Sunday Sport

Do you know your BELLEND from your BEEF CURTAINS

TELLY WATCHDOG ISSUES GUIDE ON WHICH WORDS SHOULD OFFEND YOU

- By SIMON DEAN Media Editor simon@ sundayspor­t. co. uk

GASH, beaver, knob, minge, shit, snatch, bellend, lezza, muffdiver, jizz, cocksucker and twat.

We all know these are words that should not be used in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury, but how offensive are they?

Now we know the answer, thanks to a new guide from media watchdogs Ofcom.

The regulator, which enforces standards across the telephone, television and radio industries, spent part of its £ 114million budget to find out which words and phrases caused most offence.

Vapours

Ofcom recruited pollsters Ipsos MORI to ask members of the public which words caused an attack of the vapours.

And the result is the 15- page booklet, Attitudes to Offensive Language and Gestures on TV and Radio. The introducti­on states: “This Quick Reference Guide draws on quantitati­ve and qualitativ­e data collected throughout that extensive programme of research.

“The research used a mixed methodolog­y involving 248 participan­ts in total from around the UK. This comprised a series of face- to- face focus groups and in- depth interviews, and a separate quantitati­ve online survey followed by an online community discussion with the same participan­ts.

“Ofcom hopes that this document will provide all stakeholde­rs, but broadcaste­rs in particular, with useful informatio­n about how acceptable or unacceptab­le in general terms viewers and listeners regard specific potentiall­y offensive words and gestures.”

We’ve reprinted parts of the guide so that you can find out how offensive some of your favourite phrases are.

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 ??  ?? SWEAR BY IT: Ofcom’s pamphlet on what public think of filthy language
SWEAR BY IT: Ofcom’s pamphlet on what public think of filthy language
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