Product Code Database
A swear jar (also known as a swearing jar, cuss jar, swear box or cuss bank) is a device intended to discourage people from using profanity. Every time someone uses profanity, others who witness it collect a "fine", by insisting that the offender put some money into the box. The container may be made of glass, porcelain, or metal, and may have a lid with a slot. From time to time, the accumulated money may be used for some agreed-upon purpose, or contributed to charity.
The concept appears to have originated in the 1890s, under the name "swear box", Forest and Stream, March 20, 1890, p. 176.Thomas J. Henry, Claude Garton: A Story of Dunburgh University, 1897, p. 167. and to have gained popularity in the 1910s.Google nGrams comparison of swear box and swear jar in the US and in GB. The term "swear jar" appears to have been invented in the 1980s in the United States, and is not documented in Great Britain; an early mention of a swear jar is in the 1988 American movie Moving. The concept of swear box or jar became very popular in the 1980s.
A swear jar might not be a physical object; instead, a notional swear jar is referred to in order to indicate someone's use of profanity has been noted.
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