Swearing

I heard a fascinating talk from a linguistic expert on the subject of swearing. We were told it’s not really a sign of verbal deficiency. The research (yes, it seems they research into things like this) is that swear words are socially and emotionally indispensable, in that they’re vital parts of our linguistic repertoire. They help us mitigate stress and cope with pain, they demonstrably increase strength and endurance and help us bond with friends and colleagues.

It seems that swear words are/have been used in most if not all languages and throughout history.    In fact, it seems that “strong language” is used even more in some other languages than in English. However, frequent use of a word debases its effect, and it’s likely in future years new swear words will develop, perhaps invoking concepts that are becoming “politically incorrect” (such as race).    In the meantime, different words are more offensive in some countries than others.     Similarly, in the past, blasphemous words had more effect, but are not considered to have the same impact in today’s world.

The talk was very interesting, partly because it’s not something that I’ve ever previously thought about in detail.