History Main / InnocentSwearing

* Website/YouTube has plenty of examples of toddlers mispronouncing words. For example, "dump truck" becomes [[spoiler:dumbfuck]], and "vacuum" becomes [[spoiler:fuck you]]. Some adults in the videos exploit this: "Say 'awww, truck'."

* In ''Series/WimziesHouse'', this is done with the word [[GoshDangItToHeck "stupid"]] with one cent going into [[TheSwearJar a "charity cup"]] each time it's said. Only Wimzie's little brother Bo is exempt because A.) He's only 1 1/2 and B.) He doesn't have any money. See more examples under Western Animation below.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': In "Bleep", DW hears a bad word and wants to know what it means. (She doesn't know at all that it's a bad word.) She accidentally gets her entire preschool class saying it. The Tibble twins tell her it's a hypnosis word, and saying it will make adults follow their orders. Her mother finally tells her, "You could say, it means 'I want to hurt your feelings.'"

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Sailor Mouth", [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick read a bad word written in a trash bin and start using it. Patrick claims it's a "sentence enhancer". Later Mr. Krabs ends up launching into a whole tirade of every one in the book, which even makes [=SpongeBob=] aghast.

* One challenge of ''Series/ImpracticalJokers'' involved the guys working with a kid, Luke, and the challenge was that they had to successfully leave Luke with a stranger before returning to collect him. Luke closes out the explanation with "Let's do this, bitches!" (Cue the guys falling apart).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': "Potty Mouth" features baby Lily swearing, causing the kids to be afraid that they are a bad influence on her.

[[AC: {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' has a stark, morbid example. Toddler Rei Ayanami calls Naoko Akagi a "hag": Naoko, while shocked, takes it softly and gently discourages her from using the word, but, again, Rei insists that she is a "hag", sincerely and flatly; genuinely miffed, Naoko warns her that she intends to spank her and tell Gendo; [[spoiler: Rei asks her why she would tell him, when he is the one who refers to Naoko (his lover) as this, quoting him as saying (of Naoko) "'That hag is useless' . . . 'That hag is unwanted' . . . 'That hag'"]]. Naoko reacts [[spoiler: and strangles her to death]].

[[AC: {{Film}}]]

-->'''Calvin:''' It's still not safe to go up. We're going to have to wait twenty-four hours.
-->'''Helen:''' Oh, shit!
-->(Helen immediately covers her mouth)
-->'''Calvin:''' Excuse your mother's French, son.
-->'''Adam:''' 'Shit' is French?
-->'''Calvin:''' Its... uh... a colloquialism meaning... roughly... good.
-->'''Adam:''' Well then.... Shit!
-->'''Calvin and Helen:''' Heh heh. ''(sigh)''

-->'''Chris:''' The sign is spelled happiness with an H-A-P-P-Y instead of H-A-P-P-I.
-->'''Chris Jr.:''' Is fuck spelled right?
-->'''Chris:''' Well, yes, but you shouldn't use that word, it's a word grownups use when they're angry."
* ''Film/ComingToAmerica'': "What does dumbfuck mean?"

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]

-->'''Danny:''' Do you think the bug will break down?
-->'''Wendy:''' No, I don't think so.
-->'''Danny:''' Dad said it might. He said the fuel pump was all shot to shit.
-->'''Wendy:''' Don't say that, Danny.
-->'''Danny:''' ''(surprised)'' Fuel pump?
** In ''On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft'', Creator/StephenKing recalls that when he was a child, he thought that "bitch" meant "an extremely tall woman" ("A son of a bitch was apt to be a basketball player!").

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' had one episode where Baby learned one such word, "smoo". (In the dinosaur lingo, this is a dirty word because it describes debris that accumulates on the sole of a dinosaur's foot. This also doubles as GettingCrapPastTheRadar, since "smoo" is also a slang term for the vulva.)

* In ''Series/{{Outnumbered}}'' episode "The School Run", six-year-old Karen asks her father, Pete about some words she overheard:
-->'''Karen:''' What's a twat? ''(Pete looks at her surprised)'' Twat.
-->'''Pete:''' It's not a very nice word for children to use. Where did you hear that - you've been watching ''Trisha'' or something?
-->'''Karen:''' No, last night when you were arguing with Mum.
-->'''Pete:''' Well, mummies and daddies do argue sometimes, don't they? You shout sometimes, don't you? Did you... did you hear any other words?
-->'''Karen:''' There were some other words that I heard but I just can't remember them.
-->'''Pete:''' Good.
-->'''Karen:''' Something about midlife. Something about... pillock, and there's pillock and another word. I think it's ponk. And there was one and it was tight-bum.
-->'''Pete:''' Right, well, probably best not to use those too often.

[[AC: NewspaperComics]]
* ''ComicStrip/TheFamilyCircus'' had this with Jeffy, who got spanked.
* ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'' had an example involving April.
* One storyline in ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' has Paige watching ''[[Series/TheJerrySpringerShow Jerzy Spaniel]]'' while babysitting. Of course, the kid hears the word and starts repeating it. In the epilogue, Paige reports that the mother said kids always hear bad words and repeat them, but if you don't use them often or attach special significance to them, they'll eventually drop it. ''Then'' they discussed watching ''Jerzy Spaniel'' while babysitting...
* A storyline in ''ComicStrip/BabyBlues'' had infant Wren naming her stuffed puppy a curse word (censored with SymbolSwearing). Her parents calmly explain to her that she can't call her puppy that, so she gives it a different name... a DIFFERENT curse word that was presumably even worse.
* In one storyline ComicStrip/{{Marvin}} learned a swear word, represented by him yelling "Censored!" He figured it meant "mommy", as every time he said it she'd run over urgently.

[[AC: {{Webcomics}}]]
* ''Webcomic/YouDamnKid'' at one point recounted an incident with the author's little sister who asked him who Sunsub is and why he itches when something bad happens. Things didn't click for him until at the dinner table when, after his dad tells a story, the sister shouts, "Sunsub itches!" (say it out loud if you haven't figured it out).

[[AC: WebVideo]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': In "Bleep," DW hears a bad word and wants to know what it means. (She doesn't know at all that it's a bad word.) She accidentally gets her entire preschool class saying it. The Tibble twins tell her it's a hypnosis word, and saying it will make adults follow their orders. Her mother finally tells her, "You could say, it means 'I want to hurt your feelings.'"
-->''That's'' what it means? Why didn't somebody just ''say'' so?!

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Sailor Mouth", [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick read a bad word written in a trash bin and start using it. Patrick claims it's a "sentence enhancer". Later Mr. Krabs ends up launching into a whole tirade of every one in the book, which even makes Spongebob aghast.
* After overhearing Homer one day on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', one of the Flanders children swears twice at the dinner table ("Hell, no!" and "I don't want any damn vegetables.") The humor turns heartbreaking after he is scolded and runs from the room crying, not understanding what he has done wrong.

-->'''Moe''': And I'll tell you where you can stick your freakin' sodie too!
-->''[crowd gasps]''
-->'''Todd Flanders''': Ow, my freakin' ears!
-->''[crowd gasps again]''
* Seen in a story from the ''Literature/{{Franklin}}'' television series. The word in question? [[GoshDangItToHeck "Stupid."]] Done using the same word on ''WesternAnimation/{{Caillou}}'' as well. The moral of the ''Franklin'' story was that the words you use say a lot about you, and [[TropesAreNotBad it actually works fairly well]] if you can get past your knee-jerk reaction to the idea of "stupid" as a swear word. (It's credible too, since the writing on the show is monitored carefully for the language they use, and normally they ''don't'' use "stupid.")

-->'''Calvin:''' "It's still not safe to go up. We're going to have to wait twenty-four hours."
-->'''Helen:''' "Oh, shit!"

-->'''Calvin:''' "Excuse your mother's French, son."
-->'''Adam:''' "'Shit' is French?"
-->'''Calvin:''' "Its... uh... a colloquialism meaning... roughly... good."
-->'''Adam:''' "Well then.... Shit!"
-->'''Calvin and Helen:''' "Heh heh. (sigh)"

-->'''Chris:''' "The sign is spelled happiness with an H-A-P-P-Y instead of H-A-P-P-I.
-->'''Chris Jr.:''' "Is fuck spelled right?"
-->'''Chris:''' "Well, yes, but you shouldn't use that word, it's a word grownups use when they're angry."

* The novel ''Literature/MyBestFiend'' had one chapter where the headmistress was cracking down on swearing at the school. When the main character's friend fell and got a nasty gash on her leg, and all the other kids were crowding round, she shouted "She can't move her bloody leg!" A variant, since she ''did'' know "bloody" was a swear, but that wasn't what she ''meant''; she meant the leg was covered in blood. She explained this to the headmistress, who agreed that [[HaveAGayOldTime it was a shame perfectly good words]] ''became'' swears.

'''GT:''' Not really? It's your friggin figure of speech man. I gathered it just meant getting slimed like in Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} or somesuch.\\

-->'''Chris Jr.:''' "Is [[PrecisionFStrike fuck]] spelled right?"

* "Dingle-Dangle-Doodle" in ''WesternAnimation/RoliePolieOlie''. The title ''is'' the bad word in question.)

* ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' had one episode where Baby learned one such word, "smoo". (In the dinosaur lingo, this is a dirty word because it describes debris that accumulates on the sole of a dinosaur's foot. This also doubles as GettingCrapPastTheRadar, since "smoo" is also a slang term for the vulva

* In one of the ''[[Literature/EmilOfLonneberga Emil of Lönneberga]]'' stories by Creator/AstridLindgren, Emil decides to teach his little sister Ida all the word he get's chastized for saying, and telling her she must not ever use these words. He is quite honest in his intentions, he's just become victim to some InsaneTrollLogic.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Sailor Mouth", [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick read a bad word written in a trash bin and start using it. Patrick claims it's a "sentence enhancer".

* ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' had one episode where Baby learned one such word, "smoo". (In the dinosaur lingo, this is a dirty word because it describes debris that accumulates on the sole of a dinosaur's foot.)
** Doubles as GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "smoo" is also a slang term for [[spoiler:the vulva]]