Who said cuss words were bad

Taboo words occupy a unique place in language because once learned, their use is heavily context driven. While we have descriptive data about frequency and self reports about offensiveness and other linguistic variables, these data tend to come from samples that overrepresent young, White, middle-class Americans.

A much wider and more diverse sample is needed to better characterize the use of taboo language to more accurately answer all of the questions here. There are some new swear words in the younger generation. My father, a tee-totling christian could swear louder and longer than anyone I knew… without using a swear-word. We knew he was swearing, he knew he was swearing. If you were really that learned and sophisticated, you would not need to use those words in public sometimes with a tongue-in-cheek attitude.

Many today would like less pollution of dirty language and anger—because there is always an element of anger in these words, even if it is hidden.

It only gives fuel to more smut. That is not objective at all. Where is this hidden element of anger you assert is always there?

The article shows that it substitutes aggression among other positive effects. How can you conclude that it hides anger if the evidence shows it substitutes violence and reduces stress?

I think you are steering a little bit away from measurable evidence here on this. I do agree though with many people not needing to swear, but that could be from so many other reasons. Perhaps they have other methods and habits of stress management? Maybe the group of friends they are with also happen to swear less? Maybe the geographical area swears less?

Who knows. There are so many other clearly measurable bad things than to waste time with that. Profanity is the diction of the indolent, unburdening the perpetrator of lexical exertion. The syntactic versatility of the curse is boundless, conveniently obeying regular rules of inflection.

Like a furtive vandal, the obscenity nestles effortlessly anywhere into any sentence, destroying its nuance. Hardly a brain cell need be inducted to create an offending phrase. Rather than expend energy selecting the precise noun, verb, or adjective that accurately embodies intent, the debauchee resorts to the makeshift swear. Swearing ruins language and stains those engaging in it with the mark of sloth and doltishness. For this research, I think it is important to understand, not only the meaning of the word, but also the sound of it.

The shape and movement words bring into our minds can affect the way we feel about it. Many people can easily become desensitized to the words, whereas others might cringe to them the same way they cringe to certain undesirable sounds. It would be an interesting study to see the effects of different sounds on the brain and its relation to language.

Nice point about the sounds…tone, texture, rhythm, etc. I been thinking bout this for a long-a time…. It would be interesting to study whether people who are more sensitive to sound are also more negatively effected by swear words.

Has there ever been a study of honesty versus swearing? I was recently told by an acquaintance that people who swear are more honest. People I know that curse like a Scottish Sailor on a drunken holiday are really stand up people that you can put your trust in. I think a lot of what you have said is true. I too think that a lot of people who have strong beliefs or ideas just say it as it is. People that swear often do not even realize that they swear as much as they do because they are true to themselves and just speaking the truth with no inhibitions.

I am not saying that everyone should talk like this, but maybe they are just expressing their true self. We are all different and are unique in our own skin. We all need to be true to ourselves. I agree with your point of view.

They swear more than they think they do. I make no such judgement either way myself, being probably inappropriately objective on the matter. In fact they form a vital part of the language. It is possible to talk trash with or without swearing, and possible to be kind or compassionate or to be angry and disrespectful with or without swearing. Some vulnerable people are indeed in a worse position because of their vulnerability and thus not able to voice their feelings therefore would not be using swearing and might also avoid much else as well perhaps with certain people.

Their lack of swearing, indeed lack of conversation, might mean they are vulnerable rather than their ability to speak from the heart demonstrating a lack of vulnerability. So you mentioned you do not know where children learn swear words?? Are you serious? At home for most of them. The others learn from kids when they get to school.

Did you not have kids and learn this? Research may show that the person swearing is more trustworthy, but I would like to see the study on intelligence in those who swear a blue streak. Speaking for myself, I lose a great deal of respect for a person that uses that type of language when there are so many other words that would work much better.

Personally, I find it less trustworthy, also. I found this article in a Google search. I was trying to find the supposed study showing how people who swear tend to be more trust worthy. I do see where some truth would come from it. Simply because people who tend to swear also tend not to care about what others think about them so therefore they have less of reason to tell white lies. Having incited such violence personally, using utterances primarily constructed with swear words, and having witnessed the same in close proximity on more occasions than I am proud to admit, it strikes me as though the research may have had biases that tainted the results.

Swearing at Disney world be expected to result in fewer negative outcomes than f-bombs tossed strategically at a bar, a ballgame, or family reunion. For as long as I remember, I have considered that folks who use swearwords had not developed sufficient vocabulary to say what they had in mind.

This was an article clearly describing explorations into the social mechanics of the use of profanity and it consequences, with what was obviously an exhortation for more investigation into the phenomenon, not liberal propaganda note how this word is spelled correctly. All that, without a single profanity. Terrific article. Needs expansion. Try to ignore the trolls. Leave those clodhoppers to me. Thanks, James. Have just read the article today and the comments. Keep fighting the good fight against the trolls.

You are guilty of the same logical fallacy. I totally disagree with this finding, if it really is a finding. Half the time the person swearing is swearing because they are covering up a lie, or trying to prove a point that is unrealistic. I notice that people tend to swear just to relieve anxiety and stress.

Believe me, my daughter swears like a sailor and so did one of my sisters. To heck with Behavioral Studies. I spent 45 years in engineering on the shop floor where swearing was the norm, I never got used to it. I compared it to picking your nose in public, i. It will probably become socially unacceptable though time. As well as the example above, if the words were substituted with a loud hand clap, I think that would have a similar effect.

As these two words are between 3 and 4 times older than the US they clearly fulfil some type of linguistic need, which must be worthy of a level of attention above the tut-tuttery and value judgements of some of the posters here.

This was apparently a commonly used street name in medieval England. Apparently, so named because of the prostitution which was rife. This name was actively used until Victorian times when use of what they saw as obscene language came to be frowned upon in polite society — the source of much of our current attitudes towards swearing, not to mention their legacy of sexual hypocrisy which was partially responsible for this stance on linguistic mores. There were at least 3 streets of this name in London, one of which was euphemistically renamed as Threadneedle Street — now the location of the Bank of England.

More research on this rich and interesting linguistic heritage and the role that it seems to have played in human history would seem to be more than justified. According to HBO dramas, ancient Rome and the American frontier West were scenes of far more potty-mouth than contemporary society.

SIL strode upstairs and read the three women, the riot act. If my SIL has a rather irrational approach to a famly member getting easily and emotionally reactive by swearing, then pehaps it is SHE who needs he counseling. At least IMHO. I do have bipolar disorder so there might be some impulse control issues.

I am working towards finishing my M. I promise you there are plenty of intelligent people who swear on a regular basis. It is systematic. Not impulsive.

It is not speculation. It is just like you learned in school—do some research on the topic you are targeting, forming a hypothesis, designing an experiment to test that hypothesis, then doing it and finally analyzing the data, drawing a conclusion and writing up your findings.

So FairBairn— you say people who swear when they are hurt are babies. The swearing helps bear the pain. Remember the part where the author mentioned that children start this fairly young? Not liking swearing does not make it untrue that there is a correlation between wearing and honesty. Have you no understanding at all of the concept of science, or of its methodology? I never used to swear. I have always leaned way to far on the soft heart scale, far to passive when i believe you need to balance between a harder heart, and softer one, somewhere in the middle.

I never have to worry about the balancing act because my tendencies for compassion, and a soft heart i dont think i can lose , so i just try to be as hard as i can , and the balance takes care of itself. I know exactly why I swear. I swear because it is the only way I can find, and feel the aggression I need to meet the aggression that life throws at me.

I not talking about people Im talking about the thing that you wake up to every morning trying to bring you down. Swearin has really made a difference in my aggression of spirit.

You have to be harder then life or life will break you. She told me that she has noticed me starting to cuss recently and asked me why. She also told me, however, that she, in order to determine the continued results of her own study, would have to keep spying, on not only me but also my own husband.

I guess there must be more rationale behind the use of profanity in language…. It would be interesting to see more studies about the use of profanity. Interesting article, but in my opinion it is not always a good approach to omit certain findings from similar scientific studies done from a different area of specialization, as they can lend credence to the psychological study done here.

Neurolinguistics, for example, could give some useful background on just why it is that aphasics swear more prolifically than other psychosociological groups.

A nurse was bringing hot coffee to a patient in the hospital where we worked; he had had a severe stroke and was unable to speak at all. Washoe was a female chimpanzee that was originally adopted by R. Allen Gardner and Beatrix T. Gardner in the s. Later, she was taken on by a researcher in Washington State called Roger Fouts.

Washoe was the matriarch to three younger chimps: Loulis, Tatu, and Dar. By the time they brought in Loulis, the youngest, the humans had stopped teaching them language, so they looked to see if the chimps would transmit language through the generations, which they did.

When Washoe and the other chimps were really angry, they would smack their knuckles on the underside of their chins, so you could hear this chimp-teeth-clacking sound. What had happened is that they had internalized that taboo, they had a sign associated with that taboo, so all of a sudden that language was incredibly powerful and was being thrown about, just like real excrement is thrown about by wild chimpanzees.

The example that most people will be familiar with in English-speaking countries is blasphemy. There are still parts of the U. In some communities, where that usage is reclaimed, they are saying that if I use it, it immunizes me against its negative effects. That is an example of a word that has fallen out of general conversation and literature into the realm of the unsayable.

The great thing about the copulatory and excretory swearing is that they are common to the entire human race. As our taboos change, that core of language that has the ability to surprise, shock or stun the emotional side of the brain will change, too. Simon Worrall curates Book Talk. Follow him on Twitter or at simonworrallauthor. All rights reserved. Share Tweet Email. Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants.

This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city Caracals have learned to hunt around the urban edges of Cape Town, though the predator faces many threats, such as getting hit by cars. India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big Grassroots efforts are bringing solar panels to rural villages without electricity, while massive solar arrays are being built across the country.

Go Further. The phrase motherfucker referring to someone or something despicable was originally documented during an case argued at the Texas Court of Appeals. In the World War II era, motherfucker became a more popular way to say someone or something is irritating or ruthless. As the s rolled around, the word took a turn for the better, if you can believe it.

But did you know that hell is recorded before the year ? It comes from the Old English hel and hell , a term for the abode of the dead in mythology—and especially for the wicked, hence the Christian Hell. Hell is related to a number of similar words in Germanic languages, like the Old Icelandic Hel , goddess of the underworld.

It can refer to anything from using the restroom to being exceedingly angry. The word piss is first recorded around —, from French pissier , ultimately from a Latin word meant to imitate the sound of, well, peeing. In the World War II era, it became an intensifier piss-poor , piss-ugly.

The word bastard has been evidenced since at least , and comes from the Anglo-French bastard , in turn from the Medieval Latin bastardus. The original sense of these words is taken as the offspring of a polygynous marriage having more than one wife of lower status.

Nonetheless, the word is still considered a crude curse word. OK, this is a very visual etymology.