Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, foul speech, strong language, dirty words, cussing, bad words, bad language, adult language, or simply language, is pejorative language that shows disrespect, desecration or debasement. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures (such as flipping the middle finger), or other social behaviors that are construed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, obnoxious, foul, desecrating or other forms.

The original meaning of the adjective profane (from Latin pro fano, "in front of" or "before, outside" the fanum, a sanctuary) referred to items not belonging to the church, e.g., "The fort is the oldest profane building in the town, but the local monastery is older, and is the oldest building," or "besides designing churches, he also designed many profane buildings". The meaning has changed over time.

Analyses of recorded conversations reveal that roughly 80–90 spoken words each day – 0.5% to 0.7% of all words – are swear words, with usage varying from between 0% to 3.4%. In comparison, first-person plural pronouns (we, us, our) make up 1% of spoken words.

Sally Kohn is a political commentator, community organizer, and founder and chief education officer of the Movement Vision Lab, a grassroots think tank. Kohn is a regular commentator on Fox News and MSNBC, and has her work published in publications like The Washington Post, Fox News, and USA Today.

Sally Rebecca Kohn was born on March 27, 1977 in Allentown, Pennsylvania to Donald Kohn, an engineer, and Melinda Kohn, a computer programmer and ombudsman. Kohn's mother introduced her to volunteering and community organizing at age 12, when they began volunteering together at a local domestic violence shelter.

Kohn was raised in Allentown and left to pursue a bachelor's degree in psychology from George Washington University. She later received a dual degree from New York University School of Law in public administration and legal studies. Kohn was a Root Tilden public service scholar at the New York University School of Law.

Previously, Kohn was Senior Campaign Strategist with the Center for Community Change, where she served as co-Director. She also previously served as Executive Director of the Third Wave Foundation. Kohn held a program fellowship at the Ford Foundation, helping to manage more than $15 million in annual grants. She was also a distinguished Vaid Fellow at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute. Kohn has consulted at organizations such as the Urban Justice Center. She was also a strategic adviser to the Social Justice Infrastructure Funders.