Las Vegas Named Second-Most Foul-Mouthed US City

Posted on: October 12, 2022, 12:42h. 

Last updated on: October 12, 2022, 03:10h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

All those curse words at the sportsbook, the poker table, and the 7-11 slot machines apparently add up. A new survey has identified Las Vegas, Nev. as having the second-highest rate of swearing in the nation, with 30 instances per Las Vegan on an average day.

Cursing illustration
Respondents to a survey by Preply.com self-reported cursing an average of 21 times per day. (Image: psmag.com)

The survey, conducted by the online language-tutoring site Preply.com, asked 1,549 residents of the 30 largest US cities to report their daily swearing rates. According to this methodology, the winner is … not New York City, despite the swear words employed in every impersonation of a New Yorker.

According to the survey, the sweariest US city is actually Columbus, Ohio, where each resident reported dropping 36 word bombs per day. Las Vegas was followed by Jacksonville, FL., Oklahoma City, OK., and Dallas, TX.

The cities purporting to have the cleanest mouths were Phoenix, AZ. (14), Portland OR. (14), Boston, Mass. (15), Milwaukee, WI. (15), and San Jose, CA. (16).

The survey found that the typical American swears 21 times per day — but over half will also use a substitution for swear words, such as “fudge,” “shoot,” or “frick.” The most common reasons for swearing were accidentally hurting yourself, expressing road rage, receiving bad news, making a joke, and arguing.

Research on swearing dates back to Victorian times, by the way. Back then, physicians discovered that patients who lost their ability to speak could still curse.

Other Sh*t this Survey Found

  • Younger people are more likely to curse, with Gen Zers swearing an average of 24 times a day — more than twice as often as Baby Boomers.
  • Men had more of a tendency toward the profane, with an average of 22 naughty words a day, compared to 18 for the ladies.
  • Most Americans are comfortable with the odd curse word in a public setting and two-thirds find it acceptable.
  • A whopping 48% of respondents admitted swearing in front of kids and 39% said they’ve dropped a bomb or two in front of their boss.

So Where Did New York City Place?

New York City came in 19th of 30 cities on the list, reporting the use of 17 swear words per day.

What the fudge?!! (OK, technically, New York finished 11th. However, 25 of the 30 cities tied with other cities in their rankings.)

Since these results are self-reported, we submit that perhaps this survey also unintentionally measured honesty in self-reporting. And maybe Columbus and Las Vegas ended up winning that contest.