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Shrek is a modern fairy tale that mixes in all sorts of fairy tale story lines and characters.  It's great fun for adults and is also meant to appeal to children.  Therefore, it does not contain any language unsuitable for children.  Language unsuitable for children would include those taboo words in English referring to sexual and toilet activities and also words that offend other people's race or religious beliefs. 

Nevertheless, as is often the case with stories and films made on the surface  for children but by adults and also secondarily for adults, there are expressions or jokes that would be understood by adults but be over the heads (beyond the understanding) of children.  In Shrek, there are a few sexual references later the film that adults would understand, and we'll point those out as they occur.  However, children do know that some bathroom terms are taboo and are amused by Shrek's hygiene.  Note that no vulgar terms are actually spoken in the film, but they are implied.  The student of English as a foreign language may not follow the implications or be familiar with some expressions and their degree of acceptablity/vulgarity, so they are explained below.

The movie begins with reading a fairy tale book in his outhouse.  Outhouse is a general term for an outside toilet built like a small house for individual privacy.  Sometimes people put used magazines or catalogs in their outhouses for two purposes: to provide some light reading while doing one's business (vulgar: taking a shit, children's terms: making kaka, doing number two, acceptable adult term: moving one's bowels) and also to substitute for toilet paper. 

Shrek tears a page out of the book and we assume he will use the page to wipe himself.  A somewhat more vulgar way to say this is to wipe his ass.  Later, when Shrek washes in the muddy pond, he passes gas, or to say it in slightly more vulgar way, he leaves a fart.

Back to the outhouse, when Shrek finishes his reading, he says, "Like that's ever gonna happen.  What a lot of ..."  We don't hear the missing word because of the toilet flushing (but outhouses aren't made to flush--it's a fairy tale).  What do you think the missing word is?  Think about it first, then click here to find the answer.  Make sure you come back to this page after reading the answer.

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In the song that's played at the beginning of the film, there are some interesting idioms.  We hear "The ice we skate is getting pretty thin."  When one is skating on thin ice, one is in a dangerous position.    If a child is misbehaving, a parent might first say "You're skating on thin ice" as a warning for the child to stop a certain behavior. 

Hit the ground running means you have no time to rest or prepare for the next activity.  It originally referred to the action of a soldier who jumped out of an airplane in a parachute, landed on his feet (running a little), and continued with his work.  For example, if you fly from Taiwan to the USA, arrive in the morning and immediately go to a business meeting, you "hit the ground running."

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