Bleep censoring has been used in radio and television for decades to remove profanity, private names and other audio that could not be broadcast. The classic version is a constant high tone, commonly a 1 kHz sine wave, laid over the unwanted word so the timing of the speech stays intact. As editing software and soundboards spread online, that broadcast beep became a meme staple, used not only to hide words but to make ordinary clips sound funnier, ruder or more dramatic than they really are.