To swear, or not to swear?
To swear, or not to swear? Is swearing a sign of limited vocabulary? Picture the scene: you’re walking around, minding your own business, when suddenly you stub your toe. Before you know it, an expletive – dammit! – has slipped through your teeth. Don’t bother denying it. We’ve all done it! But the question is: why? For some reason, people seem to have got the idea into their head that swearing is a sign of low intelligence and limited vocabulary. I mean, you surely wouldn’t swear if you knew more sophisticated words, would you? Of course you would! And, believe it or not, the reason why is scientific. Amazingly, studies have shown that uttering a curse word increases pain tolerance – thus explaining why you would swear if you stubbed your toe. In this study, people could keep their hands submerged in iced water for longer if they swore than if they didn’t. In a way, this means swearing acts like an anaesthetic – it’s another way for us to relieve ourselves of some...