The Art and Science of Swearing

[taiwan_girl]

https://www.vox.com/culture/362440/the-art-and-science-of-swearing

When you hear someone casually drop the word “fuck,” what’s your reaction? Offended? Surprised? Confused?

In any case, I’m fairly certain hearing someone curse out of nowhere provokes some kind of immediate reaction. We have a taboo in this culture against profanity and when someone breaks that taboo, it gets your attention.

But why is that, exactly? Swearing is everywhere. We all do it. So why does it still have such power? Whatever the explanation, it goes beyond taboos and social norms. There’s something unique to swear words in our language.

Rebecca Roache is a senior lecturer in philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London, and the author of a new book called For F*ck’s Sake: Why Swearing is Shocking, Rude, and Fun. This book is as amusing as it sounds, but it’s also genuinely fascinating in the way that works that tackle seemingly trivial subjects in serious ways can be.

Roache explores the exceptional flexibility of swear words and tries to explain why they’re able to communicate so much more than other words. She also asks how the same words, depending on how they’re used, can either offend people or build trust between them.

[Jolly]

I think it's a sign of societal coarseness and lack of intelligence when it's overdone.

[Mik]

FFS

[Doctor Phibes]

@Jolly said in The Art and Science of Swearing:

I think it's a sign of societal coarseness and lack of intelligence when it's overdone.

Fucking bollock-shite.

I remember my grandfather (whom I worshipped) saying it demonstrated a lack of vocabulary. My inner voice at roughly 7 years old thought, but did not say, 'How can it be a lack of vocabulary when people who swear have got more words available?'

The point of this? I was an annoying smartass at 7 years old, too.