swear jar

American  

[swair jahr] / ˈswɛər ˌdʒɑr /

noun

1. a container into which a fine is paid when someone who has agreed to limit the use of profanity uses language that is vulgar, profane, or obscene.

   The swear jar didn't stop my uncle from cussing, but Mom let me use the money to buy a video game—so it worked out for me!

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Etymology

Origin of swear jar

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

With more ways to talk to Siri in the home and more products that can be controlled by the smart assistant, I’m hoping my swear jar will be gathering cobwebs by Christmas.

From The Verge • Oct. 4, 2021

About 90 seconds into his news conference Monday, Washington offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach John Donovan got hit with a question that might make him have to put a quarter in the swear jar.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 26, 2021

It’s been nearly a year since that email, and if voters have actually been contributing to the likability swear jar, it must be almost full.

From Slate • Nov. 21, 2019

What is not to love about “zero you-know-whats”? While I don’t yet know if she has a swear jar, I am working on my own theory that Madame X might be Ned Flanders’s sister.

From The Guardian • Apr. 25, 2019

It’s hard to imagine a swear jar on the Strip, where nothing is supposed to get in the way of the implicit message that everything is permitted.

From New York Times • Aug. 12, 2014