Why does it feel so good to swear?
CrowdScience
BBC
4.8 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2021
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The sudden agony of stubbing a toe or burning a finger can make even the most polite among us swear our heads off. It’s like a reflex, a quick-release valve for the shock. But why do expletives give us such a sense of relief? Why does it sometimes feel so good to swear?
We set out to explore the science of swearing, prompted by a question from our listener Gadi. Psychological studies have shown bad language can relieve pain, or even make us stronger; we test out these theories for ourselves, and try to figure out why certain words are charged with such physical power.
We don’t just use strong words in shock or anger, either. They can help us to bond with others, to express joy, solidarity, or creativity. And although people curse all over the world, it’s not quite the same everywhere. We hear what people like to swear about in different countries, and whether swearing in a second language can ever be quite so satisfying.
Presented by Anand Jagatia Produced by Cathy Edwards for the BBC World Service
(Photo: Woman swearing. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of |
| 0:07.0 | Happiness Podcast. |
| 0:08.0 | For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want |
| 0:14.4 | to share that science with you. |
| 0:16.1 | And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley. |
| 0:19.4 | I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that |
| 0:25.4 | calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:29.7 | The situation when I swear can be of joy, can be of surprise, can be of |
| 0:38.0 | deepest regret or pain or anger. It seems to be the most expressive means to show your emotion. |
| 0:47.0 | This is crowd science from the BBC World Service. I'm Annan Jagatia and this edition is all about the stuff you normally can't put on the radio. |
| 0:57.0 | Bad language. |
| 0:58.0 | It will come out automatically without me even thinking about it and I would feel better immediately. |
| 1:04.8 | I'm a nice person, I don't curse a lot. |
| 1:08.1 | Crowd science is the show that runs off your curiosity and it turns out that swearing is something a lot of you are interested in. |
| 1:16.4 | A few weeks back we mentioned that we were making a show all about swearing and since then |
| 1:20.8 | our inbox has been flooded with your stories and quite a bit of profanity. |
| 1:25.6 | I used to play sports and definitely I think a lot of swearing used to come out there. |
| 1:30.0 | I wouldn't always swear as other players because you can you know get sent off that so |
| 1:36.9 | I don't swear a lot I think if you use it a lot it kind of loses strength you want to save it for when it's really useful. |
| 1:47.0 | Thanks to everyone who got in touch, we'll be hearing more from you throughout the show. |
| 1:51.0 | But first, let's hear from the listener who started this all off with his question. from you're |
| 1:53.0 | started this all off with his question. |
... |
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