Do you swear?
The Science of Swearing
Timothy Jay and Kristin Janschewitz
April 25, 2012
Quote; "all competent English speakers learn how to swear in English. Swearing generally draws from a pool of 10 expressions and occurs at a rate of about 0.5 percent of one’s daily word output. However, it is not informative to think of how an average person swears: Contextual, personality, and even physiological variables are critical for predicting how swearing will occur. While swearing crosses socioeconomic statuses and age ranges and persists across the lifespan, it is more common among adolescents and more frequent among men. Inappropriate swearing can be observed in frontal lobe damage, Tourette’s disorder, and aphasia.
Swearing is positively correlated with extraversion and is a defining feature of a Type A personality. It is negatively correlated with conscientiousness, agreeableness, sexual anxiety, and religiosity. These relationships are complicated by the range of meanings within the diverse group of taboo words. Some religious people might eschew profanities (religious terms), but they may have fewer reservations about offensive sexual terms that the sexually anxious would avoid. We have yet to systematically study swearing with respect to variables such as impulsivity or psychiatric conditions, (e.g., schizophrenia and bipolar disorder). These may be fruitful avenues along which to investigate the neural basis of emotion and self-control."
[psychologicalscience.org]
Billy Connolly comments on his use of swear words.
I agree with him. The most common word "fuck" has been in the recorded written documents for more than 400 years. This means that it has been in the spoken language for much longer. Its use will not change despite the protest of those wishing otherwise...
Which side are you on?
[en.wikipedia.org]
[the-peak.ca]
14
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8 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I swear like a truck driver. I worked with lots of men at gas stations (Pre-collage) and at construction sites. When my daughter was 3 she walked past my mothers spare bedroom where her Russian Blues were caged or running around the floors. The cats stopped what they were doing to watch the 3yr old. She said, "Jesus Christ look at all the fucking cats!"
K9Kohle
Level 6
May 9, 2023
2
Jesus Christ is a swear word?
As for that long standing English word "fucking" it has been in the written language for more than 400 years & the spoken language for much longer. Despite that a pathetic woke receptionist subsequently proclaimed office manager 's professed objection to the word's use in my language resulted in her employer a physiotherapist not getting my business. And my letting everyone know of the stupidity.
@FrayedBear I'm thinking swearing is part of the way our minds work. What could be worse to some else and offend them properly? Even if the swear is part of your daily language we know it offends some people. You can tell just by their expressions what they consider proper and what's not. When you're Jewish it's always fun to say Jesus Christ in a swear sentence.
@K9JetLee999 passive aggression?
@FrayedBear Hey when I was a kid there was no one to play with on Sundays everyone was in church like good sheeples. Yeah I don't mind you calling it passive aggressive.
Swearing is cultural. What is acceptable in Australia probably is frowned upon in more uptight religious countries.
MsDemeanour
Level 8
May 6, 2023
2
He's a mad cunt. Love him.
MsDemeanour
Level 8
May 6, 2023
2
I first saw him when he was still a folk singer playing his banjo & developing\ practicing his patter.
Good old Billy Connolly, too old to die young. I've always found him hilarious, especially with his quite strong Scot accent.
Paddypereira
Level 7
May 6, 2023
2
Glasgow lad.
But he had to tone the accent & dialect down in order to be understood.
@FrayedBear, true. Nevertheless his accent is still very Scottish.
@Paddypereira Probably has a fair dose of americanisation now.
@FrayedBear, probably.
I don't drink, smoke or swear.. Pure as the driven snow I be.. to be sure to be sure.....
BLOODY HELL I left my smokes in the F***** pub
vocaloldfart
Level 8
May 5, 2023
4
Swearing is a part of our language and at one time or another everyone swears. My youngest daughter and I both swear a lot. Not so much during our church daze. I have found that the religious seem to think that people from other countries who use English swear words proves their bible is correct because that mean old devil is doing it all. They miss the fact that English is simply a popular language. Aramaic and Hebrew swearing is not known to many of us English speakers today, but I have known church goers who have tears form in their eyes at the very hint of spoken swear words. Somehow that just offends the hell out of their god.
DenoPenno
Level 9
May 5, 2023
4
Being bilingual and having smatterings of several other languages,, my swear repertoire is fairly large.
I have found that German and French have some very descriptive and "floral" swear vocabularies. Makes the Polish, Greek, Russian and English seem very rustic.
I met an old Greek man who would recite his favourite recipe in such a tone, all who did not understand ancient Greek took him to be swearing.
I believe what makes swearing what it is, is the tone of voice and the emphasis that conveys the emotion of the situation
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