The Swear Jar

One (or more) of the characters has a particularly foul mouth, so another character decides to institute the Swear Jar so that they have to pay up every time they use rude language. Hilarity Ensues as the character who used to swear like a sailor either drops an unfathomable amount of cash into the jar or ends up having to censor everything he says. Also expect the character who instigated the jar to end up falling foul of his own rules and having to put money in as well. May also appear as a more generic Forfeit Jar if any character is particularly prone to specific words, phrases or acts.

Truth in Television in many households, with varying degrees of effectiveness and longevity.

Don't expect it to last beyond an episode.

Advertising

 * There's a Canadian Tire commercial for an autohammer where, because of numerous uses of manual hammers in places they clearly weren't designed for, a man's swear jar ends up paying for about half the tool being advertised.
 * There was one Budweiser commercial involving the profanity jar, with proceeds going to the next case of beer-— profanity ensues.

Comic Books
"Kid Devil: HOLY #$@*! Cyborg's awake!
 * In Knights of the Dinner Table, Patty, a kindergarten teacher, maintains one for her gaming group Patty's Perps.
 * An issue of Nightwing has Alfred reminding Nightwing not to swear while on the radio with him. Dick responds with how much he owes.
 * In Teen Titans at the beginning of One Year Later (which took place after Infinite Crisis), Ravager and Kid Devil are living under the authority of one of these.

Ravager: Your turn to feed the swear jar."

Film
"Nicholas: Of course she fucking was! *clink* Thank you, Danny.
 * Shows up in Hot Fuzz: Each swear is given various rates, while some letters are replaced by Symbol Swearing. Except the word with the highest rate, Cunt. Nicolas Angel and Andy Wainright have a heated argument, and both turn aside to politely thank their respective guy for paying in. The argument started with Nicholas paying in advance for his first swear.

...

Andy: Murder, murder, murder...change the fucking record. *clink* Thank you, Andy."

"Gwen: Swear jar, Mr. Simpson.
 * The Richard Pryor movie Moving had one. It is shown used normally to punish his daughter for swearing. She then pays in advance at one point so she can cuss him out. Later, when the "move" goes very badly we see Pryor prepare to let loose... instead the movie cuts to the jar totally stuffed with cash. When he announces the move, his wife calmly gets up from the table, gets her purse, and starts feeding bills into the jar, then tells the youngest children to leave the room.
 * Legally enforced in Demolition Man, as you are fined every time you swear. Exploited by the hero when he finds out there's no toilet paper in future, with people instead using seashells. After getting his first fine, he drops a Cluster F-Bomb to get the paper he needs.
 * In the Australian bowls film Crackerjack a swear jar is implemented at the local bowls club.

Jack Simpson: Swear jar? What's that?

Mrs. Jenkins: It's a jar you put money in if you say the word "fuck"."

Literature

 * In Anne McCaffrey's Acorna, after the miners take in a little alien girl they institute this, just because they don't want her learning those particular words.
 * In Seven Ancient Wonders, part of the plot is about an oracle's daughter being brought up by a team of commandos, so they implement a swear jar, but only when they swear around her - so she starts following them around, yelling out "Swear jar!" when they curse. The jar is almost always full.
 * In I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader, Annisa's father has initiated a "like" jar. She says that she could have a much better wardrobe if she would stop using the word so much.

Live Action TV
"Monica: I did not yell! I am not putting a dollar in the jar."
 * New Tricks has the detectives install one, which eventually allows them to go out for a nice meal on the town. Gerry's a bit aggrieved that he didn't get to chose, since he "put most of the bloody money in."
 * On Friends, the people at Alexandro's Restaurant had initiated a "shouting jar":

"Ronnie Barker: A swear-box? That's a *bleep!*ing good idea!"
 * Not for swearing, but an episode of Power Rangers Ninja Storm has Lothor demand that every time Monster of the Week Boxing Bop-A-Roo says a made-up word, he is to put a dollar in a jar. When Bop-A-Roo's vocabulary starts catching on, it extends to the rest of Lothor's minions.
 * Once on Saturday Night Live when Cheri Oteri inadvertently said "shit" during the show, at the end, host David Schwimmer made her put a dollar into the SNL swear jar.
 * In Top Gear, when road testing a new Alfa Romeo, presenter James May has a swear box for every time he uses a word like "soul" or "passion". He uses a lot of money. Excerpt here.
 * In an episode of Two and A Half Men, Jake points out that Charlie needs to put a dollar into the jar because he swore earlier. Charlie pulls out a $20 bill: "That oughtta cover me till lunch."
 * In Pawn Stars, "the old man" institutes a swear jar. It quickly fills, and while counting the money, he swears himself.
 * Thoroughly explored by The Two Ronnies.
 * In Californication, Hank Moody has this arrangement with his daughter - both ways. She gets most of the money.
 * In the episode "A Very Supernatural Christmas" Sam and Dean get captured by two pagan gods who have been living as a folksy, Stepfordish married couple. When Dean blurts out an expletive after they pull one of his teeth for a sacrifice, the wife rebukes him and says, "Someone owes a nickel to the swear jar!"
 * Steptoe & Son: Reveal in the final episode they had been operating a Swear Box at at the rate of 10p per swear. Two things should be taken into consideration. 1) The total amassed wealth of the Steptoe’s is divided thus: BANK BALANCE: £3·00 BUILDING SOCIETY ACCOUNT: £7·00 SWEARBOX: 2) That swear box was no more than two years old, as decimalisation was only introduced two years previously.
 * Not necessarily - pre-decimal shilling (5p) and two-shilling (10p) coins were still valid at the time, and for many years after.
 * In Kitchen Nightmares, the UK version, there was an episode, Gordon Ramsey challenged a chef to avoid drinking alcohol and smoking during service. Ramsey also set a challenge for himself by not swearing during a service. If either did that, they have to put a pound into a piggy bank. Ramsey had to put in quite a few pounds into the jar.
 * In the Easter episode of The Vicar of Dibley, everyone on the parish council gives up a common habit of theirs, or else put a pound in the "Lent Fines Box" (used to raise money for a movie club) every time they succumb to it. In Owen's case, this means giving up swearing. As soon as Lent is over, he launches into a Cluster F-Bomb to make up for lost time.
 * In Men Behaving Badly, George and Marjorie have a "lewd thoughts" jar. This gives rise to the associated joke: George admits to putting around 50p in over the last twenty years (he "came over all funny" in the Post Office once in about 1982). However, Marjorie has contributed something in the region of £2,000. George admits he ought to say something, but the money has paid for five caravanning holidays.
 * The Drop the Dead Donkey office had a Nessun Dorma box for anyone humming the catchy opera tune that became the unofficial theme of the Italia '90 World Cup Tournament.
 * The Daily Show has an "Obama Osama Flub Jar".
 * Subject of a sketch on The Two Ronnies.

"Bob Odenkirk: We're going to have a great show tonight.
 * In the Australian variety show Rove the host, Rove McManus, implemented the "Harrison Ford Commemorative Swear Jar" in remembrance of an interview with the actor that was mildly profane. Rove himself added fifty dollars after swearing in front of then-twelve year old Freddie Highmore. He later raided this same fifty dollars to get a lap dance from Meat Loaf.
 * A Swear Jar appears in a Sister Sister episode. Unlike most examples, though, it actually serves no purpose other than a means for Ray, who was currently having financial problems, to nick some money somehow. He does have to place a penny in the jar to save face to Lisa when she walks in on him doing it.
 * An episode of Mr. Show opens with Bob and David introducing their swear jar:

David Cross: A great *fucking* show tonight! (slips a nickel into jar)"

"Dr. X: I'm sorry, gentlemen, but it appears you're up shit's creek.
 * Later on in the episode, there's a sketch about evil mastermind Dr. X, who threatens to destroy Earth with an orbital laser if he doesn't earn enough money from his telethon. The telethon comes up short by a few thousand dollars, but then, to complete the Brick Joke, Bob (actually Bob's brother Bill, since Bob plays Dr. X) and David show up with their swear jar, which almost covers the shortfall--they're still a nickel short.

David: AH HAH!

(Dr. X, dejected, slips a nickel into the swear jar)

Dr. X: Well, we did it!"


 * The guys of New Girl have a 'Douchebag Jar'. Whenever one of them (usually Schmidt) does something douchey, they have to put money in the jar.
 * Used in an episode of Corner Gas. Lacey (of all people) ends up putting $20 in after a long rant blocked out by a Sound Effect Bleep.

Newspaper Comics

 * Baby Blues has this, with Darryl having to put money into the Swearing Jar numerous times. He eventually comments that he has more money in the swear jar than he has in his retirement fund.
 * In Beetle Bailey, due to an excess of Symbol Swearing, Sgt. Snorkel finds himself contributing.

Web Original

 * The Salvation War has a variation on this: Any time one of the researchers looking for a gateway to Heaven wishes aloud for Einstein/Feynman/insert-Nobel-Prize-winner-here to magically appear and help them solve a particular problem, they cough up a couple of bucks. Last Friday of the month, everyone goes out drinking with the cash.
 * In the Christmas episode of Weebl's Cat Face cartoon, Cat Face gives Mr. So-Called Gordon Ramsey a swear jar for Christmas. By Christmas morning it's already full.
 * The TGWTG-styled reviewer, The Fan Fiction Critic, has a swear jar named 'The Cube of Profanity'. In one review of a fan fiction (If I Was Your Nazi), another fan fic reviewer posted a video response putting tons of money in the jar (well, not really obviously, but still).
 * The Demolition Man example was parodied by the Spoony One when he reviewed the video game based on that movie. His robot, Burton, was programmed to issue a fine every time he swore. By the end of the review he was so infuriated by the game (and had so many fines) that he throttled and beheaded the robot.
 * The reason for the swearing fines is because Spoony (supposedly) got a sponsorship deal with Taco Bell and they want his show to be all-ages appropriate. He tries to get around it by using curses from sci-fi shows. At the end of the review, all the Taco Bell food has given him indigestion, seemingly setting up a parody of the Demolition Man scene...except that Spoony chooses the game's instruction manual over the pile of fines.
 * Seen quite a bit on the Funday Pawpet Show, where anyone who breaks the show's tenuous PG-13 rating has to put a dollar in the swear jar for each profane instance, the net result of which usually goes towards buying food for the cast and guests. Poink often has to pony up a five or so.
 * On the Wrestlecrap Radio podcast, reference is occasionally made to this, as every now and then co-host Blade Braxton resolves to clean up his language (it never lasts).

Webcomics
"Pardus: So unfair. These Nazis double the fine if I call it "the kitty"."
 * Gabe from Penny Arcade tries something similar to save money.
 * K from Blip starts policing her own potty-mouth, and only messes up a few times. However, it was her boyfriend's suggestion, so when K broke up with him, the jar went in the trash.
 * The Last Days of Foxhound has a variation: Psycho Mantis has an "I Hate You" jar - for when anyone else says it to him.
 * The Commander in Manly Guys Doing Manly Things keeps several for the words "epic", "win", and "fail".
 * In Panthera, the titular team (who all have the power to turn into big cats) have a $5 jar for cat-related puns. It's a big jar and as Onca notes, it's very full. It says a lot that someone added a sticky note with 'Make that "Pardus opens his mouth jar". Visual Pun3'


 * Toothpaste for Dinner offers a unique way to combat poor grammar.

Western Animation
"Marge: No, not the swear jar! It's the only thing holding back the filth! *jar shatters* Nutty-fudgkins!"
 * The Simpsons finds Homer having to deal with one of these while he's building a doghouse for Santa's Little Helper after Flanders' son Todd picks up Homer's foul language. Homer ends up putting money in the jar for accidentally putting a $20 bill in the church collection plate ("Da--"), cursing out a lone bowling pin after nearly getting a strike ("Oh, You Sunnuva--"), calling Flanders a "dirty bast--" after Flanders (who shaved his mustache off in exchange for Homer curbing his foul language) gets checks for starring in commercials, after forgetting to build a door for Santa's Little Helper's doghouse, and after a beehive falls on him while sleeping on a hammock (and was implied to have been stung by many of them off-screen), and becomes so programmed not to curse that he says, "Oh, fudge!" and "Fiddle-dee-dee" before breaking down into Angrish as he kicks down the doghouse. The good news is that the money in Homer's swear jar was enough for Marge and Lisa to actually buy a doghouse for SLH (since the one Homer was building was terrible) and some beer for Homer.
 * In a later episode, when low-flying planes are causing items to fall to the floor, Marge runs around trying to save them. Then she turns and sees:


 * American Dad: In fact, the family has dozens of jars, one for each word. Including "moist".
 * Chowder: Shnitzel is shown to have one that is filled to the brim with money.
 * In Home Movies, Brendon's mom assigns him one after he films a movie with his friends containing gratuous profanity.

Real Life

 * Director Robert Rodriguez didn't want the crew swearing in front of the young cast in Spy Kids, so he instituted one of these. One of the crewmen slipped up, and went "Oh shit...ake mushrooms", in order to avoid the fine. Rodriguez liked this so much he had Alexa Vega say the line in the movie.
 * Chris Columbus did a similar thing to the adults in Home Alone. Reportedly, Joe Pesci filled the jar in a single day.
 * During the shoot of 2005's Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie, according to the commentary, only eight-year-old Georgie Henley (playing Lucy) was doing the collecting herself. Her stringent enforcement was referred to with hilarity and fondness by the cast as "The Potty-Mouth Bucket."
 * The devoutly Catholic actress Loretta Young kept a swear jar on the set of her movies. After shooting one movie with the high-maintenance actress, Robert Mitchum dropped a $20 bill into the jar, saying, "This should just about cover everything I've been wanting to say to Loretta."
 * They say that the Russian Empress Catherine the Great had once created a box for lying on banquets (the money was later used for charity). When the man responsible for handling the box complained to her that a certain person should be kept out of her palace so he won't get broke, she replied she likes hearing lies sometimes. His advice? You should visit the Senate more often.
 * On occasion, language classes use these to enforce a "no-English" (or equivalent) rule. The success of these schemes is variable.
 * They were sold or given away as premiums in dime stores in the 1930s. "I'm just a little swear box/ But I'll cure you if I can/ From a naughty wicked cuss word/ to a tiny little damn!" And on the back: "If it's just a little 'cuss' word/ it's a NICKEL every time/ If it's just a little 'wuss' word/ that will cost a DIME/ For language strong and naughty/ That shocks you as it oughter/ We should really charge you FIFTY/ But will settle for a QUARTER."
 * There is a Twitter Charity Swear Box that lets you donate to good causes for talking shit on line. Another such charity is called Fuck Cancer.
 * Similarly, Comic Relief 2006 briefly used one as a way to get more donations. Generous guys on stage dropped a Cluster F-Bomb, much to the chagrin of TBS.
 * There's a great story about Ethel Merman, who, according to Stephen Sondheim, "had the vocabulary of a truck driver." She was working with the abovementioned Loretta Young, who insisted that Ethel use the Swear Jar. After becoming more and more frustrated with this, Ethel turned to her, placed a hundred-dollar bill in the jar, and said," Loretta, here's a hundred dollars and go fuck yourself."
 * Tom Waits(Vh1 Storytellers): We have a swear jar at home and y'know what a swear jar is? It's a jar in the middle of the kitchen and every time you say a bad word you have to put in a buck. And, uh... It helps. Y'know because we have a mortgage and everything. And, uh, I don't know how that ties in here. Oh! Here's what happened! We had the swear jar and the idea was overtime what you do was at the end of the month or whatever you go and check out the money in the swear jar and maybe get "40 bucks" or somethin'. You go buy a tree and you plant the tree and you get the picture. And we took all those bad words and we made something good out of it. I got into the habit of getting up in the mkorning and putting in a ten. Just taking out a little insurance. We were coming home one night and we had a really good month of no swearing and my wife said that the whole family been really good. So for the next five minutes you can say anything you want in the car. That was fun. 
 * According to Jennifer Lawrence, there was one on the set of The Hunger Games, which she filled up quickly.