Why do we swear? It turns out, for many reasons. (2024)

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We learn early on in our lives that some words are more potent than others. Almost all of us recall the thrill of being scolded about 'bad language'.

Yet most Aussies grow up to become proficient swearers, able to construct whole sentences from these swears alone that perfectly reflect a certain attitude, situation or mood. Would you like a beer? Bloody oath. Did you remember to put the bins out? F*ck me dead. Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again? “No Way, get…”

We are well-versed in the correct way to drop an F-word, shout an S-word or really hammer your point home with a C-word. We're famous for it.

In fact, a recent study carried out by iconic mouth-cleaners, Oral B revealed one-in-ten (10 per cent) Australians are proper potty mouths and admit to swearing more than 20 times a day. The average Australian swears around 7 times a day. Meanwhile, 18 per cent of NSW and WA residents claim to not swear at all — I call bullsh*t.

For some of us, swearing is akin to breathing. A carefully dropped swear can be catnip for comedians, while some celebrity chefs have built entire careers around their colourful language. Individual world-leaders sling profanity about with abandon (the Australian Federal Police even investigated a leaked video of former prime minister Kevin Rudd swearing and banging a desk back in 2012) while HBO blockbusters have been defined by them. This year, The Bachelor was defined by a particularly ridiculous phrase, C-U-Next-Tuesday.

But, despite their prevalence in our culture, this article won't dare spell out one of those words. So, what's the point of unprintable, unsayable words that we regularly say?

Dr Nick Wilson, lecturer in the Department of Linguistics from Macquarie University, says swear words feature in our lexicon for a good reason.

He says some studies using fMRI scans to monitor brain signals indicate dropping the occasional f-bomb triggers an emotional response — "equivalent to the kind of thrill you might experience when you do something you know you shouldn't".

Other research reveals the positive benefits of well-executed swearing. In one study, researchers subjected poor participants to the pain of submerging their hand in icy water. The participants who repeated a strong swear word were able to endure the experiment for longer — about 40 seconds longer, on average, compared to when they repeated a neutral word. They also rated their pain as less intense.

"However, this works less well for people who report that they frequently swear daily," says Dr Wilson — a follow up study revealed frequent swearing lessened its pain-relieving properties. Potty mouths might have to keep relying on old fashioned painkillers.

Another study revealed people who swore while they pounded away through a half-minute bike race performed better than those who shouted a mundane, everyday word. I'll leave you with the vision of that scientific experiment. You're welcome.

Research from our neighbours in New Zealand suggests social benefits to swearing. According to a study, factory workers who swore built more solidarity over shared frustrations. The same effect is seen in office workers, where "witty uses of coarse, casual profanity" was proven to boost morale in the workplace.

"Swearing has been shown to construct a form of solidarity, and people who swear will always swear more around their friends," says Dr Wilson. "Since one of the aspects of Australian society that is often reported is the idea of 'mateship', it is not surprising that some people might see this kind of solidarity-based swearing as embodying something about Australian culture."

Some people might identify swearing as a lazy form of communication, or the domain of people with a limited vocabulary. But Dr Wilson says swearing is often impressively strategic and versatile.

"They can do something that no other word can do in English — not only can they be used in any position in a sentence, but they can be inserted between the component parts of other words, such as in 'abso-bloody-lutely'. This process is called in-fixing and increases the emotive stress of a word.

"What's really interesting for linguists is that you can reliably predict wherein a word a swear word could be inserted, and there are some places it just doesn't work."

A swear word uttered in the company of certain people, for example, can signal you're part of their group. It might demonstrate that you have a sophisticated understanding of the mind of the person you're talking to; you can shock them with a swear word, enough to make them giggle but not push it to the point that they're offended.

Unintentionally offend someone, however, and things can go pear-shaped, warns Dr Emma Byrne, the self-proclaimed 'sweary scientist' who has written entire books around the subject.

"We have to stick to the set of words that is a bit shocking or a bit naughty in the culture we're in," Dr Byrne says. "'Bum' is hilarious to my toddlers, but barely noticeable to me. But that word could be deadly offensive in other settings. We have to be careful about getting too creative, just in case we misjudge the emotional impact of swearing."

Dr Byrne says swear words are powerful and a fundamental part of our language, reaching parts of the brain that the rest of our language cannot reach.

"People who lose most of their language after a stroke can usually still swear," she says. "And that might be why swearing is so good at killing pain too."

Despite their shock value, swear words can be powerful and elastic, capable of uniting society. Dr Byrne says the words we think are taboo reveal a lot about who we are as a culture.

"Every culture has its own swearing vocabulary, and the differences between them tell us a lot about what is (and isn't) considered taboo," she says "For example, the excretion taboo isn't as strong in Japan as it is in many other cultures. That's why there's a poop emoji. Japanese mobile phone companies pioneered the development of emoji, and poo just didn't seem bad to them. We might see a cultural shift with younger westerners giving less of a crap about crap over time."

So there you have it: swearing is natural, necessary, you could even say crucial to the human race. We don't need scientific studies to prove what we already know: dropping a swear word when we cut a finger while chopping vegetables (whatever you do, don't google #avocadohand) or to help push ourselves physically really does make it better. As any competent health professional will tell you, it's always better out than in.