The Sheff
Linguists want people to submit their favourite swear words… for science
Well s**t
Daisy Jackson -
20th April 2026 
Linguists at the University of Sheffield are calling on the public to submit their most-used swear words - for science, of course.
This first-ever national swear word census will help to document how people across the country actually speak, and where regional swear words dominate.
The project has been launched by the University of Sheffield in partnership with legendary satirical arts practice Modern Toss.
Now, the first-ever national repository of regional swear words is open for submissions, with people across the nation encouraged to participate in this 'linguistic census' of authentic English.
It's hoped the swear census and map will protect regional dialect words from disappearing, as well as providing a historical snapshot of modern UK regional language.
The data will also be transformed into public exhibitions celebrating the humour, creativity, and reality of how people speak across the UK.
The repository will function similarly to a linguistic census, inviting members of the public to submit the swear words and phrases they commonly use in everyday life in their local areas.
Researchers are interested in regional terms, swear words and insults that are specific to particular towns and cities - the sort of things you say in a new group of people and they all look at you like you're speaking a foreign language.
We're talking wazzock, mardy, and chuffin 'ell.
Dr Chris Montgomery, who is leading the project from the University of Sheffield’s School of English, said: "Swearing is a fundamental part of how everybody expresses emotion, identity, humour, and social connection, yet it is often excluded from formal records of language. We also know very little about how swearing varies in local areas.
"This project recognises that to truly understand English as it is lived and spoken, we must include all of it - not just the polite or standardised forms.
"Some traditional regional dialects might be disappearing, and this project is about celebrating the regional language that people actually use and preserving a record of it, so future generations can get a real insight into people’s lives in 2026 and how people communicated in towns and cities across the country."
Dr Montgomery continued: "We want to hear from everyone. Whether you’re in Glasgow, Sheffield, Cardiff, or a small village in Cornwall - your voice matters. This is a chance to contribute to a living record of language and culture."
Jon Link, from Modern Toss, said: "We’re delighted to be working with the University of Sheffield. At Modern Toss we’ve spent years turning filthy data into charts and interactive art, and this collaboration finally lets us map the UK's isolated linguistic pockets with proper academic rigour, yeah?
"The end goal is to join up these hidden worlds into a definitive, push-button, wall-mounted map of the national swear mind."
Submissions are open now, and participation is free. Contributors can share their most commonly used swear words and phrases as part of what researchers hope will become one of the most revealing linguistic archives ever created in the UK.
To submit a swear word, visit HERE.
Featured image: The Sheff
