Buzz
Using strong language on TV is often a delicate balancing act. Many explicit terms remain off-limits, and even permissible ones come with restrictions. For example, Mad Men permits just three instances of "sh**" per episode.
To bypass these limitations, some series opt for harmless substitutes—like Castle's iconic "Shut the front door"—while others invent entirely new terms, some of which rival real expletives in impact. Just don’t let the FCC catch on.
1. BLURGH
Coined by Liz Lemon in 30 Rock, the term blurgh debuted in the 2007 episode titled "Cleveland," as reported by GOOD Magazine.
According to Tina Fey and the show's writers, blurgh originated in the writer’s room. With network TV restrictions limiting their use of profanity, they exhausted all polite alternatives and began inventing their own expressions.
It’s important not to mix up blurgh with Blërg, the name of Liz’s Ikea home office desk.
2. CLOFF-PRUNKER
Featured in the British sketch comedy A Bit of Fry & Laurie, a cloff-prunker refers to an “illicit act” involving “frantically frangilating someone’s slimp” and “providing gratification through avial smuctation.” The absurdity of this definition highlights how arbitrary and subjective notions of obscenity can be.
Additional “offensive” terms from the sketch include pimhole and fusking.
3. FIST BUMP
The Episode Where Ross Appears to Flip the Bird—though he never actually does.
The iconic Friends fist bump gesture, a stand-in for the middle finger, first appeared in the 1997 episode, “The One with Joey’s New Girlfriend,” and became a recurring element throughout the series. In one memorable scene, Ross reacts to Rachel’s fist bump with an enthusiastic elbow flap, though the meaning behind it remains a mystery.
4. FRAK
A substitute for a well-known f word, frak was introduced in the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series, originally spelled as frack. In the 2004 reboot, frack was altered to frak, likely to align it with the structure of a classic four-letter expletive.
Meanwhile, fracking refers to the process of hydraulic fracturing, where high-pressure water is used to break underground rock formations to extract oil or gas.
5. FRELL
“It’s not just flawed,” remarks Ka D'Argo. “It’s completely frelled.”
The term frell serves as Farscape’s go-to curse, possibly blending elements of f*** and hell, while also drawing inspiration from emphatic modifiers like freaking and frigging.
Additional invented curses from Farscape include dren, which stands in for “sh**,” and hezmana, used as a replacement for “hell.”
6. GORRAM
Set in a futuristic blend of Western and Chinese influences, Joss Whedon’s Firefly features non-Chinese characters frequently slipping into (poorly pronounced) Mandarin. Gorram is likely one such example.
In reality, it’s more akin to Chinglish. Many believe gorram is simply “goddamn” spoken with a Chinese inflection.
However, Firefly didn’t pioneer the use of gorram as a stand-in for goddamn. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that gorm, a “crude alternative to ‘(God) damn,’” was either created or popularized by 19th-century author Charles Dickens.
7. JAGWEED
Another term coined by Liz Lemon, jagweed serves as a stand-in for douchebag. The word is derived from jagoff or jackoff, both variations of jerkoff. According to the OED, phrases like jerk off and jack off, meaning to masturbate, date back to the 1930s or earlier.
Jagweed also appears in another Tina Fey production, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
8. SHAZBOT
Popularized by Mork & Mindy, shazbot is an “Orkan curse” that doubles as a substitute for "sh**." Robin Williams reportedly invented the term himself—unsurprising for an actor known for his brilliant improvisation, prompting the show’s writers to leave intentional gaps for his ad-libs.
The term shazbot may draw inspiration from Shazam, also known as Captain Marvel, combined with robot.
9. SMEG
Originating from the British sci-fi series Red Dwarf, smeg appears to function as a replacement for "f***." Rimmer exclaims, “Why don’t you smegging well smeg off! You irritating little smeggy smegging smegger!”
The origin of smeg likely ties back to the (unpleasant) term smegma, which refers to “a whitish secretion that accumulates under the foreskin or around the vulva.”
10. SMURF
Beyond serving as a versatile, seemingly arbitrary substitute—“Didn’t you enjoy smurfing with Papa Smurf during the smurf yestersmurf?"—smurf also acts as a stand-in for God or lord. Papa Smurf exclaims, “Great smurfs!” and “Name of a smurf!”
In the recent Smurfs movie, the term is employed more as a direct replacement for expletives: “Where the smurf are we?"
We’ve reached the smurfing end, you smurfing smurf-head.
