Why the #*&! do we swear? We all let a bad word slip out of our mouths occasionally, or perhaps you express your expletives loud and proud and frequently. But what makes a swear word a swear word? Does swearing serve any biological or psychological purpose or is it simply a cultural taboo?
One must understand the presence of swearing in our society. The ten most popular swear words in the English language make up approximately 0.7% of the words said in public. Just to put that number into perspective, first person plural pronouns such as we, our and us make up about 1% of spoken language. This means that socially unacceptable language are used almost as often in public as socially descriptive words. All the symbols and squiggles used to …show more content…
The words for those gross things became less and less socially acceptable. This leads into Steven Pinker’s next category of swearing: emphatic swearing. Emphatic swearing is something you typically would not use in public. However, if you really want to convey that your current emotions are more important to you than proper social conduct, one might use emphatic swearing. Another version of this type of swearing is Pinker's third category, dysphemistic swearing. A euphemism is an acceptable word that allows you to speak about something unpleasant and show that you recognize that the subject is uncomfortable. Dysphemistic swearing does the opposite. For instance, if you wanted to sound professional you would not use the s-word but instead say feces or defecate. However, when you really want to emphasize just how unpleasant an experience was, dysphemistic swearing can be very useful. The word defecate and the s-word mean practically the same thing, the only difference being their level of social acceptance. Our choice of words not only refer to things in the real world but also suggests how we feel about those things. For example, calling someone a Jew and calling someone a “Kike”, have very different connotations. If both the word defecate and s-word had the same level of social acceptability in our …show more content…
People use swear words to emphasize emotion. It is no surprise, therefore, that people often swear when they are hurt. This brings us to Pinker’s last category of swearing, cathartic swearing. Cathartic swearing is used when something negative, or stressful, happens. In fact, swearing is such a common stress response, that several researchers began looking into the underlying reasons for these sudden outbursts. Richard Stevens, a psychologist from England, conducted a study to investigate this. In his test, the participants were asked to place their hands in ice cold water. The test subjects were divided into two groups, one that was allowed to swear and one that was not. Of the two groups, the participants that swore reported less pain and kept their hands in the water for an average of 40 seconds longer. The researchers speculated that swearing may be connected to part of the brain that is linked to emotion. While most language is processed in the left hemisphere of the brain, swearing originates from the right hemisphere in a region called the amygdala. The amygdala regulates rage and the fight-or-flight response. Fight-or-flight is the brain's instinctive reaction towards a perceived stress or threat. This is where a swear word can be
One must understand the presence of swearing in our society. The ten most popular swear words in the English language make up approximately 0.7% of the words said in public. Just to put that number into perspective, first person plural pronouns such as we, our and us make up about 1% of spoken language. This means that socially unacceptable language are used almost as often in public as socially descriptive words. All the symbols and squiggles used to …show more content…
The words for those gross things became less and less socially acceptable. This leads into Steven Pinker’s next category of swearing: emphatic swearing. Emphatic swearing is something you typically would not use in public. However, if you really want to convey that your current emotions are more important to you than proper social conduct, one might use emphatic swearing. Another version of this type of swearing is Pinker's third category, dysphemistic swearing. A euphemism is an acceptable word that allows you to speak about something unpleasant and show that you recognize that the subject is uncomfortable. Dysphemistic swearing does the opposite. For instance, if you wanted to sound professional you would not use the s-word but instead say feces or defecate. However, when you really want to emphasize just how unpleasant an experience was, dysphemistic swearing can be very useful. The word defecate and the s-word mean practically the same thing, the only difference being their level of social acceptance. Our choice of words not only refer to things in the real world but also suggests how we feel about those things. For example, calling someone a Jew and calling someone a “Kike”, have very different connotations. If both the word defecate and s-word had the same level of social acceptability in our …show more content…
People use swear words to emphasize emotion. It is no surprise, therefore, that people often swear when they are hurt. This brings us to Pinker’s last category of swearing, cathartic swearing. Cathartic swearing is used when something negative, or stressful, happens. In fact, swearing is such a common stress response, that several researchers began looking into the underlying reasons for these sudden outbursts. Richard Stevens, a psychologist from England, conducted a study to investigate this. In his test, the participants were asked to place their hands in ice cold water. The test subjects were divided into two groups, one that was allowed to swear and one that was not. Of the two groups, the participants that swore reported less pain and kept their hands in the water for an average of 40 seconds longer. The researchers speculated that swearing may be connected to part of the brain that is linked to emotion. While most language is processed in the left hemisphere of the brain, swearing originates from the right hemisphere in a region called the amygdala. The amygdala regulates rage and the fight-or-flight response. Fight-or-flight is the brain's instinctive reaction towards a perceived stress or threat. This is where a swear word can be