A Few Choice Words

I was reading an article recently that said researchers had found cursing to be good for you.

Well, no #&*%.

Clearly, letting out a few profane phrases when you, for instance, hit your thumb with a hammer is a natural response and provides an outlet to your frustration for being careless and stupid, even if it doesn’t make your thumb feel any better. It’s kind of like blowing off steam, releasing a pressure valve on your emotions so you can get back to being the level-headed, even-keeled picture of tastefulness and proper decorum that you want people to think you are.

No one, really, wants to be known as a foul-mouthed yahoo blurting out f-bombs around children or casually dropping lewd descriptions of family members around their boss or co-workers. But I’m also pretty sure we all curse, even if some of us only do it mentally.

I, myself, being the son of a sailor, am quite proficient in word play of the less savory type, although my father – who was an officer and therefore a gentleman – was actually quite restrained in his language when I was growing up. My mother, a gentle soul if there ever was one, rarely resorted to any type of profanity. I remember her going as far as a “hell’s bells,” but only in cases of extreme provocation, such as when one of my siblings misbehaved (I don’t recall ever giving her reason to get mad at me).

The aforementioned researchers claim that cursing is actually a sign of intelligence; rather than implying a limited vocabulary it shows a greater linguistic fluency. People who curse apparently are more creative, and using curse words is a sign of honesty and emotional engagement. Using profanity can reduce stress. And cursing increases pain tolerance and strength such as in workouts or weight lifting (or hammer mis-hitting). 

In other words, cursing makes you a better person. Even if you are someone who generally shuns such words or frowns upon hearing them in public, you can still think them to yourself, or say them out loud when you’re all alone. You’re doing it for a good cause, to make yourself a better person.

So let ‘er rip, damn it. Goodness knows we have a lot to cuss about these days.