ByJake Rossen|Dec 13, 2022, 12:00 PM EST
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When people think of Christmas movies, they typically think of holiday sentiment, snow, gifts, and an overarching message of kindness. But sometimes, a holiday movie can deliver those themes while having a profanity count rivaling that of Goodfellas.
Recently, language tutorial site Preply examined 60 scripts from popular holiday (or holiday-set) films to see which ones contained the greatest number of expletives. While some, like 1990’s Home Alone, are relatively tame (it has just nine swear words), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) has a relatively robust 23. Nothing, however, comes close to 2003’s Bad Santa, the Billy Bob Thornton vehicle about an inebriated Claus (Thornton) working as a mall Santa, with its astonishing 255 cusses.
Check out the complete list below, but bear in mind the profanity counts are based on scripts: Swears could have been added or subtracted during filming.
- Bad Santa (2003) // 255 swear words
- The Ref (1994) // 86 swear words
- Better Watch Out (2016) // 82 swear words
- Die Hard (1988) // 77 swear words
- Just Friends (2005) // 46 swear words
- Black Christmas (1974) // 39 swear words
- Trading Places (1983) // 37 swear words
- Krampus (2015) // 37 swear words
- Love Actually (2003) // 36 swear words
- The Family Man (2000) // 32 swear words
- Fatman (2020) // 25 swear words
- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) // 23 swear words
- Last Christmas (2019) // 18 swear words
- Scrooged (1988) // 17 swear words
- Batman Returns (1992) // 14 swear words
- Shazam! (2019) // 14 swear words
- Surviving Christmas (2004) // 14 swear words
- Serendipity (2001) // 13 swear words
- A Christmas Story (1983) // 11 swear words
- Home Alone (1990) // 9 swear words
Looking for a new movie to watch, or at least a movie that’s new to you? Mental Floss’s new book, The Curious Movie Buff: A Miscellany of Fantastic Films from the Past 50 Years, offers behind-the-scenes details and amazing facts about some of the greatest movies of the past half-century. And it’s available now at your favorite place to buy books, or online right here.
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Quiz: Can You Name the ‘70s Movie From the Love Interest?
From ‘The Godfather’ to ‘Carrie,’ how well do you know these characters?
ByAlexandria Ingham|Nov 6, 2026, 8:00 AM EST
There were some outstanding and memorable movies from the 1970s. Whether you loved romance or horror, you know nearly ever movie had a love interest. How well do you remember the characters? Can you match the love interest to the movie? We’ve got a quiz for that.
Did you get all eight right? If so, you’re a movie expert, and we definitely need you on our team the next time we’re at trivia. If you didn’t, that’s okay! There were countless movies released in the ‘70s, and there’s no way you’ve seen them all.
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The Most Memorable Love Interests From ‘70s Films
The 1970s transformed cinematic romance. Movies moved on from the ideals of the 1950s and ‘60s, onto complex dynamics. People were ambitious and driven outside of the films, so why couldn’t they be on the screen?
Diane Keaton portrayed one of the roles that allowed this shift to happen: Annie Hall. In the 1977 film, she wasn’t just there to support the male protagonist’s arc. She had her own dreams, and that sometimes meant that she was flawed.
In the same year, another character stood out as one for women to aspire to be. Star Wars brought us Princess Leia, and Carrie Fisher was never going to let her be the typical damsel in distress. She was smart and witty, and she was also respected when it came to leading a military.
Even when she became a prisoner, she didn’t just sit around and wait to be saved, proving that powerful and independent women could make some of the best romantic interests.https://www.youtube.com/embed/8IC9vjTnr4E?feature=oembed
Then a year later, Olivia Newton-John brought Sandy Olsson to the stage. You can joke around about 30-somethings playing teenagers, but Grease helped to reshape the wholesome teen into a woman who matched the way so many were feeling. The movie as a whole reflected the evolving musical styles and youth culture, and Sandy brought that evolution from start to finish.
It’s hard to overlook a certain ambitious journalist. Lois Lane was a reporter for the Daily Planet, but she also made it clear that she wouldn’t be a helpless bystander in the 1978 Superman. She brought humor to the screen, and Lois and Superman quickly set the gold standard for romantic dynamics when it came to superhero stories.
If you love to spend your free time taking quizzes, make sure you bookmark the Mental Floss quiz page for more challenges.
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