F*ck Yeah: Why Swearing Is Good For You

In 1972 comedian George Carlin mocked, the censorship of profanity with his routine. Seven words, you can never say on television. Shit And tits. Welcome to episode 30, where we discuss why swearing might actually be good for you and your career. As children, we are taught that there are everyday words. And then there are bad words, the kind of words that you can get in trouble for using. And if you're a child of the 70s, that kind of trouble might have involved your moms wouldn't spoon. You see, in society, we think people will be offended by swear words. When in actuality, most people aren't offended by profanity at all. It's why music with explicit lyrics still sell and why we go see R rated movies? Would you have cared about snakes on a plane? If Samuel L. Jackson hadn't had enough of those motherfucking snakes on that motherfucking plane. There's actually been a tremendous amount of research. In two swear words. And the findings might surprise you. Scientifically speaking, having a pension for profanity might be a good thing. Studies show that people who swear like a sailor are more honest and more intelligent. Additionally studies have shown that swearing and relieves stress. Dulls the sensation of pain fosters comradery among peers, and is linked with traits like verbal fluency. Openness and honesty. Let's start with its effect on pain. Uh, 2018 study in psychology of sports and exercise found that letting the film flag fly while you were working out can make you stronger. In this study participants who cursed a loud while gripping a hand vise, we're able to squeeze harder and longer than those who were not allowed to curse. And in a different sort of ice bucket challenge participants were asked to submerge their hands in a bucket full of ice, cold water, and keep it there for as long as possible. When the participants were allowed to swear repeatedly out loud while their hand was submerged, they were able to keep their hands in the ice water far longer then when they were only allowed to repeat a benign word, like table over and over again. Since almost all of our actions are rooted in some deep evolutionary process. Scientists are interested in the fact that swearing is usually accompanied by an increase in heart rate. And the idea that cursing may trigger an individual's fight or flight response. Now onto intelligence. There is a common misconception that people who swear are less intelligent. As if swearing is a fallback due to a less sophisticated Vocabulary. That couldn't be further from the truth. Don't believe me. Well, there was actually a world renowned expert in cursing. His name is Dr. Timothy J and he is an emeritus professor of psychology at Massachusetts college of liberal arts. And in 2015, he conducted a study to dismantle this myth. Basically the findings from his study is that fluency is fluency. J concluded that, and I quote. People who are good at producing language are good at producing swear words. They swear? Not because they don't have language, but because they have a whole toolbox full of words. So how can swearing help us in business? Well, uh, 2012 study found that swearing can enhance the effectiveness and persuasiveness of an argument. You know, as a side note here, you could get real fucked up listening to this podcast. If you made it a drink, a game and you had to take a shot every time I said a study found. Just throwing that out there. So back to that 2012 study, the study showed this wearing can actually help you be more persuasive and an argument lawyers are you listening? And another recent study discovered that people who curse. And not just curse, but curse often actually lie less and have a higher degree of integrity. The research showed a direct link between profanity and honesty. there are additional studies coming out of Australia and New Zealand. That show that swearing among friends is a strong indicator of the degree of trust. Those friends have. This type of banter between friends can actually help work teams to be successful as well. In 2019 article by fast company titles here is why you should swear. According to science. That article States in the workplace cursing can actually help you get ahead. Research indicates that cursing increases the effectiveness and persuasiveness of an argument. The most cohesive and productive teams and sectors like manufacturing and it joke with each other, using lots of profanity and trust each other more for it. For sales, swearing can translate into more wins when both sides do it. 18% more wins to be exact based on analysis from gong of more than 73,000 of its sales calls. It's not just humans who swear primates, where to anyone who has been to a zoo knows that chimps use their excrement to not only Mark their territory, but to also display their annoyance. A national geographic article titled swearing is good for you and chimps do it to highlights the finding of a study called project Washoe. The article States that the first thing you do, if you want to teach a primate. Sign language is you potty train them. That means just like human children at a similar age, they end up with this sort of like taboo around excrement. And project WashU. The sign for dirty was bringing the knuckles up to the underside of the chin. And what happened spontaneously without scientists teaching them was that the CIM started to use assigned for dirty that bringing the, the knuckles up under the chin in the exact same way as we use our own excrement will swear words like shit. The project was named after Washoe a female chimpanzee, who was the matriarch to three younger chimps loulis tattoo and Dar. The article went on to say that by the time they brought in Lou lists, the youngest chimpanzee, the humans had stopped teaching the chimps sign language so they could see if the chimps would actually transmit and teach the sign language through their generations, which they did. Not only that though, as soon as they had internalized this toilet taboo that signed dirty, the knuckles under the chin. As something shameful. They started using that sign to express anger, like a swear word. Washington, the other chimps was signed. Things like dirty Roger and dirty monkey when they were angry at the other chimps. Just like humans language and profanity is passed from generation to generation. Ready for another shot. And the research suggests that as soon as we start talking, we swear. Even in samples of two year olds, they swear kids use curse words the same way adults use them and in the same context and that's okay. The world renowned expert in cursing, Timothy J remember him. He says that swearing and profanity. W w we've evolved it as an efficient way to vent our emotions and convey them to others. And he says it can be good form of self-preservation because. Like you says, there's a point where it's just more efficient to say, fuck you than to actually hit somebody. I recently watched the Netflix series, the history of swear words, and because I love history and linguistics, I found it fascinating. What is interesting about profanity is that speech changes and previously unacceptable words will become mainstream. It's already happened to a number of so-called profane words from the past that we don't even bat an eye at or clutch our pearls that when we hear in public or in television, like the word damn. Ready for another shot studies suggest that women's wear just as much, if not more than men go on girls. But of course, attitudinal survey show that both men and women tend to judge women who swear much more harshly than they judge men who swear. Guess who couldn't give a shit about that? The ladies in Britain. According to a study, British women now swear more often than British men, and they say the F word almost five times as much as they did in the 1990s. According to an article in the guardian. The fact that women are as profane as men is surely only a surprise to those who have not met women before. The Brits, aren't the only ones getting in on the profanity. Americans are swearing more than ever. However, that hasn't totally translated into swearing freely in the workplace. Although that may be changing as you guessed it. Another study suggests that 37% of millennials would not work in an office where swearing was not allowed. So. What have we learned today about swearing? Well, we learned that swearing relieves stress. It can help us tolerate pain for longer periods of time. It fosters comradery among peers and colleagues, and is linked with admirable traits like verbal fluency, openness and honesty. With all the upsides of swearing, you might be thinking shit. I'm definitely going to start swearing more in the office, but before you do make sure you know, your audience and how it will land. Onto the drink of the week, which I, 100% picked purely because the name went with the theme of this episode and it's a sour beer called citrus. Got real. Get it. Shit just got real citrus. Got real. From Springdale brewing in Massachusetts, you know, I love me some sour beers and this one. Uh, just as the best name. So that's why I picked it. This sour beer is fermented in stainless steel with grapefruit and orange S it's hour. And it's fruity and it's in a can for easy transport to the mountain for They ski and that all works for me. Hey guys. Thanks again for listening for coming back every week. I appreciate you. If you like this podcast, please take a moment to review it on iTunes and share it with your friends. I will see you next week. Cheers.