Swear by it: Why swearing shouldn’t define your intelligence

Swearing is associated with being a deciding factor of whether you have a limited vocabulary or not, but I think that swearing enhances your vocabulary by making it more expressive. This means that you can get your point across easier and more efficiently, especially when you need something to be done in a hurry, or you need to express an emotion to its full extent. For example, if someone is taking too long, “hurry the fuck up” would be more effective than just saying “hurry up” as it emphasizes the point that you want them to be quicker, and it also conveys some annoyance, which the other may not. Other taboo words that many people don’t class as ‘swear words’, including phrases such as “what the hell” and “Jesus Christ” are also used to convey the same emphasize on emotions, but some may argue they’re less intense or offensive than the ‘normal’ swear words.

Swearing has also been linked to improvements in performance. For example, experiments were conducted to test the theory of whether swearing is connected to a limited vocabulary, by making a group of people list as many words that start with the same letter as they could in 1 minute, and then the same group of people say as many swear words as they could in 1 minute. The results showed that the people who listed the highest amount of swear words also listed the most words. This correlation suggests that swearing isn’t a sign of limited vocabulary but is actually the opposite.

Releasing anger is one thing that some find hard to do which may result in it all being bottled up before reaching a point where all the anger is released but swearing is meant to be a way of expressing all this emotion before it reaches its peak. By releasing all your anger, it will give you a clearer view on things, allow you to become more open minded and think about situations rationally. Scientifically, it has been tested that those who swear are able to withhold pain for a longer time as it triggers the body’s sympathetic nervous system which makes your heart pound faster, as if you are in danger. This therefore shows that any swearing at pain will release anger and allow your body to calm down. In the same experiment, they also found that swearing can give you a boost of strength, as half of the volunteers were asked to pedal for 30 second while repeating a swear word, and the other half a ‘neutral word’. The results showed that the power of the bikes of those who repeated the swear word increased by 24 watts. This could show the release in anger from the pain of pedalling on a bike at full speed.

I don’t believe that swearing makes you a less intelligent person, as although your use of words in certain situations can be a defining factor, swearing is usually avoided in those situations and only used when comfortable around the people you use it around. For example, swearing will most likely not be used in a formal test or around your grandparents, but may be used around friends. Intelligence also isn’t just based on your ability to write with certain words and speak in a certain way, and therefore any use of swearing shouldn’t define the way in which others view your intellectual abilities.

Doesn't swearing add a few more words to your vocabulary list?