Swearing language has appeared for a long time in every country in the world. Medieval literary expert Melissa Mohr has traced back to Roman times to trace the use of vulgar words. Her findings below may surprise many.
About 0.7% of the words the average person uses every day are swear words. This may not sound important because according to expert Mohr, someone swears up to 3% of the language every day. So what will happen in that case? Expert Mohr thinks it will be like the American comedy show Eddie Murphy Raw. In this over-and-a-half hour comedy show, comedian Eddie Murphy repeats just one slang word in English 223 times.
Mohr’s research work is closely associated with Timothy Jay, a professor of psychology, who discovered the 0.7% figure above and has also mapped the increase in children’s use swear words. According to Ms. Mohr, by the age of 2 most children know at least one swear word and this will increase by the time they are 3 or 4 years old.
The English words now used as “asses” and “fart” date back to the Anglo-Saxons from the 5th century AD. But at that time, these words were not considered impolite as they are today.
According to Ms. Mohr, there are two main types of swearing: Curses such as calling out the name of a god who is powerful in despair; and the second type is to say obscene words with bad connotations. The Romans used to utter a lot of obscene, even depraved words.
According to Ms. Mohr, in the Middle Ages, people were more open-minded than they are today, so they felt less shame. Many people share a bed or use the toilet at the same time…so they are very natural in using vulgar words.
According to Mohr, middle-class people swear less often. This originates from the time of Queen Victoria (England), the view that a person will show education and good character if he can control his attitude and language. Language is an expression of one’s morality and social awareness.
However, higher social classes swear more. They consider themselves “nobles” , have a strong position in society and assume that they can say whatever they want.
Listening and saying profanity can change skin reactions, causing sweating in the hands. In one study, Ms. Mohr showed that swearing can help people reduce pain. After the test, a person’s time in cold water was longer than if the person swore.
Expert Mohr mentioned the many social purposes of swearing, some positive and some negative. According to Ms. Mohr, swearing is a language that is often used to ridicule and insult others because it brings stronger emotions than other words. However, when a person accidentally hits himself with a hammer, swearing will help ease the pain.
Studies also show that swearing can bring people… closer together. For example, a working group tends to include a few swear words to create cohesion in the group, rather than command words.
When asked if the world would be a better place if people stopped swearing, Ms. Mohr replied simply: “No!”.