Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue from 1811. Canting Dictionary (thieving slang) from 1736. Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes (1536–1896). Before you end up scragged, ottomised, and grinning in a glass case, you should learn to sing Frisky Moll's Song... and know what the heck it means:
A famble, a tattle, and two popps,
Had my Boman when he was ta’en;
But had he not bouz’d in the diddle shops,
He’d still been in Drury-Lane.
posted by Kattullus on Jul 1, 2007 - 15 comments

The Profane Game. Got a pottymouth? Test your curse word vocabulary with this simple game. You have one minute to enter as many naughty words as you can. (via)
posted by zardoz on Jan 29, 2007 - 55 comments

The BBC uses a survey , apparently, to rank words by their perceived offensiveness.
posted by Kirth Gerson on Mar 30, 2006 - 63 comments

Improve your profanity with the aid of the guides and dictionaries in this Guardian compendium. As item 10 notes, the term zuffle is too crude to be described up front (and possibly NSFW, if your boss is looking over your shoulder), but it's a fascinating concept nonetheless.
posted by SealWyf on Jul 16, 2003 - 17 comments

Comedy Central airs an episode of South Park where the characters say "shit" 168 times, unbleeped. Trey Parker and Matt Stone prove once again that they aren't afraid to take American television where everybody else has already been.
posted by RylandDotNet on Jun 20, 2001 - 28 comments