Netflix’s History of Swear Words trailer begins the way that all trailers should: with Nicolas Cage screaming “f*ck” at the top of his lungs. It’s actually more like “ffffffffffffff********ccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkk,” but that requires too many asterisks. Not that you should watch History of Swear Words with your kids.
The series explores the origins of six curses: “f*ck,” “sh*t,” “bitch,” “d*ck,” “p*ssy” and “damn.” F*ck yeah. Cage is the host, while special guests include Joel Kim Booster, DeRay Davis, Open Mike Eagle, Nikki Glaser, Patti Harrison, London Hughes, Jim Jefferies, Zainab Johnson, Nick Offerman, Sarah Silverman, Baron Vaughn, and Isiah Whitlock Jr, as well as linguists and professors. It’s like Drunk History but about swearing (more like D*ck History?) with genuinely interesting insights. Did you know “f*ck” has an acronymic etymology? It stands for Fornication Under Consent of the King. I suddenly feel like looking up the middle school teacher who scolded me for writing “sh*t” in a paper once to tell him, “See??? It was educational.” Thank you for that, Nic Cage.
Here’s the official description:
An education in expletives: the history lesson you didn’t know you needed. History of Swear Words, hosted by Nicolas Cage, is a loud and proudly profane series that explores the origins, pop culture-usage, science and cultural impact of curse words. Through interviews with experts in etymology, pop culture, historians and entertainers, the six-episode series dives into the origins of “f*ck,” “sh*t,” “bitch,” “d*ck,” “p*ssy” and “damn.”
History of Swear Words premieres on Netflix on January 5, 2021.
