Ranked: 10 towns in Australia who swear the most

Aussies are known for their love of dropping F-bombs and now we know who is the best - or worst - of the lot. SEE THE TOP 10

A new survey polled more than 1500 residents of the 22 largest cities in Australia about their swearing habits and found Toowoomba respondents are among the most likely to use foul language.

The garden city averaged about 18 swear words a day, second only to Bendigo, with 21 daily swears.

See the top 10 swearing towns below >>>

E-learning platform Prereply conducted the study and found ‘taboo’ situations where Toowoomba residents are most likely to swear in include while driving -75 per cent – in front of their boss – 37.5 per cent and in public with 31.25 per cent.

Prereply’s language expert Sylvia Johnson said swearing serves as a multifaceted linguistic and psychological tool, enabling individuals to express intense emotion, establish camaraderie, or assert dominance.

“It embodies a raw form of communication that not only encapsulates feelings but also reflects our inner psychological state,” she said.

“The science behind expletives exposes deeper layers of human cognition and societal norms. As linguists, the versatility of swearing offers intriguing insights into the social, psychological, and neurobiological aspects of human communication.

“It lends itself to diverse expressions, woven into both the banality and fervour of everyday language while illustrating the remarkable plasticity of linguistic structures.

“Understanding this phenomenon can be instrumental in yielding deeper comprehension of the intricacies of human language and cognition’’.

The survey found that on average Australians swear about 14 times per day.

Bendigo is the swearing capital of Australia.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, younger Australians, aged 16-24, were our most vibrant potty-mouths, using 16 foul words each day.

Men are more likely to swear -16 times per day – than women – 13 times per day.

The likelihood of an Aussie letting a swear word slip while at work is low, with only 11 per cent of respondents swearing in professional settings.

To determine which cities swear the most we asked respondents to tell us the number of times they swear in a day.

About a quarter of respondents identified as male with three quarters identified as female. 

Australia’s 10 swear cities, towns

1. Bendigo, VIC

2. Toowoomba, QLD

3. Gold Coast, QLD

4. Newcastle, NSW

5. Brisbane, QLD

6. Rockhampton, QLD

7. Albury-Wodonga, NSW

8. Ballarat, VIC

9. Cranbourne, VIC

10. Wollongong, NSW