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1,443,162 views | Kate Lister • TEDxUniversityofGlasgow

An honest history of an ancient and "nasty" word

With candor and cunning, sex historian Kate Lister chronicles the curious journey of an ancient, honest word with innocent origins and a now-scandalous connotation in this uproarious love letter to etymology, queens, cows and all things "cunt." (This talk contains mature language.)

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxUniversityofGlasgow, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

With candor and cunning, sex historian Kate Lister chronicles the curious journey of an ancient, honest word with innocent origins and a now-scandalous connotation in this uproarious love letter to etymology, queens, cows and all things "cunt." (This talk contains mature language.)

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxUniversityofGlasgow, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

About the speaker

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Kate Lister is a sex historian and lecturers at Leeds Trinity University.

Mark Daniel | 2011 | Book

See You Next Tuesday: A History and Anthology of Cunt

An accessible and well sourced history of c—t.

Matthew Hunt | Explore

"Cunt"

A really fantastic online resource that traces the history of c—t from its earliest origins to the present day.

Melissa Mohr | Oxford University Press, 2016 | Book

Holy Sht: A Brief History of Swearing

Anyone wanting to know more about the history of swearing should own this book.

Oed.Com, 2021 | Article

"Oxford English Dictionary"

The Oxford English Dictionary’s entry on c—t provides a comprehensive history of how its meaning and levels of offense has changed.

Learn more

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