Ireland recorded the highest frequency of films using the word “fuck” in data covering releases from 2000 to 2022, ahead of Belgium and Argentina. The findings highlight how film dialogue has become more permissive over time, reflecting changing social attitudes and everyday speech, while also suggesting that production structures influence how freely profanity is used.

The analysis, curated by Stephen Follows, placed the UK above Spain, Sweden and Germany for swearing in films, although the US, Australia and Canada ranked higher overall. UK and Irish films were particularly associated with “bollocks”, while “twat” appeared about twice as often in UK films as in Irish ones; the article attributes Ireland’s result partly to its strong independent film sector, which may face fewer commercial pressures to remain family-friendly.