellite is. So if viewers object to their content, they cannot simply unsubscribe like they could a cable channel.
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