Another Language?

So you wake up late for work, your alarm hasn’t gone off this morning. “Shit, I’m going to miss the 7.30 train. Fucking alarm clock.”

You hear swearing on a daily basis, from the beginning till the end of the day. On your journey to college, at work, when you get back home, everywhere. It’s part of everyday life but why do we swear? And why do we swear so much? It is not something we are taught but we learn swearing regardless and develop a rather large vocabulary in it!! Swearing is generally used in anger or to let frustration out. It is often used in replacement of showing emotions which maybe you don’t like to show. If you hit your head and it really hurt, you wouldn’t generally cry but say “fuck that hurt!” It’s a release for adults, like crying is for children. As you get older swearing becomes a natural part of your life and you don’t even realise you are doing it most of the time!


When you are younger and you first start swearing, it is generally seen as being “cool” or a “taboo”. Something you hear your parents or adults casually saying. But as you mature it becomes more of a habit. Hearing it in social events with friends, when grabbing a quick pint after work and more than anything, in the work place. How many swear words do you hear in a normal day at work? The place where, you generally feel the most stress throughout your day. Although it may not be accepted in the work place, there’s always that cigarette break or lunch to catch up! Swearing also emphasises what you are trying to say. If you are in an argument and trying to get your point acknowledged, swearing often shows passion in what you are saying and frustration in what you are trying to get across.

Take a sentence from an argument you most recently had or a conversation which involved swearing. Was it quite intense? Now take that sentence and repeat it, removing all the swear words from it. Did it have the same impact? Did you feel like you had got your point across?

Some researchers believe men swear to create a masculine identity and women swear to be more like men. However, I am sure a lot of women will argue that statement! So is swearing acceptable? Swearing has been around for many centuries, and as times change, so does the acceptability of many swear words. Also, so does the view we take towards women swearing. In many countries, women swearing is frowned upon, and seen as socially incorrect. It is more of a taboo for women to swear, than it is for men. However living in England, we all know that women swear just as frequently as men, sometimes more.

So how does our brain process swearing? Apparently in most people the left part of the brain processes language and the right side deals with emotions. The lower part brain functions, such as emotion and instinct are thought to be where swearing is also processed. This takes place deep inside the brain. These words are stored as whole words and do not need the left part of the brain to process these words. This makes these words easier to remember and not need much thought in saying them, so is easier for them to just “roll” of your tongue and become part of your language.

There are some instances which create different reactions to swearing. To people who have a form of Aphasia, swearing can become their only speech. Aphasia is where you become unable to comprehend a language or the ability to process words, due to certain parts of the brain being damaged. Because swearing is remembered as whole words, it can become part of automatic speech in these cases. Coprolalia is the medical term for uncontrollable swearing and is a symptom of Tourettes.

Knowing how the brain stores swear words and how frequently we use these words, it somehow seems part of another language to us. A language that everybody understands but uses in different ways. The two most common words used are “fuck” and “shit”.

Apparently, the word shit originally stands for Ship High In Transit. When manure was shipped and left for a long time it would let off a smell, which was created through the process of fermentation. This became highly flammable, which is why the initials S.H.I.T were stamped on it. When people asked what the smell was, it was shortened to shit. Hence the saying “it smells like shit!”

As for the word fuck, although there are many words in the English dictionary beginning with the letter F, this is the only word described as ‘the F word’. There are lots of different stories of where this word originated from including it coming from the German word fliechen, which means ‘to strike’. The term fuck is used as an adjective, adverb, noun and many more. This word is used so many times throughout the day and is the most commonly used swear word.

What is your interpretation of swearing? What do you think of it? Asking around I found out some different views to what people think of swearing.

“Swearing is so common but only really becomes something when I hear children, under 10yrs old who are meant to be innocent, using swear words. When I hear a kid swear I instantly think that child comes from a bad family. Why are they not "allowed" to use them when we use them so freely? Some people use swear words like commas and full stops. Swearing is a lazy way of speaking, replacing words with swear words to save you thinking of a more appropriate one”.

“I usually assume people that swear a lot are not very articulate and swear for lack of knowledge or breadth of vocabulary, but that isn't always the case. It can be just down to laziness”.

“Certain swear words become part of a saying and somehow become acceptable, like "what the fuck" when someone says that I don't even register the word "fuck" as a swear. Also the word fuck is a derogatory word for people having sex but in the terms it is used in now it has totally lost its meaning and has become a replacement for x amount of words in the English language. What I find funny is that now it hasn't really got a meaning anymore, people still totally understand what you mean when using it consecutively”.

“Swearing has become a way for me to release anger. When using certain swear words to describe how I’m feeling, it somehow feels like people can understand me more and feels more in touch with how I am feeling”.