Scunthorpe problem

noun

The unintentional blocking of harmless online content, such as emails, searches or accounts, by profanity filters or spam detectors, due to a substring resembling an obscene word.

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Meanings

nounthe Scunthorpe problem
  1. The unintentional blocking of harmless online content, such as emails, searches or accounts, by profanity filters or spam detectors, due to a substring resembling an obscene word.

Origin

Named after the erroneous censorship of the word Scunthorpe, an English town, by the Internet service AOL, because it contained the substring cunt, resulting in most auto-censors rewriting it as S****horpe.

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Cite this entry
APA

Scunthorpe problem. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Scunthorpe%20problem

MLA

“Scunthorpe problem.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Scunthorpe%20problem. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Scunthorpe problem,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Scunthorpe%20problem.

Source: Scunthorpe problem on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.