Why do we swear?

In Stephen Fry 'Planet World' I learnt that humans swear as a means to express belligerence towards others without physical aggression. For instance, a young child who doesn’t yet comprehend swearing scratches and bites when angry at another; in contrast, adults often use swear words to insult another in this situation. This is because we acknowledge that swear words are taboo from a young age therefore naturally, we see them as a very powerful way to cause offence.

Unlike neutral words, swearing is part of the most primitive area in the brain hence patients recovering from strokes regain their ability to swear first. Likewise, people suffering from Coprolalia (a form of Tourette’s syndrome) swear regularly because of profanity does a very dominant part of human vocabulary, without many of us even knowing. Humans also swear when they are hurt because it is scientifically proven to reduce the feeling of pain: explaining why millions of women swear out loud during labour. The majority of swear words used today have an association with sex because it is a very sensitive topic that can cause both offence and comedy. Swearing has increased over the past 100 years because it has become more socially acceptable, arguably because the country has become less religious, so there has been a decrease in the use of euphemisms.

I personally don't like swearing therefore do not do it often. I may swear when in pain or when I am extremely angry. In the first situation, I would use a single swear word to express my pain quickly; whereas in the second situation, I would use swear words as intensifiers to emphasise my anger.

My friend swore frequently within a conversation about his maths class. He used the word 'f**king' in almost every sentence (so nearly 20 times!) to illustrate his frustration with his class as he believes many of them don't take the subject seriously enough.

Personally, I do not like swearing as it appears disrespectful. I feel as if it is overused unnecessarily in today's society therefore more people are actively swearing: even in situations when it is socially unacceptable. Most of the time, swearing doesn't offend me unless it is used in a racially derogatory way, or attacks a personal insecurity. Swear words I generally dislike include 'c*nt' and 'f*ggot' because they sound overly harsh and rough on the tongue.