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Why swearing is a sign of intelligence – Metro US

Why swearing is a sign of intelligence

Why swearing is a sign of intelligence
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People who curse more tend to have expanded vocabularies, according to a language study.

“Speakers who use taboo words understand their general expressive content as well as nuanced distinctions,” psychologists Kristin Jay and Timothy Jay wrote in the Language Sciences journal. “The ability to make nuanced distinctions indicates the presence of more linguistic knowledge.”

As the researchers from Marist College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts pointed out, the stereotype is “that people who swear frequently are lazy (or) do not have an adequate vocabulary.”

But the 2015 study found otherwise.

Participants were asked to say as many swear words as they could think of in 60 seconds. They were then asked to name as many animals as they could think of in the same amount of time. Researchers found that those who said the most four-letter words were also more likely to name the most creatures.

The study also found that “no overall sex difference in taboo word generation was obtained.” In other words, women and men are equal when it comes to cursing.

So throw away the swear jar and start letting the expletives fly.