For f–k’s sake: Study reveals which English-speaking countries use the f-word the most — and who has more fun doing so

We English speakers swear by this word.

When it comes to expletives, US citizens are the most prolifically profane. Finnish researchers found that Americans drop more f-bombs than their UK counterparts, while Australians are the most creative in their use of the ultimate four-letter word, per a study published in the journal Lingua.

The profane study, which was conducted by scientists at the University of Eastern Finland, set out to investigate the uses of the notorious expletive on social media and across different countries.

To accomplish this task, the team examined a staggering 7.8 billion words posted by 435,345 X users from the US, the UK and Australia between 2006 and 2023.

They focused on the f-word because it’s the most frequently used obscenity and the most likely to ruffle feathers in “polite” company, per the study.

They found that US citizens used “f–k” the most frequently, followed by Brits, then lastly, Australians, contrary to the perception of the Aussies as being particularly latrine-lipped.

“The low frequency of f–k in the Australian data are surprising, as Australians are often perceived as prolific swearers,” the team exclaimed.

That being said, it’s not the size of the f-bomb but how you use it. Swear word-smiths from Down Under were the most creative with their deployment, using 2,160 spelling variants of the word compared to 1,969 in the US and 1,474 in the UK.

Some of the inventive iterations included “f–knicolor,” “furkers,” “fuqqen,” “fukkeng,” “fark” and the Irish–derived “feck.” Meanwhile, their UK and Yankee counterparts were more likely to use the standard f–k.

This perhaps proves that we might all speak English, but we definitely don’t speak the same bad language.

Of course, the use of dirty words didn’t just differ between nations. According to the study, studies show people drop f-bombs more on social media than blogs and other mediums, especially — and perhaps contrary to popular belief — when conversing with acquaintances rather than close friends.

In fact, swearing was exceedingly rare in circles of fewer than 15 people, no matter how well they knew each other.

The researchers weren’t just conducting the study for s–ts and giggles — the team found out that swearing fills a variety of important functions.

These ranged from expressing frustration and releasing stress to, conversely, expressing joy over positive news and adding some rhetorical oomph to a statement such as “that meal was f–king fantastic.”

In other words, they get more bang for their f–k.

Coincidentally, this study comes following findings that New Yorkers are not as toilet-tongued as their reputation suggests.

When it comes to dirty dialect, Gothamites are only the 17th most profane state in the union, according to a 2024 study by WordTips.