Legal

Terms of Use

Last updated: 2026-09-23

Note: the operating entity's registered details are being finalised. Where these terms refer to “the operator”, that means the person or company operating Swear Atlas, contactable at hello@swearatlas.com.

Welcome to Swear Atlas. By using swearatlas.com (the “Site”) you agree to these Terms of Use. If you don't agree, please don't use the Site. Swear Atlas is operated by the Swear Atlas operator (“we”, “us”). These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

1. Adults only (18+)

The Site is an adult reference and contains explicit language throughout, by design. By using it you confirm you are at least 18 years old (or the age of majority where you live, if higher).

2. What Swear Atlas is

Swear Atlas is an informational and linguistic reference. It documents words and phrases, including profanity and offensive language, together with editorial explanations of what they mean and how strong they are. It is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary, and not professional linguistic, legal or any other advice.

3. Accuracy, context and the Burn Rating

Meanings, regional notes, pronunciation hints and the 1–5 “Burn Rating” are approximate editorial assessments. Offensiveness varies enormously with context, speaker, audience, region and tone. The same word can be affectionate or a serious insult. You should not rely on the Site as a definitive statement of what a word means or how it will be received. We give no warranty that content is accurate, complete or current.

4. Inclusion is not endorsement

Documenting a word is not the same as endorsing, encouraging or recommending its use. Some highly offensive terms are included only so that a person who encountered one can understand what was said. Their inclusion does not mean we approve of them. See our Content & Acceptable Use Policy.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the Site to harass, threaten or abuse anyone, to promote hatred or extremism, to break the law, or to attempt to scrape, overload, probe or circumvent the Site's protections (including automated enumeration of the search or AI features). We apply rate limits and other protections and may restrict access that abuses the service.

6. Merchandise via a third party

Some entries can be turned into artwork available on merchandise. We do not sell, manufacture, ship or handle payment for merchandise ourselves. Those transactions are carried out by a third-party print-on-demand provider under their own terms and privacy policy. Any contract of sale is between you and that provider. We may earn a creator or referral fee. Nothing here affects your statutory rights under United Kingdom consumer law in respect of that provider.

7. Intellectual property

The Swear Atlas name, brand, design system, original icons, editorial content, search technology and catalogue enrichment are our intellectual property. Underlying term attestations are drawn from openly-licensed sources under their respective MIT and CC BY 4.0 terms, with attribution preserved (see Data & attribution). You may not copy or reuse our original content or bulk-extract the catalogue without permission.

8. Third-party services

The Site relies on third-party services including cloud hosting (Amazon Web Services), an AI provider used only as a search fallback (currently OpenAI), and a print-on-demand merchandise provider. Their processing is described in our Privacy Policy.

9. Availability and changes

We may change, suspend or withdraw the Site or any feature at any time. Core dictionary and search functions are designed to keep working even if optional features (AI fallback, merchandise, analytics) are unavailable. We may update these terms; the “last updated” date shows when. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated terms.

10. Liability

Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded (including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud). Subject to that, the Site is provided “as is”, and to the extent permitted by law we exclude liability for any loss arising from reliance on its content or from any offence caused by language documented here. If you are a consumer, this does not affect your statutory rights.

11. Governing law

These terms and any dispute relating to them are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have non-exclusive jurisdiction.

Questions about this policy? Contact us at hello@swearatlas.com.