Minced Oaths on American TV

Stupak S. Minced Oaths on American TV : bachelor’s thesis : 035 Philology / supervised by A. Karaban. Kyiv, 2025. 75 p.

This bachelor’s thesis focuses on the study of minced oaths in American television, examining their linguistic function as euphemistic substitutes for profane language, allowing speakers to express strong emotions without violating social norms or legal regulations. The study aims to analyze the frequency, distribution, and thematic categorization of minced oaths across decades, using corpus linguistics tools and TV transcripts from the 1950s to 2018.
The main objectives of the study included defining key concepts such as expletives, euphemisms, and minced oaths, investigating their communicative roles, and examining the legal framework surrounding language use on television, particularly the role of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in regulating broadcast content. The research further focused on compiling a comprehensive list of minced oaths from authoritative linguistic sources, categorizing them thematically, and analyzing their frequency and distribution within the TV Corpus.
The findings of the study demonstrate that minced oaths have evolved significantly over time, with religious-themed minced oaths dominating early television dialogue. In contrast, expressions related to taboo bodily functions saw a dramatic rise in the 2000s and 2010s. The study highlights the shift in cultural attitudes towards profanity and the growing use of euphemisms as a way to express strong emotions and convey intensity, while still conforming to social expectations and maintaining a certain level of decorum in media language.
The thesis contributes to the understanding of how language adapts to cultural sensitivities, media regulations, and societal changes, offering insights into the role of minced oaths as both linguistic tools and cultural markers within American television discourse.