ABSTRACT

One popular view of swearing is that it is a sign of verbal deficiency, and that people resort to cuss words when they have no others at their disposal. And yet there is no research that suggests this link, and nothing to support the branding of swearers as “ignorant”, “lazy” or “stupid”. Swearwords are socially and emotionally indispensable, vital parts of our linguistic repertoires that help us mitigate stress, cope with pain, increase strength and endurance and bond with friends and colleagues – it’s not for nothing they are described as “strong language”. These socio-cultural and psychological benefits offer strong motivation that no doubt accounts for the consistent historical failure of legislation and penalties against swearing. Clearly, we are not looking at just some nasty habit that people can be broken of, like smoking in restaurants or nail-biting.