We will often use swear words "to vent some emotion", she says. "If you're angry or particularly happy, swearing is a catharsis. Swearing also centres on taboos. Around the world swear words will tend to cluster around certain topics: lavatorial matters, sex, religion."
As a general rule, swear words originate from taboo subjects. This is pretty logical. The topic is off-limits, so the related words aren't meant to be spoken either. Certain topics are almost universally taboo — death, disease, excrement — you know, icky stuff.
Taboo words can be used for a variety of reasons, including to achieve a specific reaction from others. Swearing injects a direct, succinct emotional component into the discussion, usually in order to express frustration, anger or surprise (up to two-thirds of our swearing is for just such expressions).
1. F*ck. The word f-u-c-k is one of the most widely recognized swear words in the English language.
We don't know how the earliest speakers of English swore, because it wasn't written down. Before the 15th century – which is when swearing first appeared in writing – most writing was done by monks, and they were too good, and their work too important, for them to write down swear words.
In 2015, Dr. Paul Booth argued he had found "(possibly) the earliest known use of the word 'fuck' that clearly has a sexual connotation": in English court records of 1310–11, a man local to Chester is referred to as "Roger Fuckebythenavele", probably a nickname.
Croatia comes out on top, with over one hundred different explicit words and 5 million native speakers. Norway comes in at second place with 94 swear words for 5.6 million speakers, while their neighbours Sweden are also turning the air blue with their range of 120 explicit words.
Some might say, “if the 'F-word' is bad and 'freakin,' 'frick,' or 'fudge' are put in its place, isn't that just as bad?” The answer is “NO!” No it's not just as bad. In fact, the person using this word should be applauded for replacing a vulgar word with a word that actually has no meaning.
Dunbar is famed in Scottish and ecclesiastical history for issuing the longest curse, a 1000-word diatribe against the Borders reivers who he excommunicated saying this: “I curse their head and all the hairs of their head.
Fart, as it turns out, is one of the oldest rude words we have in the language: Its first record pops up in roughly 1250, meaning that if you were to travel 800 years back in time just to let one rip, everyone would at least be able to agree upon what that should be called.
Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed rude, obscene, or culturally offensive; in certain religions, it constitutes sin. It can show a debasement of someone or something, or be considered an expression of strong feeling towards something. Some words may also be used as intensifiers.
It releases stress
As it turns out, there's some science behind why cursing when you're angry or frustrated makes you feel better. "Cursing can be an effective emotional release, especially for anger and frustration," explains Laura MacLeod, LMSW practicing in New York.
Studies have shown that swearing relieves stress, dulls the sensation of pain, fosters camaraderie among peers and is linked with traits like verbal fluency, openness and honesty. And the effects of cursing are physical as well as mental.
Other research has found that children start swearing around age two and that it becomes more adult-like by ages 11 or 12, authors at the Association for Psychological Science noted in 2012. “By the time children enter school, they have a working vocabulary of 30 to 40 offensive words,” the report continued.
The 10 actors who have sworn most in cinema history:
Samuel L Jackson – 301. Adam Sandler – 295. Al Pacino – 255. Denzel Washington – 183.
According to our survey, a regular Brit swears around 10.46 times per day – much less than the American daily average of 21, revealed by our study on cities that swear the most in the U.S.
The U.S. city that swears the most frequently is Columbus, Ohio, at 36 times per day. The average age Americans start using swear words is 11. “Taboo” situations Americans are most likely to swear in include work (69%), in front of strangers (67%), and at the dinner table (63%).
Considered respectable until about 1750, it was heavily tabooed during c. 1750–1920, considered equivalent to heavily obscene or profane speech. Public use continued to be seen as controversial until the 1960s, but since then, the word has become a comparatively mild expletive or intensifier.
Swearing: Swearing is more common in Australia than in many other cultures. Television programmes are less censored and mainstream society is largely desensitised to words that foreigners may find vulgar. It is normal to hear an Australian swear at some point during a conversation.
It's hard to imagine such a strict law in such a laid-back place, but the no-swearing law in St Kitts and Nevis is no joke. On a winding drive from the airport to the ferry port in St. Kitts, a local driver warns that there are only two things you must never do here.
Without curse words, the Japanese language managed to articulate its way across hundreds of years of evolution, though with some limitations to apply. Looking into another language and its special traits, even just the smallest aspects like profanity, is truly inspiring.
Although there's no hard-lines or consensus on a certain age, the general recommendation will be: Never use the f-word if you are under the age of 13. Strongly avoid using the word if you are under the age of 18.
Floccinaucinihilipilification Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com.
Little by little, the gates opened a little wider, but swear words were basically limited to dramas. Then in 1970, Robert Altman's comedy M*A*S*H became the first major studio film to use the f-word, a passing comment during a football scene.