four-letter words
Bleep-worthy speech patterns
Four-letter words are short vulgar or profane terms—fuck, shit, cunt, cock, and their kin.
The phrase trades on the coincidence that many of English's strongest obscenities happen to be four letters long.
Watch your language—no four-letter words around the kids.
The expression often appears as a count: a string of four-letter words.
- expletivesVulgar exclamations
- obscenitiesGrossly offensive language
- foul languageObscene or vulgar speech
- bad wordsOffensive or taboo vocabulary
- vulgaritiesCoarse or indecent expressions
curse · cuss words · swear words · taboo language · locker room talk · scatology · dysphemism · curse words · profanity · coarse language · salty language · swear · invective · dirty words · blasphemy · choice words · book · slur
four-letter wordsclean language
Speech free of profanity
refined language · civil discourse · euphemisms · Queen's English · minced oaths
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