WARNING: This episode includes adult content and explicit language. As offensive terms go, you are entering a hard hat area.
It’s one of the most taboo words in the English dictionary. In Scotland, it can be a term of endearment, but in the US it's one of the worst offences out there, and it would more than likely get you fired if you said it to your boss at work. It starts with c, and ends in t and we're not talking about a coconut.
Kate is joined Betwixt the Sheets for our 100th episode by our favourite Kathy Burke and linguist legend Professor Deborah Cameron to talk about the etymology and cultural meaning of the c-word.
Why is a word that simply means the vulva regarded as the most offensive word in the English language? Where does the word come from? And were medieval people really calling their children the c-bomb?
Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. Producer: Sophie Gee. Mixed by Stuart Beckwith.
For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here.
If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!
Menopause: History, ‘Hysteria’ & Hormone Revolutions
Sex & Scandal in Charles II's Court
History of Geishas
Drunk Victorians: Moral Panic & Meat Wine
Elvis Presley's Sex Life
Ancient Greek Sexual Health: Wandering Wombs & Headless Beetles
Sex in the Aztec Empire
Fetishwear: A Kinky History
The History of Drag Queens
Sex & Scandal in King James' Court
Viking Royalty: Nicknames, Love Poems & Victorian Myths
History of Sh*t: Aztec Poo Goblins to Viking Turds
Scandalous Sex Lives of Royalty
The Dark History of Ballet
Abraham Lincoln's Sex Life
The Celebrity Sex Worker of Ancient Greece
Viking Sexuality
18th Century Graffiti: Sex, Murder & Rebellion
The Real Joan of Arc
Kink in the Renaissance
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal
Gone Medieval
Not Just the Tudors
Empire
Real Dictators