From geek to sex: The bizarre list of words Google's Android keyboard won't recognise

If you plan to have a conversation with your friend about something that involves sex, forget about using the stock Google Keyboard. Swipe the desired word and the keyboard will refuse to recognise harmless words like sex, intercourse or even lovemaking.

Wired has managed to go through the 165,000-word dictionary that appears in the source code of the Android 4.4 KitKat update and has caught up on a list of over 1,400 words that Google believes are a strict no-no for its users. Surprisingly, apart from the usual suspects, there are some absolutely bizarre words that have made the list.

Sex? I have no clue what you’re talking about

Of course, anyone who’s used a smartphone keyboard knows it tries to play safe by feigning ignorance to certain words; slangs, and words related to human genitalia and sex are off the menu. With Google’s updated keyboard, words like condom, coitus, butt, geek, lactation and even preggers.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Interestingly, it looks like the moral guardian inside Google has woken up with the KitKat update. Words like coitus, screwing and lovemaking were not banned on Jelly Bean. Oh, and words like Nazi, marijuana, methamphetamine and even bong are actually corrected by Android. Google refused to comment on how it manages to filter words to deem them fit for usage.

While we see the funny side of this story, it could be a more than a little hindrance when you’re in the middle of an intense conversation. So you can always turn off the filter to block offensive words in the keyboard setting.