I swear!

Swearing and profanity have been around since humans realised what could be done with a low-slung larynx and a mobile epiglottis. By its nature swearing makes us uncomfortable, but it has some positive psychological and physical effects at the same time, acting like a verbal horoscope revealing a lot about your personality.

Words TERRY ROBSON

WARNING: This article contains offensive language (or at least the suggestion of it). “Swearing” is the use of taboo language. The paradox is that while swearing is the use of words that are unacceptable, it is also ubiquitous. It is also not new; humans have probably been swearing as long as there has been language to swear with. These days surveys tell us that approximately 58 per cent of people swear “sometimes” or “often” and only less than 10 per cent swear “never” or “rarely”. Usually, it is the word itself that is the taboo and not the thing it is referring to. It is fine, for instance, to talk about sexual intercourse but the word “f–––” is considered severe swearing by 71 per cent of people. Of course, like all…

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WellBeing (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 204

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