Can using offensive words in a sender email address affect deliverability?

Marketer from Email Geeks shares their biggest fear would be that some number of recipients would be offended enough to hit "this is spam", but doesn't think that the string of letters there is going to cause issues by itself.

Marketer from Email Geeks responds that it would mostly just be an increased number of spam complaints so suggests lowering it to something else.

Email marketer from Reddit user u/EmailMarketingGuru shares that some ISPs and corporate email servers may have filters that block emails with certain keywords in the sender address. Even if it passes initial spam checks, it could still affect inbox placement based on content.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares they subscribe to a newsletter that drops the S word, F word and every iteration and hysterical combination thereof with no issues because the verbiage is expected and the content is wanted. Concern would be (assuming someone looks at the address as they typically only see the visible from) is that someone would think it’s not legit.

Marketer from Email Geeks expects fewer (but not zero!) complaints from the recipients if it’s on brand, and the people opting in to the newsletter expect that.

Email marketer from EmailOnAcid Blog shares that while technical deliverability might not be immediately impacted, using offensive words can lead to recipients marking emails as spam, negatively impacting sender reputation and future deliverability.

Email marketer from Constant Contact shares that sender names affect deliverability and recommends using a name and email address subscribers will recognize. They state using a professional name will improve the chances of a good deliverability rate.

Email marketer from SendPulse Blog shares that a good sender reputation is necessary for high deliverability. They state using offensive language may not be seen as professional and may diminish your reputation.

Email marketer from GlockApps Blog shares that using offensive words could increase the chance of recipients marking your emails as spam, potentially causing deliverability issues.

Marketer from Email Geeks responds that they don't think the word itself is likely to cause deliverability issues, but thinks they may find that not all of their recipients will have the same humor. It probably won't be enough to sink them into the spam folder, but if they monitor replies they predict a few crabby responses.

Email marketer from Litmus Blog explains that email deliverability can be affected by spam complaints. They state a negative association from an offensive word could affect open and click rates from being seen as unprofessional.

Email marketer from ZeroBounce Blog states that a sender name is one of the first elements a subscriber sees. They say it effects whether or not an email is seen as spam and recommend a reputable and professional name.

Email marketer from Mailjet Blog explains that using offensive words can definitely affect deliverability, as it can trigger spam filters and hurt sender reputation. Recommends avoiding such words.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum user JohnDoe85 responds that the sender name impacts deliverability since it affects how users perceive emails. An unprofessional or offensive sender name could cause people to report the message as spam, ultimately damaging your sender reputation.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that while the impact of offensive words is subjective and depends on audience expectations, it's best to consider the possibility of users not trusting the email and marking the email as spam. This will affect deliverability.

Expert from Email Geeks thinks it probably is only going to trip filters at some small number of tiny ISPs who manually built up filter lists. So doubts a broad impact, but complaints could still be an issue and suggests to test and see.

Expert from Spamresource responds that trigger words are not the most important factor in deliverability. However, they recommend you avoid words that will trigger negative reactions from the people on your list.

Documentation from SparkPost explains that sender reputation is a critical part of email deliverability. They say it determines if emails land in the inbox or the spam folder. They say if a sender name is considered unprofessional or spammy, then the sender name may cause inbox placement issues.

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that sender reputation is a key factor in deliverability. If many users mark emails from a specific sender as spam, Google is more likely to send future emails from that sender to the spam folder, even if the content itself isn't inherently spammy. Using offensive words in the 'from' address could increase spam reports.

Documentation from RFC 5322 outlines the formal syntax for email addresses. While it doesn't explicitly forbid offensive words, it specifies that the local-part (before the @ symbol) is subject to interpretation by the mail system. This implies that mail systems can reject addresses based on their content.

Documentation from Microsoft Support explains that users can add senders to a 'safe sender' list to ensure their emails are delivered to the inbox. However, if an email address contains offensive words, it's less likely that users will add it to their safe sender list, potentially hurting deliverability.

Documentation from Spamhaus provides reputation blocklists and explains that while offensive words aren't explicitly listed, a sender with a poor reputation due to spam complaints may find their emails blocked, regardless of individual words. Using offensive words increases the likelihood of complaints.