Dropping the F-bomb or other expletives may not only be an expression of agony, but also a means to alleviate it
By Frederik Joelving
http://www.scientificamer...o-we-swear


FRAK! Swearing helps you tolerate pain.
EMILIO LABRADOR/FLICKR

Bad language could be good for you, a new study shows. For the first time, psychologists have found that swearing may serve an important function in relieving pain.

The study, published today in the journal NeuroReport, measured how long college students could keep their hands immersed in cold water. During the chilly exercise, they could repeat an expletive of their choice or chant a neutral word. When swearing, the 67 student volunteers reported less pain and on average endured about 40 seconds longer.

Although cursing is notoriously decried in the public debate, researchers are now beginning to question the idea that the phenomenon is all bad. "Swearing is such a common response to pain that there has to be an underlying reason why we do it," says psychologist Richard Stephens of Keele University in England, who led the study. And indeed, the findings point to one possible benefit: "I would advise people, if they hurt themselves, to swear," he adds.

How swearing achieves its physical effects is unclear, but the researchers speculate that brain circuitry linked to emotion is involved. Earlier studies have shown that unlike normal language, which relies on the outer few millimeters in the left hemisphere of the brain, expletives hinge on evolutionarily ancient structures buried deep inside the right half.

One such structure is the amygdala, an almond-shaped group of neurons that can trigger a fight-or-flight response in which our heart rate climbs and we become less sensitive to pain. Indeed, the students' heart rates rose when they swore, a fact the researchers say suggests that the amygdala was activated.

That explanation is backed by other experts in the field. Psychologist Steven Pinker of Harvard University, whose book The Stuff of Thought (Viking Adult, 2007) includes a detailed analysis of swearing, compared the situation with what happens in the brain of a cat that somebody accidentally sits on. "I suspect that swearing taps into a defensive reflex in which an animal that is suddenly injured or confined erupts in a furious struggle, accompanied by an angry vocalization, to startle and intimidate an attacker," he says.

But cursing is more than just aggression, explains Timothy Jay, a psychologist at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts who has studied our use of profanities for the past 35 years. "It allows us to vent or express anger, joy, surprise, happiness," he remarks. "It's like the horn on your car, you can do a lot of things with that, it's built into you."

In extreme cases, the hotline to the brain's emotional system can make swearing harmful, as when road rage escalates into physical violence. But when the hammer slips, some well-chosen swearwords might help dull the pain.

There is a catch, though: The more we swear, the less emotionally potent the words become, Stephens cautions. And without emotion, all that is left of a swearword is the word itself, unlikely to soothe anyone's pain.

Fucking fuckwit fucker

endymion said:

what's hurting?

ZombieKitten said:

i was testing the theory and it does work

endymion said:

whilst banging your elbow into a doorknob?

ZombieKitten said:

BTW men obviously never feel any pain emotional or otherwise

makes sense to me, I swear alot when I am stressed out

when I banged my elbow in the oven door handle on Sunday I should have sworn, I kind of made a high pitched AAAYYEEEEE sound, which wasn't very helpful

I thought your thread said "Palin" relief

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

that may also work, give it a try!

Only if no one is around. When others are nearby, my reflex censor automatically turns on.

sextonseven said:

growing up hearing a different language to english is the excuse I use for not swearing naturally. My flatmate flooded our apartment with the washing machine, and when I saw it I said "Oh!" and she said "shouldn't you be saying "FUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK!!!!!"

ZombieKitten said:

Do you swear in Swedish?

sextonseven said:

no my parents never swore in front of us when we were that little, so it's left me with nothing

Swearing doesn't come naturally to me, but next time I hurt something I be sure to drop an F-bomb rather than the usual scream just to see if it helps

thekidsgirl said:

ZombieKitten said:

My parents have never said the F-word around us either. Combine that with 12 years of Catholic school and irreparable damage has been done to my being able to swear in public.

sextonseven said:

Nobody in my family ever used any word like that and I was not allowed to use them either. I was in a school with just girl and we all behaved perfectly well . I just started swearing after I finished school. And look what has become of me . I might have get arrested when I used the word fuck in a Trinidadian restaurant .

Serious said:

you and your fickin dirty mouth

thekidsgirl said:

You are only the second orger after Sean who tells me I swear too much.
As there were sign everywhere that obscene language is not allowed I guess I deserved the hard words from the guy who was there with me . But of course I told him that I can say whatever I want and that he should just shut up .

Serious said:

Pay no attention to my opinion. I'm admittedly too prudish when it comes to that stuff.

sextonseven said:

Do I ever pay attention to your opinion ?

So you don' like to talk dirty during sex either ? But you'd wear that underwear, you are crazy .

Serious said:

I live in Antigua now and it took me a few years to rein in my swearing "in public" for fear of being arrested as well. These islands have strange rules down here. Just remember you can swear as much and as loud as you want to on "private property" that's the loophole in their law.

Serious said:

Are you talking about that chocolate thong thread I started for Valentine's Day?

I believe I said I'd only wear it if you gave me a good enough reason to and you never did.

And who said I'm not into dirty talk during sex? That's when anything goes!

dseann said:

Congrats that you managed to do that ! If I ever return there it will be hard for me to get used to that . I am used to swearing .

Yeah the guy I was staying with was swearing all the time when we were alone. But he acted as if he was ashamed to be standing next to me when I did it in public .

sextonseven said:

Yeah I think you wanted me to wear the female version of it .

Ah okay that's good to know !

Serious said:

Not ashamed, just scared shitless. They treat that shit like a mugging, the level of embarrassment they put the swearer through.

dseann said:

I did not really have the impression he was scared . He said that he cannot understand why I do that and give such a bad image of myself when I am not like that . He told me that the waitress would never dare to tell me I did anything wrong and I said then why are you caring then .

Serious said:

Maybe he was just a control freak.

dseann said:

No I don't think he is. Maybe he was disappointed that I was not more sensitive and didn't respect the culture in his country more. It was the same when we were shopping and I wanted to try a shirt on and I wanted to take my gilet off to put the shirt over the tanktop I was wearing and apparently you don't do that there in public. I told him that I won't take my tanktop off, but he still insisted that I use a cabin as it would not be okay to take of my gilet in the shop .

And sorry Charlotte for jacking your thread .