my $data = qq(SELECT word FROM swears);
   my $sth = $dbh->prepare($data);
   $sth->execute() or die $dbh->errstr;

   while(my $ref = $sth->fetchrow_arrayref) 
   {
       push @swearwords, $ref->[0];
   }

##</code><code>##

   while ($sth->fetch)
   {
      $text =~ s/$_/****/ foreach @swearwords;