swearing

A six-part SMBC comic about the origin of a swear-word taboo passed down through generations. Panel 1: a small child asks his father, "Daddy, why can't I say 'shit'?" The father shushes him: "Shh! I don't care if you say it, but if my parents hear, they'll be mad at me." Panel 2: the father's mother (a bespectacled grandmother) says, "What? I don't care. I only told you not to say 'shit' because my parents would've been mad if they heard it." Panel 3: the father turns to the previous generation: "Huh? I wouldn't have cared except that I didn't want my mom to hear you say it." Panel 4: an even older ancestor snaps, "I don't give a fuck 'bout nuthin' you say, and I never did." The blame keeps passing back through a row of ancestors who each say "But if it wasn't you... And it wasn't you... And it wasn't you..." The final wide panel is captioned "8,000 GENERATIONS AGO..." and shows a caveman couple: the bearded caveman, Kranga, asks, "You think Kranga mind if boy say 'shit'?" and the cavewoman replies, "We play safe, no say it." The joke: the taboo traces back to nobody actually caring, just everyone hedging on behalf of the previous generation, all the way to a prehistoric couple playing it safe. Votey: a black-and-white close-up of a bearded ancient man's face who mildly says, "FIDDLE STICKS."