Swearing IS good for us: how being foul-mouthed has its benefits

Researchers have found a benefit of swearing

 

PSYCHOLOGISTS say that people who swear have one crucial advantage over those who don't.

A recent study has discovered that people who regularly swear are more likely to be in possession of a better vocabulary AND have better articulation than those who are more restrained when it comes to cursing.

US-based psychologists set out to examine the age-old myth, or the Poverty of Vocabulary (POV) concept, that people who have a colourful tongue have a worse-grasp of words than those who don’t swear.

POV suggests that those who swear are less able to express themselves, so do so by swearing instead.

 



Swearing has previously been associated with 'Poverty of Vocabulary'



The researchers asked participants to say as many different swear words as possible in one minute. Participants were then asked to complete similar tasks, such as listing as many types of animals as they can in a 60-second time period.

Those who were able to recall a greater amount of swear words were able to express themselves better, more confidently and could detect detail subtle nuances in language - therefore breaking the POV myth.



 



Those who swore more regularly were more articulate



The authors of the study, published in the Language Sciences Journal, explained: “We cannot help but judge others on the basis of their speech. Unfortunately, when it comes to taboo language, it is a common assumption that people who swear frequently are lazy, do not have an adequate vocabulary, lack education, or simply cannot control themselves.

“The overall finding of this set of studies, that taboo fluency is positively correlated with other measures of verbal fluency, undermines the POV [Poverty of Vocabulary] view of swearing. That is, a voluminous taboo lexicon may better be considered an indicator of healthy verbal abilities rather than a cover for their deficiencies.

 

Researchers say we should avoid common assumptions

"Speakers who use taboo words understand their general expressive content as well as nuanced distinctions that must be drawn to use slurs appropriately.”