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Cursing as Peephole Into Brain Architecture

tabdelgawad writes "The New York Times offers this excellent and entertaining writeup on cursing and its role in recent studies of the brain. The article discusses the universality of cursing across time, space, and culture, its varied roles, from linguistic evolution to anger management, and its uses in recent brain research. You can also read all about the sexual effects of uttering obscenities and the swearing habits of sorority women." From the article: "Researchers point out that cursing is often an amalgam of raw, spontaneous feeling and targeted, gimlet-eyed cunning. When one person curses at another, they say, the curser rarely spews obscenities and insults at random, but rather will assess the object of his wrath, and adjust the content of the 'uncontrollable' outburst accordingly." As someone who plays a lot of MMOGs, in my experience this is only mostly true.

2 of 394 comments (clear)

  1. Ricky's brain doesn't work like other people's by 50000BTU_barbecue · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    but if you write down what he says, and read it back, it makes sense!

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    Mostly random stuff.
  2. Re:Dag Nabbit! by jellomizer · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Yea that is true. Some times curses end up making a person look like a small dog.

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    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.