To Swear, or Not To Swear?

NAME

WCS 150
 “You are f****ng awesome!”. Imagine your teacher says you that for work you have

done in the class you hate. Do you hate that class less than before? Or maybe this phrase started a

fire of passion for this subject? And now, knowing you did more than awesome, you feel better

for class, for teacher and maybe education concept itself. Of course, that sounds brilliant, though

we know that it is impossible, the f-word is impossible, not only in the class but in the whole

modern society. Even though, imagine how much power a single taboo word gives to “you”,

“are” and “awesome”.

Swearing words are prohibited everywhere. People comply with this ethic rule at the

family dinner, in front of the teacher or any other respected person, but violate it while talking

with friends. Indeed, usually, best friends are used to swear and even curse at each other more

frequently. Ask yourself, why the words that are prohibited, the words that our parents taught us

never to use are so irreplaceable while talking to someone you trust most. Or when you hurt, or

when you want to beat someone.

The words that are prohibited in society, the swearing words, are irreplaceable in many

cases, as they might act as a bridge in communication, a powerful tool to show your emotions,

and a natural anesthetic. Society standards should rethink banning swearing words as they are

also a part of the language we speak.

First, swearing builds trust because these words are emotion conductors. In “The Case for

Cursing”, Kristin Wong (2017) says that “Curse words can help you more accurately

communicate your emotions, which contradicts the folk belief that people use profanity because

they lack vocabulary skills.” (paragraph 17). It does not matter, positive they are or negative, as

soon as you can show your real emotions to someone, you trust this person, and a person starts to

trust you. Moreover, Eileen Finn (2017) in “Swearing: The good, the bad & the ugly” wrote “In
fact, Time Magazine (Steinmetz, 2013) mentioned that swearing has even been proven to create

more productive workplaces by inspiring teamwork and improving workplace atmospheres.

Workers also reported that they would rather hear swearing than absolute silence (Hansen,

2016).” (p. 22). That means that swearing words are useful not only as an emotional conductor to

have a better relationship with someone, but also helps to establish a pleasant working

atmosphere. Thus, swearing, if used correctly, is even helpful at professional scales.

Second, swearing anesthetizes and gives strength. In “The Case for Cursing”, Kristin

Wong (2017) wrote about the experiment, where subjects were riding bicycles. Those who were

swearing had significantly better results. In other words, swearing words are natural boosters.

Also, she wrote, “So when you stub your toe and howl an expletive, it might help you tolerate

the pain better.”. That is all to say about the physiological features of taboo words. Not only

communication and emotions, but swearing is also even helpful to our body to work against pain

and fatigue.

The next thing to mention is that swearing is better than violence. “A positive outcome is

also achieved when a speaker replaces physical violence with speech or feels a sense of relief or

catharsis after swearing...” (Timothy Jay, The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words, 2009, p.

155). Every time someone is insulted, anger pushes him or her to reply. Instead of having a real

fight with blood and mess, it is more convenient, obviously, to release at conflict-starter all the

anger you had by swearing at him, his mother, and everything you hate about him. Rough?

Maybe. Effective? No doubt. Catharsis is a thing every insulted person is looking for. So, if

swearing is an inhibitor for violence, it is more than wonderful.

The coin is two-sided. The paragraph above describes the situation when you are the

victim of the insulter. But on the other hand, you may become the insulter and insulted one may
prefer fists over words. This is just an example. In fact, there are a lot of situations where misuse

of taboo words might make things worse. Swearing may become a reason someone offended,

someone got things wrong or even someone fired. As it was suggested by Eileen Finn (2017) in

“Swearing: The good, the bad & the ugly”, that is not the reason to totally ban all the swearing

words, but vice-versa, to teach swear properly. Native speakers are able to distinguish the

offensiveness of each word, but students who are learning the language may not understand the

effect of each word they saying. Furthermore, even for native speakers, those classes would be

very informative.

Another case is when the swearing person is considered to be on an intellectually lower

level than those who do not use swearing words in their speech. “As children we’re taught that

cursing, even when we’re in pain, is inappropriate, betrays a limited vocabulary or is somehow

low class in that ambiguous way many cultural lessons suggest.” (Kristin Wong, The Case for

Cursing, 2017, paragraph 2). From early childhood, parents teach us that swearing is

inappropriate in any case. That is the base of our consciousness about swearing. Then, grown-up,

we see that thing parents taught us is working. In polite company, it is rare to see someone is

using taboo words. Though, in fact, according to “The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words”,

“Positive social outcomes are achieved by using taboo words in jokes and humor, social

commentary, sex talk, storytelling, in-group slang, and self-deprecation or ironic sarcasm in

order to promote social harmony or cohesion” (Timothy Jay, 2017, p.155). According to the

same source, nowadays people prefer to be free in words they use to communicate. Usage of

such words represents emotional honesty and modern people respect that.

The swearing is a phenomenon which is ignored because of old-fashioned rules.

Psychology, sociology, and even medicine now understand to what extent swearing words are
irreplaceable. Numbers of research projects proved that in our minds taboo words are not just

words, but a strong product of emotions and intentions. The teaching of using those words during

common English classes will help future generations to communicate a lot. Moreover, if applied

properly, it builds trust, reduces violence, and helps to cope with tiredness and pain.

Organization and Structure 26

Content 31

Format 9

Diction 9

Overall 75
 References

Finn E. (2017) Swearing: The good, the bad & the ugly. Ortesol Journal.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1152392.pdf

Jay. T (2009) The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01115.x?

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6S4QhOTI1vA1L72YAdQ&journalCode=ppsa

Wong K. (2017) The Case for Cursing. The New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/27/smarter-living/the-case-for-cursing.html