Swearing (aka cursing) means using “bad” words and is found in the languages of all cultures. My Collins English Dictionary defines a swear word as “a socially taboo word or phrase of profane, or insulting character”. Swearing has the potential to be offensive, objectionable, inappropriate or unacceptable in any given social context.
Although its universal nature suggests swearing serves a purpose, perhaps not served by the rest of our language, we do not acknowledge this. We look on swearing, at best, as coarse, vulgar language and we teach our children not to swear. So, why does it stubbornly persist and could some categories even serve a useful purpose?
People from all races, classes and education levels swear, eg 72 per cent of men and 58 per cent of women in the United States swear in public. Language researchers report that women swear less than men, but women’s swearing may simply be more context specific. Swearing is reviewed by Karyn Stapleton and others in Lingua, Volume 277, October 2022.
Most modern swear words fall into three categories: religion (eg damn, hell); sex (eg f**k); bodily excretions (eg sh*t). Nowadays the religious category is likely to be less offensive to people than words in the excretory/sexual category. Swearing is often sanctioned through a variety of mechanisms – censorship, fines, social disapproval.
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Sociologists divide swearing into three categories. (A) annoyance swearing: using swear words to provide emotional and stress relief, eg when you accidentally hit your thumb with a hammer or drop an expensive vase on to a tiled floor; (B) abusive swearing: designed to insult and offend; (C) social swearing: To express joy or anger, verbal emphasis, humour or social bonding, and to construct/display identity.
It is hard to see significant harm in annoyance swearing or in mild social swearing, which are the most common forms of swearing, and a case could even be made to view them positively. But abusive swearing is undoubtedly bad and can only exacerbate or escalate negative emotions and behaviour among those involved.
Swearing precipitates cognitive and physiological changes associated with the “fight or flight” response. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggests swear words are stored/processed differently from everyday speech. Tourette syndrome is characterised by frequent and uncontrolled swearing (copralalia), suggesting that processing lies in the amygdala and limbic systems, the more primitive parts of the brain that feature automatic compulsive behaviour. Swear words are often retained following language loss (aphasia) caused by damage to other areas of the brain.
Laboratory research has shown that swearing heightens attention and recall. Swear words are better remembered. They also increase autonomic and physiological responses, for example, increases heart rate and skin conductance rate. Swearing also enhances pain relief – hypoalgesia.
Subjects were studied after plunging their hands into freezing water. Swearing significantly raised their pain tolerance and lowered their perception of pain compared with using neutral words. Swearing also improves muscular strength and stamina compared with using neutral words. People gripping a hand vice were able to squeeze harder and longer if they encouraged themselves with swear words.
The forbidden quality of swear words increases their power, particularly in the interpersonal sphere. Swearing among friends enhances camaraderie and increases trust – “I have enough trust in you to swear in your presence.” Also swearing gains attention and is used to add emphasis.
Some of the power of swear words may be attributed to their sound. Many swear words contain plosives; consonants that block the flow of air out of the mouth – p, t, k, b, d, g. However, other non-swear words also contain plosives but lack the emotional impact of swear words.
Why is swearing so powerful and widespread? One explanation is that “aversive conditioning”, the use of punishment during childhood to stop swearing, establishes a visceral connection between swearing and emotional response. Attention, even negative attention, can be a powerful reinforcer of behaviour in young children. This hypothesis sounds reasonable but rests on flimsy evidence. There are very few empirical studies linking such memories with adult responses to swearing.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) was a prolific swearer, mainly of the blasphemous kind – words like damn and hell. Such words were taken much more seriously in Twain’s time than they are today. I will finish with a quotation from Twain: “In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer.” – in A Biography.
William Reville is an emeritus professor of biochemistry at UCC