Talk:Bleep censor

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Untitled[edit]

I restored bleep censor as a page in its own right, because it isn't solely used in live censoring of programmes, I think that's mainly in the US. Also, this page allows for national examples, which I think the "tape delay" page could too. - Responsible? 15:41, 2 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Quick question: The FCC has no control over cable broadcasting, so why all the references to Comedy Central and MTV having to "censor themselves for the FCC"?

The page is locked, so I can't add this in myself, but a footnote along the lines of "Of course, since *everyone* knows exactly what is being said behind the beeps (or can easily guess withing 3 words), they don't actually serve any purpose other than to avoid offending moral guardians" would end the page quite nicely. 194.126.74.121 (talk) 10:24, 2 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]


Don't censor words on this page[edit]

Per WP:PROFANE words should *not* be bowlderized (i.e. "f*ck"). There is only one instance on this page where this should be done, the first "f--k", because the dashes indicate the length of the beep. The other swearwords are uncensored. So please stop reverting edits that correct this. Especially in the case of "Holocaust", it's not a word people are used to see censored, it must be a proper Wikilink at least (maybe use dashes to indicate what portion is beeped, if consistent?). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.8.208.172 (talk) 12:43, 8 June 2011 (UTC) I censor words because I don't want to see them evry time I researth this artical so there. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MrJoshbumstead (talkcontribs) 18:39, 9 June 2011 (UTC) If so I will make my own artical if wikipitia is a bad website. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.186.35.122 (talk) 18:56, 9 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

In serious writing--as Wikipedia is meant to be (degree of achievement is open to discussion but I digress), bowlderisation is never used--this has been already pointed out in a previous revert. Please read WP:NOTCENSORED. I shall now rectify the situation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.144.86.143 (talk) 22:18, 11 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]


I'm adding a note here because I had to revert a couple of edits. The examples of how "bleeped" words are transcribed, should not be uncensored, because they are examples of how it is done in text form. I agree that in normal usage they shouldn't be censored, but specifically when demonstrating censorship it doesn't make sense to uncensor them. --TiagoTiago (talk) 05:32, 30 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The Bleep[edit]

Is there a source for the standard bleep used on most TV programs? It might be worth noting that it is an XXXX Hz sine/square/sawtooth wave tone that is most often used. Can anyone help with this? --George The Man 05:34, 2 May 2007 (UTC) The BLEEP noise used to censor profanity, other offensive content or names and personal details is a ONE KILOHERTZ frequency, monotone sine wave beep.[reply]

Studios would use the most convenient tone source they had. In most cases, this was a tone generator. It was usually the same machine that generated other timing and test signals. Here's a sample from the Bars and tone article: --mdwyer

Frequency[edit]

Does anyone know the frequency (in Hz) of the bleep tone? —Wins oddf| 22:30, Feb 10, 2005 (UTC)

I doubt everybody uses exactly the same frequency, though it probably tends to be in a certain range. - furrykef (Talk at me) 05:58, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)
I don't know about Hertz, but when I hear the bleep it's normally at the musical note "B". Responsible? 16:32, 28 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have noticed it usually IS the same note and it's indeed musical note "B". It's either 493.883 or 987.767 Hertz, depending on how much they want you to hurt. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Usu2 (talkcontribs) 23:59, 2 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The type of bleep sound and it use[edit]

As far as I know there is no standard bleep sound. I suspect that the most easily available tone source is generally used by the sound engineer. This is probably going to be something like A4, 440 Hz, because that is a common tone used to tune instruments, though 500 Hz and 1000 Hz are probably also available in many radio studios. Many of these tones are likely to be pure sine waves, as produced by a signal generator, I suspect.

However, I have noticed some TV producers are using more appropriate bleeping sounds. On recent law enforcement related reality TV programmes I have noticed that names and addresses are often masked, for privacy reasons, by multiple sequential tone bursts that are consistent with a land mobile radio's tone calling system. The bleeping becomes far less noticeable as the masking sound is not a single solid tone but a series of short blips that garble a word but sound consistent with the communications medium.

The fact that words are bleeped out for privacy reasons, rather than decency reasons, is probably also worth noting. -- Cameron Dewe 10:42, 29 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I made mention of the fact that some UK broadcasters are using silence instead of a tone. I think it's probably because it's far less intrusive than a beep. Of course, they still miss stuff all the time. I think they tend to scoot through the shows and check scenes with characters who are liable to swear, as I saw an episode of Frasier midday on Paramount Comedy where somebody said a swear they would have otherwise censored, but obviously missed as the character rarely swears (I think it was Niles). It also seems common for them to use the censored versions all the time. I queried this with Paramount once and they said something along the lines of 'yeah, we know. sorry'. So it's no-swear all the way mostly! KingDaveRa 14:06, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps worth a mention? This heavily makes use of the censor bleep as an integral part of the song. Just a thought. 172.143.240.199 18:05, 2 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Where is the record scratching used to cover up profanity? The only words I can think of that are worthy of being censored in Japanese would be マ〇コ and チ〇コ, which don't fit into any of the episodes... Konamaiki 03:09, 2 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Arthur Vs. Rugrats[edit]

I don't think the Arthur episode mentioned is worth mentioning. The episode first aired in 2003. An episode of the Rugrats (Word of the Day) that first aired in 1998 covers the same topic. Angelica learns a swear word, which is covered by a new loud noise each time it is uttered (much like the words are in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode 'Sailor Mouth'). Should we change it? 24.21.41.90 (talk) 02:17, 1 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]


TFI Friday[edit]

Does anyone know much about Chris Evans show TFI Friday's bleeping? I remember various celebraties swore on it live and they were forced to introduce a tape delay for celebrity interviews so they could be bleeped. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.194.30.174 (talk) 16:27, 28 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

purchaseable censorship products[edit]

would there happen to be any handheld devices that can replicate the 1000hz censorship bleep sound? Murakumo-Elite (talk) 06:22, 16 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Spongebob edit[edit]

I just made a minor edit to the Spongebob entry in the Humor section, as the episode in question uses a variety of implied swear words rather than just the word "fuck" as previously stated. I know of at least one piece of dialogue where "fuck" is implied ("Hey Patrick, how the *dolphin noise* are ya?"), but I just edited the entry so it'd make more sense and provide more context to the episode. 24.60.88.170 (talk) 16:31, 3 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Exact Rules[edit]

What are the rules? Do words for having sex other than the f word, or for words about body parts not every one has, or other sex related swear words have to be beeped out? And how about if the word is still audible (I have heard a f word over a beep sometimes)? Is that okay? And how about if it is not entirely beeped (I constantly hear f*beep*ck, fu*beep*, etc)? Is that okay too? 75.27.38.167 (talk) 19:04, 11 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

A movie with bleeps you forgot![edit]

At times in "Scott Pilgrim V.S. The World"(Mostly in the coffee shop scene), one of the female charaters said some expletives that were bleeped with a (I think) 16-bit bleep sound effect! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 140.198.87.134 (talk) 17:57, 4 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

FCC Slip-up[edit]

In 2011, a bleep was missed on the ABC program Wipeout. At one point, one of the announcers reamarks,"The shit hits the fin..." I watched this episode twice, months apart, and there still wasn't a bleep.

69.231.61.176 (talk) 03:16, 7 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Inconsistent[edit]

How come they have to use a bleep censor when they interview a pottymouth celebrity, but in sports when the refs make a bad call, you can hear 100,000 fans chant BULL-SHIT in unison uncensored?

Some TV-channels in the United States WITHOUT bleep censors[edit]

Hi!

Just wondering, is there any TV Channel in the United States that does NOT have any bleep censor on it? I know that HBO and Showtime are two of them that does NOT have any bleep censor on it. I'm waiting for your response! ;)

--85.24.199.40 (talk) 15:35, 10 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This is really old, but IFC is an example that doesn't censor bad words. 166.171.249.28 (talk) 04:16, 29 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]
The preceding is not true. Many shows on HBO and Showtime use the bleep censor. For example, it is routinely used by Showtime in "Inside the NFL" and in documentaries by HBO such as "Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals."

beep censor sound[edit]

a 1000 Hz tone can be sinusoidale or square or triangular. wich is in this case sinusoidale. do you think this should be mentioned ? --ᔕGᕼᗩIEᖇ ᗰOᕼᗩᗰEᗪ (talk) 09:39, 4 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

usage in German Tv[edit]

There wasn't, isn't and will never be any bleep censoring in Germany. I never heard it and tv-broadcasters are always aware of such verbal foulness to be afoot, because we have more than the everboring FUCK. Even the stupid ZDF recognises the importance of context over the mere existance, that swearwords have in a vernacular. When a comedian used the very rude "Fotze" (which means purse or cunt) he asked the audience "Is it so bad of taste that I used the word, or that you've recognised it?". My suggestion would be: get more swearwords and use them as frequently on tv as possible - your viewers are just to stupified to get any subtexts, euphemisms or irony. You should be ashamed of yourself enduring that patronising bleeps every second a fuck is being uttered. There's an off-position on the telly...--78.51.83.70 (talk) 02:46, 11 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

121.3.208.26 (talk) 14:37, 9 February 2018 (UTC) French here. completely agreed. censoring is ridiculous. so Amish.. borderline totalitarism and definitely altering content.[reply]

Regulations Section[edit]

I would like to propose reducing the amount of detail in the Regulations section to summarize information that is already covered on the Censorship and Censorship by country pages rather than going into detail for each country. Betanote4 (talk) 18:21, 23 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Russian TV shows[edit]

What about Russian TV shows that prefer to replace the profanity with different sounds but not censor bleep? I heard different from censor bleep sounds used as a replacement of a profanity in TV shows such as "Дом-2", "Смотреть всем!", "Пацанки", "Секретный миллионер", "Решала" etc. WWBM (talk) 20:47, 23 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

SpongeBob Squarepants[edit]

Is the section regarding SpongeBob even worth having on the page? I think it should just be removed.   Knowledgeable Raven Comments?  01:24, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Censoring non-profanity words[edit]

Why this article does not describe the practice of bleeping non-profanity words that have a negative connotation? Bleep censor cannot be only used as a replacement for a profanity. WWBM (talk) 14:20, 1 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Merde[edit]

Although merde does translate as shit in French, the word merde is not considered to be as offensive as a swearword in French, merely a little indelicate compared to more polite usage. Nuttyskin (talk) 02:13, 11 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Some data[edit]

{ Relevant parts underlined by Steue }


I asked google (in writing):
When was the "bleep" (as replacement for indecent words) first used in literature?
Answers:

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Those bleeping commercials! - Strong Language https://stronglang.wordpress.com  › 2015/09/21 › those-... 21 Sept 2015 — The noun bleep — sometimes spelled blip — first appeared in print in the early 1950s; the word echoes the actual sound. It took until the late ...

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Those Symbols in Curse Words - bigwords101 https://bigwords101.com › blog › wht-did-you-say-sym... 6 Sept 2019 — This blog post talks about the symbols we use to bleep bad words and what ... is older than the “bleep,” and was first seen in comic books.

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Kepler's Dream - Google Books Result https://books.google.de › books Juliet Bell · 2012 · ‎Juvenile Fiction ... they wrote down what he used to say in meetings, they kept substituting “expletive deleted” for all the bad words. Like an earlier version of bleep!)

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Censored for Comedy - TV Tropes https://tvtropes.org › Tropes ... be used in conjunction with Narrative Profanity Filter, Symbol Swearing, Fun with Subtitles, or Saying Sound Effects Out Loud (if someone says "bleep").

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What the @% Is a 'Grawlix'? - Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com › words-at-play › gr... Introduced in the world of comic strips, 'grawlix' refers to the string of characters ... will be pronounced "bleep," but we all know what it stands for.

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When was the "bleep" (as replacement for indecent words) first used in radio? no year given.

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{I call it "pseudo bleeping":}
safe harbor - Federal Communications Commission https://transition.fcc.gov › Orders › fcc01090 Suck some di(Bleep)ck make some money for Howard and pay your pimp okay? Indecent - NAL Issued. Back Bay Broadcasting (WWKX(FM)), 14 FCC Rcd 3997,

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Saying Fuck - The F Word On TV, Movies - Refinery29 https://www.refinery29.com › Refinery29 › Pop Culture 10 Mar 2016 — 1921 — The invention of the first "bleep" machine, actually a switch that would play a phonograph instead of live broadcast, is invented after ...

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Stop swearing … or at least try - Cleveland Jewish News https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com › archives › stop-s... 22 Oct 2010 — Talia Weisberg created Bleep! to curb the use of cursing among ... It's inappropriate to say bad words with the same mouth that you use in ...

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{a useless bleep:}
A Proposal for Indecency and Obscenity Regulation in Radio ... https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu › viewcontent PDF by JT Rigney · 2003 · Cited by 14 — Obscenity Regulation in Radio and ... Statutory Basis/Judicial History . ... And expect them not to know what a woman's BLEEP is.

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(PDF) Encyclopedia of Swearing | John Doe - Academia.edu https://www.academia.edu › Encyclopedia_of_Swearing English language—Obscene words—Dictionaries. 2. ... The use of bleep, derived from the censorship of radio material, is recorded in American reference works ...

Ping welcome, Steue (talk) 08:12, 8 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Fuck Shit[edit]

Bleep 2607:FEA8:A9A4:9B00:14E8:B000:1CA9:C0E1 (talk) 16:35, 4 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Bleep censor on YouTube videos[edit]

Hello everyone. In YouTube videos, profanity is very often censored with a bleep censor or just muted, depending on the preferences of the content creators. I talked to one YouTube vlogger and asked him why he censors swearing. As it turns out, vloggers very often censor out swearing on their YouTube videos because of their fear that their videos can be demonetized. Should we add a section about using a bleep censor on Internet videos, if the bleep censor is now actively used far outside the television and radio? WWBM (talk) 17:27, 29 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]