10 U.S. Cities where profanity prevails

He, we’re all prone to a bit of profanity every now and then – some of us more than others. I’ve had my ass butt handed to me by the Gadling editors over my (finally) occasional use of some foul language, though I’ve taken steps to (as they say) improve myself. Well, I was happy to see when flipping through my RSS feed that I’m not the only person who likes to drop an f-bomb every now and then. In fact, there are entire cities engaging in such behavior, according to a recent article on Business Insider.

So, how am I going to pick my next home? Well, I’ll start by looking at the 10 most obscene cities it the United States. Strangely, New York isn’t on the list, probably because we have a small vocal minority that engages in the sorts of foul phrasing, while the rest of the city tends to be squeaky clean.

So, who’s on the list? These are the 10 cities and towns where you’re most likely to find mouths washed out with soap.1. Ashburn, Virginia
There are only 90,000 people here, but they know how to cuss! The Washington, DC suburb made its first time on the list a big one, coming in at the top spot.

2. Tampa, Florida
Tampa found a way to climb from #8 in 2009 to #2 in 2010, something of an accomplishment, according to a handful of people.

3. Herndon, Virginia
What is it about Virginia? Is there something in the water? A problem with the schools’ vocabulary lessons?

4. Rochester, New York
Who cares?

5. Irvine, California
The fourth-best place to live in the United States has achieved this distinction because you can say whatever the fuck you want.

6. Newark, New Jersey
Duh.

7. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Someone must have brought Miss Manners to the largest city in Pennsylvania – it ranked third the past two years, according to Business Insider.

8. Louisville, Kentucky
It ranked #10 last year and #1 the year before. So, there’s a bit of a backslide here, but it hasn’t been too bad.

9. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Like Virginia (and California), Pennsylvania makes the list twice.

10. Los Angeles, California and Las Vegas, Nevada (tie)
Did you really think these two wouldn’t make it?

Curious about how Business Insider came up with the results? Check out the “methodology”:

To find the most obscene cities in America, we plugged the “seven dirty words you can never say on television” — made popular by George Carlin — into Google Trends. We gave each city a score for each of the seven words, assigning more points to cities ranking higher up on each list.

If there’s a better use for the internet, I have yet to see it!

[photo by DanCentury via Flickr]

Attend Milwaukee’s Summerfest in honor of George Carlin

George Carlin, the guy who created quite the stir in the 1970s with his comedy routine, “Seven Dirty Words You Can’t Say on Television,” just died yesterday.

When I went looking for a travel related element to add to this piece of news, I came upon this tidbit. Carlin was arrested for performing this very routine in 1972 at the Milwaukee Summerfest . As it so happens, the Milwaukee Summerfest starts this Thursday, June 26 and ends on July 6. That’s some festival.

The festival is touted as being the world’s largest music event. After browsing the line-up, I can see why. It is impressive. Stevie Wonder, The Love Monkeys, LeAnn Rimes, Rush, Fantasia, and Tim McGraw are just a few of the performers. Isn’t that a mix of styles?

This festival also has many, many activities that are family-oriented. The family-oriented quality is partly what got George in trouble.

The day admission fee is doable. Adults are $8 weekdays and $15 weekends, for example. You can buy and print tickets and a parking pass for no extra fee online. It’s one way to beat the crowds.

Here’s an article about what happened in 1972 at the festival and the impressions that Carlin gave later about the event. And here’s a quote of his that has to do with travel–kind of.

“Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.”

Here’s a link to other Carlin quotes and a link to his Web site, also quirky and funny.