Swearing Provides Pain Relief, Say Scientists

Hugh Pickens writes "Scientific American reports that although cursing is notoriously decried in the public debate, scientists have discovered that swearing may serve an important function in relieving pain. 'Swearing is such a common response to pain that there has to be an underlying reason why we do it,' says Richard Stephens of Keele University in England. A study measured how long college students could keep their hands immersed in cold water. During the chilly exercise, they could repeat an expletive of their choice or chant a neutral word. When swearing, the 67 student volunteers reported less pain and on average endured about 40 seconds longer. How swearing achieves its physical effects is unclear, but the researchers speculate that brain circuitry linked to emotion is involved. Earlier studies have shown that unlike normal language, which relies on the outer few millimeters in the left hemisphere of the brain, expletives hinge on evolutionarily ancient structures buried deep inside the right half like the amygdala, an almond-shaped group of neurons that can trigger a fight-or-flight response in which our heart rate climbs and we become less sensitive to pain."

Comments

Well #@%$ me.

[yourassOA]

n/t

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[cayenne8]

If this study is true, that must mean I'm one of the most 'pain free' people I know.

:)

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[Random Destruction]

If this study is true, that must mean I'm one of the most 'pain free' people I know.

from the article:

There is a catch, though: The more we swear, the less emotionally potent the words become, Stephens cautions. And without emotion, all that is left of a swearword is the word itself, unlikely to soothe anyone's pain.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Not to worry, my rudimentary knowledge of vulgar German provides an offsite disaster recovery option, should my stock of English be exhausted.

In all seriousness, though, studies have demonstrated all kinds of interesting things about bilingual brains(particularly people who were raised bilingual, rather than ones who picked up a second language by study later in life), it'd be interesting to know if all curses lose efficacy at the same rate through overuse, if the loss is word-by-word, if the loss is concept-by-concept(e.g. excretory curses, sexual curses, blasphemy, etc.), or whether crossing language boundaries reduces the loss of efficacy.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[bsDaemon]

I smell a doctoral thesis...

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[Bysmuth]

I work in a psycholinguistics lab that studies, among other things, the effects of being bilingual on cognitive functions, both linguistic and non-linguistic. While we haven't ourselves studied this question, I expect that cursing in a nondominant language would be less effective at prolonging the amount of time someone was willing to hold their hand in cold water, based on research that shows that words in one's nondominant language evoke less of an emotional response than words in one's dominant language.

I can't remember which papers support that statement, but a Google search reveals (at least) one paper claiming that bilinguals curse more often in their dominant languages (and while I haven't read it, I expect they controlled for frequency of use). If one of the purposes of swearing is to relieve emotional tension, that conclusion would make the most sense if swearing in your dominant language provided a greater emotional release. It wouldn't surprise me too much if the same thing was true for pain.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

This is what I enjoy about slashdot. I speculate idly, somebody who actually knows (often a lot) whereof he speaks shows up less than 24 hours later and chimes in. Ah, the interwebs...

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[sunilsahal]

When did taking responsibility go out of fashion? Nexpider

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[Zalminen]

Well I must an exception to that rule as Finnish is my first language but I tend to swear more often in English.

Now that I think about it the reason is probably that swearing in English feels more mild (and more socially acceptable). I generally switch to swearing in Finnish only when I'm truly upset.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[maxwell demon]

I generally switch to swearing in Finnish only when I'm truly upset.

In other words, if you need more effective relief. Fits the speculation perfectly.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[Zalminen]

Yes, but my point was that I do not curse more often in my dominant language as claimed above.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[maxwell demon]

It was not claimed that you curse more often in your dominant language. Neither directly, nor indirectly (as in "all bilinguals").

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[Jason Levine]

And I must be the most in-pain person I know. I don't swear. Ever. (Except for that one time while driving with my friend. I decided to go for the biggest reaction possible, so I used the "C word." He almost drove off the road!) My wife, on the other hand, does plenty of swearing which is a point of contention between us. I don't mind her swearing, but not around our young (5 and 2) children. They're all too likely to repeat the curses and I would rather them not be swearing up a storm at their age.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[gr8dude]

I speak three languages fluently, and I also know the basics of two other languages.

From the three primary languages, two (Russian, Romanian) were learned in early childhood, pretty much at the same time.
English was my third, and although I learned it later, today I use it more often than the first two.

How does your statement apply to people like me? Does the dominant language vary with time, or is it defined "in the beginning"? How to determine the dominant language in my case?

One little note: I practically don't swear. The most aggressive thing I can say is usually a word from one language pronounced using the rules of the other; this way the people around are not offended.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[Zalminen]

Very well, bad choice of words on my part.

Let me rephrase: I must then belong to a minority as i do not curse more often in my dominant language.

Satisfied? :)

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[Tom Smith]

it did actually say "bilinguals curse more in their dominant languages".

therefore your point about swearing more often in your non-dominant language is entirely valid, regardless of whether you are reserving the more emotionally involved swearing for when you really need it, you are still debunking the entire basis for that paper.

although i think it is a very poor choice to call it "cursing". you are swearing, not making a curse.

i am not fully fluent in languages other than english really, so i cannot submit my case to that study, but i do speak several other languages to some extent and i do find myself swearing in those languages probably as often as i do in english.

i could not even really tell you which language i swear the most in, and it is mostly reflex action when i do it, so i would not say i am controlling it either.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[Tom Smith]

a case like yours is entirely the reason why they use the wording "dominant language" rather than "native language"

generally it will refer to whichever language you are most comfortable and commonly using day to day at the time of the study.

so, in your case, if the study were undertaken as you wrote that response, english will be your dominant language as you admit using it more now and you seem very comfortable speaking entirely in english.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[CarpetShark]

You're the perfect person to ask then: a french teacher once told me that bilingual people develop memory problems in old age sooner than others. I'm not sure if he specifically mentioned Alzheimer's or not. Have you heard of this, and do you know of anything to back it up or refute it?

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[Bysmuth]

You're the perfect person to ask then: a french teacher once told me that bilingual people develop memory problems in old age sooner than others. I'm not sure if he specifically mentioned Alzheimer's or not. Have you heard of this, and do you know of anything to back it up or refute it?

I have good news and bad news for you.

The good news is that, when it comes to Alzheimer's, being bilingual appears to be beneficial. A researcher by the name of Ellen Bialystok has looked into this question; in a recently published paper, she and her coauthors concluded that among people who have regularly used two languages for most of their lives, the onset of dementia is delayed by an average of four years. (By "dementia", I'm referring to severe age-related declines in mental functions, of which Alzheimer's Disease is the most common form. The Bialystok et al. paper specifically states that their conclusions hold true for Alzheimer's as well.) Note that they don't make any claims about whether this conclusion applies to people who learned to speak multiple languages as children but only use one in later life, or people who learned a second language as an adult and use multiple languages daily: those populations might benefit from a similar delay, but they weren't tested for this paper.

On the memory front, I don't know about age of onset, but bilinguals behave differently than monolinguals on memory tasks throughout their lives. Here, there's both (more) good news and bad news. (I'm going to be cribbing some of this from another one of Bialystok's papers, which, as with the paper referenced below, you'll probably need to access at a university to read more than the summary.) Someone who grows up multilingual, while having the obvious advantage of being able to speak multiple languages, tends to be less proficient in each of those languages than monolinguals - that's one of the consequences of splitting your speaking and listening time between several languages. As a result, bilinguals tend to have smaller vocabularies (within each language) and perform worse on word retrieval tasks than monolinguals throughout their lives. So, bilinguals are worse than monolinguals at memory tasks that rely on verbal recall (e.g., "Memorize this list of words and then, in a little while, I'll ask you to tell me what they were.")

At the same time, there's some evidence that being bilingual actually helps you on other kinds of cognitive tasks. Bilinguals perform better at some tasks that place big demands on short-term memory, and, more controversially, on some tasks that require what we call "conflict resolution", situations where you have to choose between two or more possible responses (the Stroop effect is the most famous example). They're better at conflict resolution tasks, so the theory goes, because they've spent their whole lives choosing between multiple competing representations (one per language) for each word. The result of these advantages is that bilinguals tend to be better than monolinguals at nonverbal memory tasks (for instance, recalling an ordered sequence of blocks).

As for how these findings are affected by aging, I think that the relative deficits and advantages present in young adults should carry over into later life. For example, another researcher, Tamar Gollan, showed that bilinguals' naming deficits persist with age. If that's true, then while I don't know about age of onset, I would expect older bilinguals to have worse verbal memory, and better non-verbal memory, than their monolingual counterparts.

Re:Well #@%$ me.

[Vert3X]

What is considered a "parent" language?

I spoke 2 different languages until I learned English (~5-6 years old). Now I speak mostly English but still use 1 of the languages to speak to my parents. My parents speak to each other in the 2nd language (which I can still understand and speak a bit).

I curse (when I have to) in English though. Would English be my parent language or is it the 1st one (that I still use to speak with my parents).

I call bullshit...

[catthedd]

I call bullshit...

Re:I call bullshit...

[Meshach]

I call bullshit...

Yes, yes, it does sound like a steaming pile. But reading the article they compared people yelling profanities with other people "chanting neutral words". Both subjects had their hands immersed in cold water. It sounds like have an outlet to relieve stress has a lot more to do with the outcome then whatever they said.

Re:I call bullshit...

[Brian Gordon]

But why do profanities relieve stress while normal words do not? It's a different process in the brain, and that's the point of the study.

Re:I call bullshit...

[Anonymous Coward]

"It sounds like have an outlet to relieve stress has a lot more to do with the outcome then whatever they said."

I wonder what would happen if you took a christian and compared, I knew a girl who would always replaced expletives with "darn", "gosh", etc.

Re:I call bullshit...

[RichardJenkins]

Perhaps it's just the aggression behind the swearing that causes some endorphins to be released. Swearing, to me, is like an intellectual version ofa primordial scream.

Re:I call bullshit...

[Anonymous Coward]

But are they sure the swearing is the cause of that activity in the brain, or is that activity caused by the successful removal of stress which swearing just happens to make easier to achieve. Chanting "neutral" words might in fact have the opposite effect of relieving stress, since you're forcably trying to ignore the fact that YOUR HAND IS HURTING. I didn't RTFA like a true slashdotter, but if they didn't have one, they should have included an extra group of people where were forced to keep their traps shut and see how they responded compared to the other groups. ...

And another group that was also silent, but was allowed to punch other members of the group in the face to relieve stress.

Re:I call bullshit...

[HTH NE1]

Both subjects had their hands immersed in cold water.

Why is this still the basis for pain threshold tests? I did this in high school. If you keep your hand in the water long enough, you become accustomed to the cold and can keep it in indefinitely.

Re:I call bullshit...

[Shadow of Eternity]

Have you tried doing this with a bowl full of really salty water and crushed ice?

Re:I call bullshit...

[Anonymous Coward]

Another possibility is that the "swearing" group got to do what came naturally, so they could concentrate on staying in the game. While the "neutral word" group had to focus on some unfamiliar word ("doppelganger", for instance) while simultaneously getting their mitts frozen. Doppelganger, doppelganger, that's way harsh. Or....

Damn you FUCKING SACK of PHD SHIT!!!

Re:I call bullshit...

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

You don't have to be christian to not want to use profanity. Personally, I fucking LOVE swearing.

Re:I call bullshit...

[CAIMLAS]

It might also partially explain why people going through (say) cigarette withdraw symptoms are rude motherfuckers. They need a quick and immediate release channel for what they used to relieve via smoking. Then they have to re-learn how to be emotionally pleasant without the drugs.

Re:I call bullshit...

[Rich0]

Since the TFA doesn't go into the study design I can't be sure how controlled this study was. It sounds like the subjects could choose whether to swear or to chant a neutral word. So, perhaps all they've proven is that the type of personality that makes one endure pain better also makes you more prone to swearing. If they picked 100 people at random, and then randomly assigned each one to the swearing vs neutral groups this would be less of an issue. Then again, it probably wouldn't hurt to do it both ways - and see what the results are.

These kinds of psychological tests can be very difficult to control.

Here's another test - test the subjects independently, and give each one the exact same word to shout. Tell half the subjects that the word is a really nasty expression in some-obscure-language, and tell half of them that the word just means soda. That would better test whether it is the idea of breaking a social norm that provides the relief.

Re:I call bullshit...

[noidentity]

So "swearing provides more pain tolerance than repeating a neutral chant". How about swearing versus yelling "oh wow ow!" or just general non-verbal screaming? If they have trouble finding participants, they can just grab a few politicians and/or lawyers against their will...

Re:I call bullshit...

[CarpetShark]

they compared people yelling profanities with other people "chanting neutral words".

Which is entirely the wrong thing to be comparing with. Everyone has heard people say that swearing makes them feel better, and anyone with some insight into their own minds can tell that's probably true, without a study.

What they SHOULD be comparing with is other things that people say make them feel better -- meditation, and a massage, for instance. If they're all equally effective, then you can say that it's all in the mind, and that there's nothing special about swearing, except that we... well, feel better.

The question is... WHY do we feel better? My bet is that it's got nothing to do with swearing, and much more to do with subjects building up tension through stupid thought processes and then finally releasing them whatever way they know how.

Re:I call bullshit...

[Idbar]

i was in fact talking about this with a friend recently. I went to one of those studies, where they put one of my feet in ice cold water. I didn't say a single word and the guy making the study told me how I was the one to least complain. Later on I told him I would probably would have complained more if it weren't because of the hot girl he had assiting him (and holdibg the bucket where my foot was in). So, who knows.

Re:I call bullshit...

[Anonymous Coward]

Give that explanation and have them say Muad'dib. Sure, the test would be corrupted, but with a large enough sample size there could be statistically significant hilarity.

Re:I call bullshit...

[DimmO]

>>I FUCKING love swearing.
fixed.

Re:I call bullshit...

[nog_lorp]

Perhaps people who choose expletives are just more bad ass and can take the pain like men. Perhaps.

Re:I call bullshit...

[tirefire]

I thought that water's low freezing-point-depression constant wasn't high enough for that to make a difference.

That or I've already totally forgotten the general chemistry class last I had last year.

Re:I call bullshit...

[mcgrew]

And being a Christian doesn't make you hate it. When the bible says not to swear, it doesn't mean "don't say bad words" it means not to swear to something, as in a courtroom "I solemnly swear". The exception is blasphemy; "God damn you" is forbidden, "fuck you" is not.

Re:I call bullshit...

[Shadow of Eternity]

It's not that, if you fill the bowl with loosely packed crushed ice and then pour water into it you'll get a solid block of ice. Doing it with really salty water lowers the freezing point enough that you can at least get your hand in.

If you're REALLY serious about trying to torture yourself with a bowl of something cold just use alcohol instead.

Re:I call bullshit...

[mcgrew]

No, one of the withdrawal symptoms is a REALLY bad mood.

Re:I call bullshit...

[Anonymous Coward]

I call bullshit...

I only wish Lenny Bruce were alive to see this...

Re:I call bullshit...

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you ever known any smokers who weren't rude motherfuckers to begin with?

Re:I call bullshit...

[cyphercell]

Weird. I swear I LOVE fucking. :)

Re:I call bullshit...

[bloobamator]

I totally agree. Endorphins mask pain, and aggression releases endorphins. Done!

Re:I call bullshit...

[Anonymous Coward]

lol cold water tests? what a joke.. I won't believe it until they do a taser-test.

Re:I call bullshit...

[sloth jr]

Here's a completely uninformed theory (hey, it's slashdot). Swearing is taboo - there is thrill associated with breaking that taboo. That serves as the payoff for swearing. I'll bet that if they looked, they could find persons predisposed to addiction swear more often than those that don't. But what the fuck do I know.

Re:I call bullshit...

[Brian Gordon]

Sounds good to me.
Internet Fact.

I can see you are in pain...

[cciRRus]

Why censor your expression? Just let it out.

FUCK!

Re:I can see you are in pain...

[beckett]

OW my freaking ears!

Re:I can see you are in pain...

[Yvan256]

Cartman! Stop saying the F word!

SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Anonymous Coward]

Fucking shit, the Javascript on this fucking site is too fucking slow. Seriously. It's fucking horrible. Tons of pauses for no apparent reason for simple fucking basic tasks like showing a text box, sitting there and mocking you. They're laughing at you because you think it's bullshit but you stick around for it. End this madness! AHH MAKE THE DELAYS STOP!! Maybe my swearing will relieve the pain of fucking poorly coded JS.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[yourassOA]

How come it takes soooo long to load the preview? But if you go back to edit you comment it is almost instant?

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Freetardo Jones]

Because Rob Malda and his web monkeys couldn't code their ways out of a wet paper sack.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[hattig]

+1 Motherfucking Truth

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Anonymous Coward]

Fucking shit, the Javascript on this fucking site is too fucking slow. Seriously. It's fucking horrible. Tons of pauses for no apparent reason for simple fucking basic tasks like showing a text box, sitting there and mocking you. They're laughing at you because you think it's bullshit but you stick around for it. End this madness! AHH MAKE THE DELAYS STOP!! Maybe my swearing will relieve the pain of fucking poorly coded JS.

I always thought it was a spam filter, to slow down any bots, in addition to the captcha.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Anonymous Coward]

Fucking shit, the Javascript on this fucking site is too fucking slow. Seriously. It's fucking horrible. Tons of pauses for no apparent reason for simple fucking basic tasks like showing a text box, sitting there and mocking you. They're laughing at you because you think it's bullshit but you stick around for it. End this madness! AHH MAKE THE DELAYS STOP!! Maybe my swearing will relieve the pain of fucking poorly coded JS.

I always thought it was a spam filter, to slow down any bots, in addition to the captcha.

Try logging in and see if you still feel that way. In other news, you look smarter when you talk about things you know something about!

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[bemymonkey]

I don't have a lot of delays, but my graphics card clocks up to full speed when scrolling Slashdot in Firefox, and that's saying something :D...

Oh, and have I mentioned the momentary Firefox lock-ups when loading Slashdot articles with 200+ comments? Boo Slashdot. Bring on multithreaded Firefox!

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Tubal-Cain]

I doubt many other people could, either. If you are trying to code your way out of a paper sack, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Anonymous Coward]

What the French, toast?

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck IE then. Better yet, install Linux, and you can fsck over IE!

P.S. The preview Javascript needs to be fixed in Firefox 3.5.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[eric-x]

Maybe it's to prevent idiots from posting too many comments.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[gyrogeerloose]

I don't have a lot of delays, but my graphics card clocks up to full speed when scrolling Slashdot in Firefox, and that's saying something

Yeah--Slashdot is the only text-based Web site that makes the fans on my laptop run fast enough to be audible. Usually the only online activity that does that is watching long videos on YouTube.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[skeeto]

It does a port scan of your IP, to check or you being an open proxy or something. If you want to see it for yourself throw up a webserver, post a comment here, then check your logs. Slashdot will have taken a peak at it.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Anonymous Coward]

Noscript is your friend buddy, I never view this site with any sort of bullshit javascript. I don't understand how slashdot is slower than myspace in the respect of javascript and all that other crap. Just load in noscript and enjoy actually being able to load content rather than needing a duo core processor for a simple web forum.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Anonymous Coward]

Any why the fuck does it not passively do it after you first log in or at a randomy scheduled time asynchronously rather than when you are posting. Sounds like a stupid inefficient method to me. Anyway that isn't even when it ends with the slowness on the site. When you are loading the front page, slashdot is doing some javascript hackery that can bog down less than new machines or become a UI nuisance on more modern machines. There are better ways to develop.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Hurricane78]

That's not the only problem. The preview also renders everything a bit differently (like the space above and below quotes).
I suspect that the preview is created purely on the client-side, while the rest is server-side.

So it stupidly is two pieces of code, and someone can't write proper JS too. ^^
(Disclaimer: I am writing JS web-apps since before the term AJAX even existed, and the code on this side is really bad!)

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[shentino]

Maybe because you're not downloading everything again? Slashdot is a high traffic site after all...perhaps bandwidth is a little tight at the server.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[shentino]

and you were talking about what again?

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

How come it takes soooo long to load the preview? But if you go back to edit you comment it is almost instant?

It's the 20 second rule.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[hayalci]

It's the comment control box(the one with "X Full, Y Abbreviated, Z hidden")

Click on the little arrow on the right, it sticks itself up somewhere, and the pages scroll fast again.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[MrCrassic]

No, that's your CPU locking up from the Javascript and other stuff that's working while you scroll.

Like how my 2.13 GHz Pentium M is locking up as I type this message...

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Anonymous Coward]

I read some time ago that they use a script to determine if you are spamming the site, and does some kind of check on your IP that is client-based.

What I hate is that for the past year, the page-loading script has been getting slower and slower on all my OS's and boxes. The single core machine using firefox 2 and 3 would lock up for about 5 to 10 seconds per tab. K-meleon has reached a sweet point. Geez, who could have thought back when we bought the box in 2003 that web-browsing @ 1.9GHZ would be slow? It's just JS and flash Ads... Flash videos and flash versions have gotten more CPU-bound with time. Pushing to full-screen will give you an idea of whether the computer is acceptable.

The laptop does run hot on flash sites for me at 1.8GHZ dual core, but my fans only whir on multitab web sessions with flash ads or vids.

Anyway, I really do hate how they pulled a fast one this year and made JS start this annoying focus switching thing when you click on stories. My habit of highlighting paragraphs as a substitute for a scrollwheel on this laptop is really giving me a hard time. Instead of selecting text, the story jumps to some random position on my screen and the page does this weird border change. Oh, and moving around this way steals prescious seconds. The only worry-free way of reading this is with the old layout or on lynx. Wish I could have used some more cuss words... This is a pain.

Hmmm, there's bugs there like having to selectAll+cut and re-reply to posts. The /. post reference number counter times out and KILLS your prospective session if you take more than exactly 5 minutes typing a post. I better try that or I'll lose my post without even the option to preview it.

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice to meet you Gordon Ramsay !

Re:SLOW FUCKING JAVASCRIPT

[Tom Smith]

Don't mod this up or you never mod again. The first rule of Slashdot is permaban for anyone who talks about Slashdot on Slashdot.

the first rule of slashdot is you don't talk about slashdot?

the second rule of slashdot is YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT SLASHDOT? ...jeez...

What if you don't fucking give a shit about curses

[Anonymous Coward]

One man's expletive is another man's standard vocabulary. I don't see how you can define normal language outside of the individual.

Effectiveness for emotional stress?

[BadAnalogyGuy]

Physical pain is easily overcome through the use of drugs. It is also controllable through meditation and other mind-tricks which move the focus of the mind and body from the pain to something else.

But what about emotional pain? Should I keep calling her and swearing at her until I feel better? I don't feel better so far.

Re:Effectiveness for emotional stress?

[bsDaemon]

No, that's what bottles of whiskey and loaded firearms are for -- the age old treatment for a broken heart.

Re:Effectiveness for emotional stress?

[Brian Gordon]

Bad analogy. This has nothing to do with long term happiness, it's just resisting immediate pain.

Re:Effectiveness for emotional stress?

[Anonymous Coward]

by BadAnalogyGuy (945258)
Alter Relationship
<BadAnalogyGuy@gmail.com> on Sunday July 12, @11:38AM (#28667581)

Bad analogy.

You're a genius.

Re:Effectiveness for emotional stress?

[WeirdJohn]

I beg to differ on your first point. I have CRPS, and as a result know a bit about physical pain. Over the years I have been on prescription Tramadol, Morphine, Oxycontin, Fentanyl, Gabapentin, Lyrica and Ketamine. I also get periodic blocks, which are injections of Lignocaine to ganglia. And thats not counting injections of Phenol to destroy nerves, Botox and steroids.

Only the anaesthetics actually stop pain (Ketamine and Lignocaine), and have other sides effects. Nerve destruction doesnt last. The AEDs reduce pain by reducing the firing of every nerve in the body, including the CNS, so there are no orgasms and your memory suffers.

Narcotics don't actually stop or reduce the pain. What they do is you don't have to care about it any more. And they have their own side effects, not the least being that you no longer care about the things you should care about. Even if smacked off my gourd on Fentanyl (which is a horrible drug), if I focus on my pain it's still there, but I just don't care about it. Narcotics reduce or eliminate the affect, not the effect.

Pain is not "easily" overcome chemically. There is a price to be paid. Mind tricks only work to a partial extent, and you can't keep your attention fixed on something else all the time without tripping over things and having accidents.

I find it interesting that swearing is shown to be efficacious, as it shows that the emotional release works. I have to wonder if swearing releases encephalins.

Re:Effectiveness for emotional stress?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have to wonder if swearing releases encephalins.

I am pretty fucking sure it does cocksucker!

Re:Effectiveness for emotional stress?

[Anonymous Coward]

If I had to guess, I'd say that any type of distractive activity would help. For example, they could watch exciting movie scenes, or eat candy, or whatever. It's probably just a sign of the culture that they choose to test negative outlets for relief from a negative.

Re:Effectiveness for emotional stress?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a chronic pain syndrome and a background in pharmacology. Your statements about narcotics are somewhat misguided. Different people react differently. Some report the pain still being there but no longer bothering them, as in your case, but for many people the pain can be decreased or eliminated alltogether. I take narcotics daily and, though rarely totally relieved of pain. I don't often have the "it's still there but doesn't bother me" thing. Narcotics have their ups and downs, but you don't get something for nothing. I've had blocks and radio frequency ablation and such too, but the only things that have ever relieved my pain are opioids. Once in the ER I got around 2mg of IV hydromorphone (Dilaudid) and I had zero pain for around six hours. When I had my wisdom teeth out I had absolutely no pain for a few precious hours (I'm assuming they used fentanyl as a pre-anesthetic) and I almost cried thanking them. The guy even gave me "one to go home on" as a courtesy because he felt bad for me.

Chronic pain is a horrible thing, and I truly feel yours.

Best wishes.

Selection Bias?

[orkybash]

"During the chilly exercise, they could repeat an expletive of their choice or chant a neutral word."

So they are letting people self-select themselves into the experimental and control groups... doesn't this bias the experimental results pretty badly? Wouldn't it have been more effective to ask a group specifically to cuss their head off and ask a group specifically to refrain from swearing?

Re:Selection Bias?

[UltimApe]

I don't think they got a choice, it was either explicative or neutral word. Its just that it could be there "own" explicative. Not all swears are universal, so that would make sense. If they just tested "fuck" or "jesus christ", I'd imagine it wouldn't work on some people who either don't use those swears, or don't speak the language.

Re:Selection Bias?

[Daniel Dvorkin]

I was wondering that myself -- obviously if they were self-selecting, the results are worthless. (Or rather, they tell us something interesting, but that something isn't what the article claims.) So I read the journal article, and speaking as a biostatistician, I'm pretty happy with the study design. They did in fact randomize into experimental and control groups, and did a repeated measures design, i.e., all participants were in both swearing and non-swearing groups but the order was randomized, so one subject might be in the swearing group first and then the non-swearing group, while another might be in non-swearing and then swearing. If you happen to be a student or faculty at a school with a library with access to the journal, it's worth reading; it's a nice, almost textbook example of how to report this kind of work.

There's a Soviet Russia joke here somewhere...

[Anonymous Coward]

I just can't fucking find it.

Re:There's a Soviet Russia joke here somewhere...

[MrMarket]

In Soviet Russia, censors fnck you!

well...

[otopico]

damn it!

It's not complicated.

[ScentCone]

Swearing out loud in front of other people can carry some baggage and consequence. It's risky social behavior. Any risk taking can generate some adrenaline. The adrenaline makes it easier to tolerate the pain.

It's like whenever I hear the phrase "no new taxes on anyone making under $250k." I just curse loudly enough to make my dogs leave the room, and I feel 1% better.

Re:It's not complicated.

[houstonbofh]

SIt's like whenever I hear the phrase "no new taxes on anyone making under $250k." I just curse loudly enough to make my dogs leave the room, and I feel 1% better.

Now you have me cursing... Thanks for that.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

Lol. I REALLY don't feel sorry for anyone who makes over 250k,and that includes you, asshole.

Re:It's not complicated.

[amiga3D]

I don't feel sorry for anyone and that includes you, cocksucker.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

Swearing out loud in front of other people can carry some baggage and consequence. It's risky social behavior. Any risk taking can generate some adrenaline. The adrenaline makes it easier to tolerate the pain..

I don't think there's time to think about consequences when a hammer hits your finger.

Re:It's not complicated.

[ScentCone]

REALLY don't feel sorry for anyone who makes over 250k,and that includes you

Dear Useful Idiot:

You're missing the point (of course). People who make under $250k are absolutely going to be paying more taxes. A LOT more taxes. Have fun with that.

Re:It's not complicated.

[drinkypoo]

Swearing out loud in front of other people can carry some baggage and consequence. It's risky social behavior. Any risk taking can generate some adrenaline. The adrenaline makes it easier to tolerate the pain.

I disagree with your hypothesis. Swearing when you're alone helps alleviate pain as well. It may well be linked to adrenaline, but probably has nothing to do with the chance of being overheard. I further disbelieve your premise because I swear in public constantly and think nothing of it. That may make me lowbrow, but I STILL find that swearing helps alleviate pain.

Re:It's not complicated.

[ScentCone]

I don't think there's time to think about consequences when a hammer hits your finger

Doesn't matter. It's a habit. We're wired to do some communications-related things like that with such speed that it sure doesn't feel like we're thinking about it at all. But you can't choose, form, and utter a word without some higher functions kicking in.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

I make way more than that and yet I use just as much road, public libraries, etc as anyone else. It's fucked up that just because I got a break that I have to give away a third of my income. I paid $140,000 in taxes. That's money I just gave away and I will never see again. I still don't have health insurance either. Just because I'm successful now doesn't mean my problems have all gone away. At any moment I could be on my ass with no income. Yet the government taxes me like it's a sure thing. That's fucked up and something you will never understand until you get where I'm at.

Re:It's not complicated.

[ScentCone]

I disagree with your hypothesis. Swearing when you're alone helps alleviate pain as well.

Swearing when you're alone is only swearing because... you think of it as swearing. Which means that the part of your brain that's choosing and using those words is doing it in that context: knowing that they're words set aside for a specific sort of expression.

Re:It's not complicated.

[drinkypoo]

Much of the point of the article is that in fact you are NOT thinking of it as swearing... it's not thinking in the same way that choosing your words and speaking is, because it comes from a different part of the brain. One of that part's functions (or side effects) seems to be the imperative to cuss and swear. Sometimes I make incoherent noises instead of actually swearing, I wonder if they come from the same part of the brain? (You know, the Tazmanian Devil razzle frazzle dialect...)

Re:It's not complicated.

[Scrameustache]

Swearing out loud in front of other people can carry some baggage and consequence. It's risky social behavior.

Only if you dick around fucking prudes.

Re:It's not complicated.

[4D6963]

I make way more than that and yet I use just as much road, public libraries, etc as anyone else. It's fucked up that just because I got a break that I have to give away a third of my income. I paid $140,000 in taxes. That's money I just gave away and I will never see again. I still don't have health insurance either. Just because I'm successful now doesn't mean my problems have all gone away. At any moment I could be on my ass with no income. Yet the government taxes me like it's a sure thing. That's fucked up and something you will never understand until you get where I'm at.

Here's what I hear : "I'm rich whaaaa whaaa I could become poor again at any time so don't take more money in proportion to what I earn I need every last cent of what I earn cause what do you know maybe one day I won't earn anything whaaaa you shouldn't have to pay more than just what you use in taxes if you're a whiny ass egoistical cocksucker like me"

If you paid $140,000 in taxes that means that you earn enough to get yourself a nice 1960s Cadillac and fill it with first choice hookers. Quit whining, do that and shut the fuck up. Fagget.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

With that income you can afford to save enough to provide a *lot* of security.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Daniel Dvorkin]

You're missing the point (of course). People who make under $250k are absolutely going to be paying more taxes. A LOT more taxes. Have fun with that.

Do you have any evidence for this assertion? At all? Besides "Barack Hussein Obama is a non-natural-born secret Muslim black Nazi socialist communist DemocRAT, so of course he wants to take my hard-earned money away!", I mean?

Re:It's not complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's the cost of living in a society that gives you the chance to amass such wealth. If it wasn't for all the taxes collected and invested through the years, you wouldn't have the chance to make that sort of money.

That's how it is in civilized countries.

Re:It's not complicated.

[causality]

I make way more than that and yet I use just as much road, public libraries, etc as anyone else. It's fucked up that just because I got a break that I have to give away a third of my income. I paid $140,000 in taxes. That's money I just gave away and I will never see again. I still don't have health insurance either. Just because I'm successful now doesn't mean my problems have all gone away. At any moment I could be on my ass with no income. Yet the government taxes me like it's a sure thing. That's fucked up and something you will never understand until you get where I'm at.

Here's what I hear : "I'm rich whaaaa whaaa I could become poor again at any time so don't take more money in proportion to what I earn I need every last cent of what I earn cause what do you know maybe one day I won't earn anything whaaaa you shouldn't have to pay more than just what you use in taxes if you're a whiny ass egoistical cocksucker like me"

If you paid $140,000 in taxes that means that you earn enough to get yourself a nice 1960s Cadillac and fill it with first choice hookers. Quit whining, do that and shut the fuck up. Fagget.

That kind of overt jealousy and overall childishness that you just displayed is actually one of the stronger arguments against your position.

Don't pretend to know what I believe because I say that, either. That would be the easy way, the low-hanging fruit, the coward's way out. What I just told you is true whether or not I think progressive taxation is a good idea. What I think about that matter and the reasoning with which I would support my view is unfortunately wasted on this sort of vitriol.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

You're missing the point (of course). People who make under $250k are absolutely going to be paying more taxes. A LOT more taxes. Have fun with that.

Do you have any evidence for this assertion? At all? Besides "Barack Hussein Obama is a non-natural-born secret Muslim black Nazi socialist communist DemocRAT, so of course he wants to take my hard-earned money away!", I mean?

Are you really so stupid as to think that just because Obama's going to "tax corporations" that YOU don't pay for it?

Think it through, bright boy. Who OWNS the bulk of the corporations in the US? Where do you think YOUR pension and retirement funds are invested?

And just who do you think is going to get HAMMERED when the oh-so-FUCKING-green-and-good-for-us-all "cap and trade" TAXES start driving up the price of energy? Is it the lawyers making $500,000 a year, or the poor schmuck making $45,000 who has to drive 90 miles a day between two jobs trying to keep his family fed and his kids in school, and who can't afford to move because he's underwater on his mortgage because of the Barney-Frank-and-Chistopher-Dodd-and-Barack-Obama-and-OTHER-DEMOCRAT-fueled housing bubble has burst?

Video of DEMOCRATS saying "nothing wrong at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae" back in 2004. They did that in response to George W. Bush wanting to tighten accounting standards on the US financial industry in general and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in particular.

Yes, that's right - the current recession that started with a meltdown of the housing mortgage industry could have been prevented if DEMOCRATS had not prevented Bush from fixing the financial industry BEFORE it collapsed.

Grow a brain, you fucking moron.

Re:It's not complicated.

[4D6963]

That kind of overt jealousy and overall childishness that you just displayed is actually one of the stronger arguments against your position.

Someone poorly arguing a position is an argument against the position? A very solid logic. Moron.

Don't pretend to know what I believe because I say that, either. That would be the easy way, the low-hanging fruit, the coward's way out. What I just told you is true whether or not I think progressive taxation is a good idea. What I think about that matter and the reasoning with which I would support my view is unfortunately wasted on this sort of vitriol.

No one cares what you think, only what you say.

Re:It's not complicated.

[ScentCone]

Do you have any evidence for this assertion? At all?

Just the ruling party's discussions, this very past week, about now being open to taxing health care benefits (except for union members, of course, since we all know who they vote for), and the "cap-and-trade" legislation which is a tax on everyone and everything in the economy.

To say nothing of the very real tax that is future interest on trillions of dollars in new deficit spending - an amount that dwarfs the combined deficit spending of the last six administrations, even during wartime. Or vote-buying pork on which the recent profits on the re-paid TARP funds from banks are about to be spent, rather tha returned to the tax payers in whose names the money was borrowed from the Chinese. Remember how He was telling us that He hoped the bank subsidies would even return a profit for the taxpayers? He forgot to mention that those profits would be redirected to highly localized district spending under the watchful eye of congressional representatives in His party, rather than being used to chip away at the deficit.

When the people who just promised you that they wouldn't do anything to cost you more money actually do so many things in eight weeks that will cost you more money - for decades to come - you don't see how that's going to impact your personal bottom line? Still, the prevailing movement to consider treating your health insurance benefits as taxable income in order to fund a trillion or so in Obamacare spending - that's the juicy one.

Re:It's not complicated.

[The End Of Days]

If you can give a better argument than "it's not fair, waah waah waah," then feel free to let it fly. It will be the first one I've personally ever seen.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

"I make way more than that ..."

Yeah, we should all feel sympathy for the rich. They have such a hard time. The poor people get all the breaks. Those bastards could probably become rich if they wanted to, but they refuse, because being poor is so much nicer than being rich.

Re:It's not complicated.

[that IT girl]

Hmm... is any more needed?

Re:It's not complicated.

[4D6963]

Not really any need for any arguments, countries need money to run, rich people have more money plus can be safely relieved of more of it without it to become a real problem to them, therefore more is taken there. Simple as that. And no one cares about the whiners or what they have to whine about. To them society says "suck my collective dick, either pay your taxes, gfto the country or go to jail".

Besides, income taxation in the USA currently ranges from 10% to 35%, that's hardly a huge difference, whereas in the 1950s it reached as high as 22% to 92%. When put into perspective, it seems pretty faggotic to complain that the richest (who earn more than $372,951) must pay proportionally 3.5 times more than the poorest who earn $8,350 or less. I mean what do you want, take $2,000 more away from someone who makes $8,000 just so it feels 'fair' to someone who makes $400,000 when the gain to the state is so small? If you earn $400,000 you can do away with $140,000, if you earn $8,000 it's much harder to be taken $3,000, mostly when that's so little.

What do you gotta say to that?

Re:It's not complicated.

[Daniel Dvorkin]

So in other words, you're counting pretty much any economic policy you don't like as a tax. Right.

Tell you what, why don't you come up with a definition of "tax" that isn't so broad as to be meaningless, and then we'll talk.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you earn $400,000 you can do away with $140,000, if you earn $8,000 it's much harder to be taken $3,000, mostly when that's so little.

Only if you think life is about eating Hot Pockets while watching NASCAR. I have bigger plans than that. I'd like to start a new business without requiring a loan with ridiculous interest rates. Do you think I just want to swim in my money like Scrooge McDuck? No, I'd like the spend it, employee people, stimulate the market, etc. Do we really need to waste time arguing over subjective claims of what is "harder"? Trust me, writing the check to the IRS was the hardest thing I've ever done. A trip out of the country would have been cheaper. The least you could do is say "thanks" you fucking peasant.

Re:It's not complicated.

[ScentCone]

So in other words, you're counting pretty much any economic policy you don't like as a tax. Right.

Taxing your employee health care benefits? Let's call that a ... tax, shall we? What with it being, you know, a tax on your compensation for working.

Taxing carbon use? Let's see... sure, let's call that a tax increase, too. What with it being, you know, a tax and whatnot.

Re:It's not complicated.

[gordo3000]

except most of this money is used to either buy votes from certain middle class groups or wantonly give money to the poor.

we keep forgetting that most people get to where they are in life because of choices they made. we have public schools (which cost me a good bit even though I don't have kids) to try and level the playing field. we have government subsidized (and therefore, tax funded) student loans to go to college (and grants, and work study programs, all of which cost money).

at some point can a rich person tell a poor person to take some fucking personal responsibility and get a proper job? I live in Japan now and it's one of the things I love about it. there are lots of services out there to help those who end up unemployed or between jobs. but if you don't get off your lazy ass and get a job, you lose lots of these services, one of the more expensive of which is the national health care plan.

and if you have chosen in your life to not be responsible, not study, not take advantage of all the job programs, training, and schooling out there and therefore, have absolutely no skills to offer, I don't see why anyone should care about your lot in life or how tough it is. I've paid my dues to help you raise yourself up, you chose not to take advantage of all those opportunities and now you want a regular tribute from me? screw that.

now of course, there is a middle ground I am always happy to discuss and debate. how much in the way of services, medical care, etc is the "right" amount to offer your full time workers who don't make quite enough to get by but offer real skills. and I'll ante up for retraining and unemployment insurance to allow for a more fluid workforce.

Re:It's not complicated.

[cubiclegangsta]

Swearing out loud in front of other people can carry some baggage and consequence. It's risky social behavior.

Only if you dick around fucking prudes.

Why don't baptists dance? Because they don't want people to mistakenly think they're fucking.

Re:It's not complicated.

[4D6963]

Trust me, writing the check to the IRS was the hardest thing I've ever done.

LOL, how's that supposed to be something hard to brag about? The hardest I've done was working at SubWay with a bunch of Chinese immigrants. We can change places anytime you want. I still only hear whining. Make it easy on yourself and just accept the fact that you're not entitled to 100% of the money you earn, a part of it is *meant* for the taxes. If your taxes were to go down so would your salary (assuming you have a salary, for the sake of relevance since most people do even the rich ones let's assume you do too).

The least you could do is say "thanks" you fucking peasant.

Suck my dick, I live in Europe.

Only if you think life is about eating Hot Pockets while watching NASCAR. I have bigger plans than that.

So do people who make less money than you. Just look at me, I make $15,000 and I started my one-man company and now looking to put more people on the payroll. Everything you said in favour of you paying less taxes applies ten times more to poorer people like me. At the end of the day there's a certain amount of taxes that the state needs to collect, and what I can pay based on what I earn isn't much anyways. Would you have me go from eating frozen Tesco Value food down to eating nothing but noodles and rice just so you can feel better about paying the same amount in taxes as you do now?

By the way, you earn like a net third of a million a year and you're talking about eating hot pockets? If I earned a tenth of that I'd eat smoked salmon every couple of days.

Re:It's not complicated.

[4D6963]

OK, that's pretty off topic though.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

I dont hear you thanking the country and people of that country for perpetuating a system which allows you to accrue so much money in the first place - in fact all I hear is you bitching and whining about being asked to give a proportionate amount back to keep the same system going (the system that nets you the take-home amount that is over double what you pay in taxes).

Re:It's not complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's fucked up that just because I got a break that I have to give away a third of my income.

I do not think that phrase means what you think it means.

By "got a break", do you mean "worked my ass off for years"? Or are you one of the few who really did win the lottery?

Re:It's not complicated.

[2obvious4u]

Nice +5 Interesting. I don't laugh much however reading: It's like whenever I hear the phrase "no new taxes on anyone making under $250k." I just curse loudly enough to make my dogs leave the room, and I feel 1% better. Gave me a good chuckle and made me feel much better.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Tom Smith]

you are seriously, honestly saying that bush and his cronies did not ENTIRELY cause the current worldwide recession with their corrupt, thieving, warmongering ways?

it's all the fault of the party that had no power, that had had the american economy in pretty good shape, with a fairly bright future when they lost the election to bush???

jesusssss effing christ on a bike...

you really don't think in any way spending trillions of dollars to fight unethical wars of aggression on multiple fronts over very long periods of time (making themselves EXTREMELY rich in the process) had anything to do with the ASS SANDWICH that we are all being forced to eat right now???

ok, fine... i guess those 29 automatic rifle are your constitutional right to own... just remember the have the WHOLE cult shoot at the FBI and drink poison before the ATF bursts in, not just yourself...

Re:It's not complicated.

[Tom Smith]

Taxing carbon use? Let's see... sure, let's call that a tax increase, too. What with it being, you know, a tax and whatnot.

how about you just stop throwing millions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere???

then you do not pay a "carbon tax"... in fact, can it be called a tax when you only need to pay if if you cause an environmental problem that others will need to clean up somehow... sounds like a fine to me, much like you get fined if your dog fouls the pavement...

or, you could just keep increasing the amount of carbon being pumped into the air and pay no immediate tax/fine and make no effort to clean it up... and the tax you pay can be events like hurricane katrina, increasing frequency on an exponential scale... even cheaper if you don't bother rushing things like medical aid or water to the survivors after these events occur (but i see people like you already thought of that).

Re:It's not complicated.

[ScentCone]

how about you just stop throwing millions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere???

Hey! Nice dodge, there. Excellent way to avoid the topic. It's not a fine. It's a tax, and it's being called one by the very people who are proposing that model, so you might as well just relax and enjoy it. It's a tax, and everyone (including people who earn less than $250k!) will be paying it.

even cheaper if you don't bother rushing things like medical aid or water to the survivors after these events occur (but i see people like you already thought of that).

Oh, I see. You're a history-revising partisan. That explains a few things.

Re:It's not complicated.

[Tom Smith]

if you pay an amount of money to clean up mess you are making, but not if you do not make that mess, then it matters little what it is called, it is still a fine, not a tax. you could just as easily say all fines are just a tax for doing the wrong thing...

so, i allude to medical aid and even water taking a long time to get to hurricane katrina victims, something that is a matter of public record and a great shame for america, and now i am a history-revising partisan?

funny.

third world countries have done better with more limited resources and bush publicly admitted the situation was badly mishandled.

i would love to see you go and tell the people of new orleans that the government did a great job and gave them all the help and attention they needed and anyone who argues that point must be a history-revising partisan...

if access to news ever was restricted to pay sites owned by news corporations, i think it would greatly help people like you cover up the things your friends have done; practically no-one would be reading about it any more...

See? It really IS okay if I curse my computer...

[macraig]

... when it misbehaves! I'm reducing the pain of the experience.

Re:What if you don't fucking give a shit about cur

[houstonbofh]

That, or Billy Connolly is pain free!

Vindication!

[RabidMonkey]

I'm sure this must be a relief to George Carlin .. he must be the happiest man on ...

what?

Dead you say?

Well, at least his legacy lives on.

Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, CockSucker, MotherFucker, and Tits

I feel better already.

Re:Vindication!

[Sfing_ter]

Fart, Turd and Twat.
There, fixed that for ya.

Swearing is good for us, eh?

[Khyber]

Okay, I guess I'd best get my daily dose:

Slashdot, fucking fix your fucking broken site, or fire the fucking incompetent fool doing the coding.

Re:Swearing is good for us, eh?

[noidentity]

Disable CSS for the site, or just block c.fsdn.com. Makes viewing the site a fucking breeze, with almost instant loading and rendering, even on ancient browsers.

Re:Swearing is good for us, eh?

[BenoitRen]

Blocking that domain also blocks many images. I find it effective enough to only block http://c.fsdn.com/sd/all-minified.js?

Short term effect ...

[Anonymous Coward]

You swear... that gets you pissed off... and on some adrenalin ... and then you feel less pain so you can beat the crap out of the cold water that is freezing your hand.... ..(Ok. The last part doesn't work but you get the idea)

The thing though is repeat that often enough and you will get all the damage from the freezing water... and the stress damage from being on adrenalin all the time.

IMHO, I makes perfect sense since an psychological factor can trigger a stress response from the organism. Got to be careful with that on long term use.

Re:Short term effect ...

[amiga3D]

I think long term exposure to that kind of pain is worse than the adrenaline damage.

Amygdala

[Eternauta3k]

the amygdala, an almond-shaped group of neurons that can trigger a fight-or-flight response in which our heart rate climbs and we become less sensitive to pain

It also happens to look like something out of Dragonball

Aphasia

[Verteiron]

I've heard of people who are left unable to speak (due to a stroke or other brain trauma) still being able to curse and swear like sailors. This does seem to indicate that swearing is linked to something more than just the speech center.

Re:Aphasia

[Anonymous Coward]

"Fuck for yes, shit for no."

"... cunt!"

Re:Aphasia

[Reziac]

My sister has an opposite reaction. When she encounters something swearworthy (such as hammering her thumb), she puffs up like she's about to explode, and can't get a word out. I'll come up and say "Shit fuck damn hell sonuvabitch" and it's like someone let the air out of my sister -- and she feels better even tho she didn't do the swearing!!

So... apparently swearing via proxy also works.

Re:Aphasia

[gyrogeerloose]

I've heard of people who are left unable to speak (due to a stroke or other brain trauma) still being able to curse and swear like sailors.

When my grandfather was dying of Parkinson's Disease he gradually lost all his speech facilities. At the very end, the only words he was able to speak were obscenities. Full disclosure: he was a sailor, on one of the last American flagged square riggers operating commercially on the west coast.

Re:Aphasia

[tverbeek]

That's exactly what happened with my boyfriend. He'd had an aneurysm bleed followed by surgery and an ischemic stroke (from his circulatory system overreacting to the bleed). In the days immediately afterword, he couldn't produce single words, even simple nouns or his own name. But when they pulled out his nasogastric tube, he let out a string of anglo saxon that briefly brought a smile to my face. Definitely not a standard linguistic function. Incidentally, over the following week as his ability to speak returned, but he still couldn't put together a sentence to save his life, he could sing along with familiar songs just fine (music being a function of the right side of the brain, not the left side that had suffered most of the trauma).

Re:Aphasia

[Dencrypt]

It is linked to Satan. By enduring more pain you may find yourself occupying a place of high ranks in the midst of all Demons. How fun. :D

oh wait. I am an Agnostic... there is no hell... or is it?

should not post stuff like this.

Re:Aphasia

[Inda]

Funny, I swear for my daughter when she's hurt herself.

Now, she's 9 and a little bit too much of a cry-baby for my liking. It's something I've been trying to train out of her for a while. Toughen her up a little for the outside world on her own. Ballin' at every little thing is not acceptable as I'm sure some parents will agree.

Swearing for a 9-year-old girl? No! Think of the chil...

She's stubbed her toe. The tears are welling. "Have a good swear", I tell her, "go on, it'll make you feel better". Now, as I'm typing this, I can hear my father saying the same thing to me 25 years ago - funny that. She smiles, unable to swear in front of her father, although neither of us are naive enough to think she isn't armed with some classy playground swear words.

"oooooh shitbags", I'll shout. Things are now better. The pain, I suspect, is almost gone. Would it have gone on its own? Eventually. Did I speed it up? Maybe.

Re:Aphasia

[Reziac]

Well, if you've been doin' the swearing for her... she just hasn't developed any backbone. Time to let her grow up a bit and take on the responsibility of swearing on her own when she needs it. ;)

Seriously... little kids tend to cry or not cry when hurt or surprised, depending on what they believe their parents *expect* them to do. By now it's a little late to control which reaction she's habituated to, and she may be using it for attention without realizing it, or simply doing what she thinks you expect, also without conscious thought.

Re:Aphasia

[lomedhi]

I'll admit to being a prude where profanity is concerned, but I don't expect people around me to change their behaviour. It's kind of a running gag in our office that my coworkers swear for me when I get upset. It cracks me up and relieves the tension.

Re:Aphasia

[Reziac]

I know other folks who are the same -- they can't bring themselves to swear, but sure are relieved when someone else does it for them! :)

I guess it's kind of like gutting your own meat. Some folks can do it, and others don't want to see it til it gets to the table!

Re:Aphasia

[Anonymous Coward]

I've heard of people who are left unable to speak (due to a stroke or other brain trauma) still being able to curse and swear like sailors. This does seem to indicate that swearing is linked to something more than just the speech center.

(I don't feel like creating an $#@*& account, so if that makes me a *&#$@&*anonymous coward, fuck you!)

My very religious grandmother had a stroke that paralyzed one side of her body and left her unable to speak for months. The first word to finally come out of her mouth was "Shit." It became the basis of not only venting her frustration but also relearning how to speak.

Re:What if you don't fucking give a shit about cur

[Captain Splendid]

I don't see how you can define normal language outside of the individual.

Nice try, but the individual's not an island. He or she might very well be comfortable with saltier language than most, but still surrounded by (and very much aware of) a society that generally thinks otherwise, thus the language still has 'power'.

Re:It's complicated.

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't feel anyone and that includes you, cunt.

There's a catch

[confused one]

There is a catch, though: The more we swear, the less emotionally potent the words become, Stephens cautions. And without emotion, all that is left of a swearword is the word itself, unlikely to soothe anyone's pain.

Re:There's a catch

[CAIMLAS]

That's why we've got creativity; new swear-words can be added. And of course, your mind gets dirtier in the process. Those same words should work just fine (just like "darn" works for some Christians, etc.).

Re:There's a catch

[defireman]

Solution: invent new swear words.

Pain vocalization

[AlpineR]

How do you explain swearing to yourself? I spent many nights during the past month pacing around my apartment with worsening cancer pain. Sometimes it got bad enough to elicit yelps and curses. There was nobody else around to give me an adrenaline rush from risky social behavior. It hurt, I swore, I felt a little better.

I also discovered that singing to myself helps with tolerating pain. I was laid out still on a hard radiation table for an hour. The first ten minutes were easy but the pain got worse and worse as I stayed in that one position. Since I couldn't move, I tried moaning to myself - which helped a little. On the third session I tried humming and singing along with my iPod, and found that was even more effective at helping me endure the pain to get the treatment.

Re:Pain vocalization

[izomiac]

My guess would be that cursing triggers a conditioned response. E.g. Pain => Profanity => Pain usually subsides => Associate profanity with pain relief. Similar to why some people think homeopathic stuff works ("hey, I took this pill and I got better" without a control group). Or perhaps the GP is right and one is conditioned to have an adrenaline spike upon swearing because you learn to swear in public before private.

Re:Pain vocalization

[weicco]

I once had a nasty inflammation in my guts after a caecum surgery. The doctor managed to burst it when it was still inside. I was released from the hospital next morning and the stomach pain started some hours after. And it hurt like hell! I've never felt anything like that. But what I discovered was that joking helps. When I got other people to laugh I (almost) forgot my stomach pain.

And then the sweet, sweet painkillers when I finally got back to the hospital (had to drive 10 km there, ambulance refused to come).

Re:Pain vocalization

[MrCrassic]

Have you seen the movie "Reign Over Me?" Singing as an anger management device is shown pretty nicely there.

"Roger's Profanisaurus" now treats pain . . . ?

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Wow, that's good news for the folks at "Viz" : http://www.viz.co.uk/books.html or http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/images/095485778X/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=266239&s=books

Maybe Dr House should just swear more, and then he wouldn't need so much Vicodin?

Now you just need to convince those around you that there is a medical reason (other than Tourette's Syndrome) for your chronic swearing . . .

F#

[Anonymous Coward]

OT: Out of curiosity, what are some popular expletives in language other than English.
I guess you can post them.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Pain relief?

[wfWebber]

Yeah, but only in this life!

Re:Pain relief?

[NewbieProgrammerMan]

Yeah, but only in this life!

Yeah, but that's only believe there is another one, and that your $DIETY is in charge of it. Who knows, Odin might have a lot of respect for somebody that can produce a good blue streak laden with lots of naughty Anglo-Saxon* words. ;)

*Disclaimer for the inevitable linguist Nazis: I don't know jack shit about the Angles, Saxons, or their words, but for some reason I think a Norse god would give you a thumbs up if your curse could make Beowulf blush.

Re:Pain relief?

[NewbieProgrammerMan]

Dammit...read thoroughly before posting--it should be, "Yeah, but that's only if you believe..."

Cursing, Not Swearing

[Doc Ruby]

These effects of making foul expletives show why it's more properly called "cursing" than "swearing". Cursing is a verbal counterattack on the source of the pain, which is more like the practice of placing a curse on an enemy than the practice of making a holy vow - because the vow here is profane. I expect researchers will find that cursing puts the curser in an attack state that suppresses the experience of pain. I also expect we'll find that cursing releases physical and mental stress, relaxing physical and mental parts of us so they can return to normal sensation, not the disarray that is the basis of our feeling pain to begin with.

On the US East Coast, we call it "cursing". I know on the West Coast they call it "swearing", and evidently do in the UK. The East Coast is known for its advanced research, typically in the streets, in coping with pain of all sorts, especially by talking. Maybe once they get the right names on these effects, they'll be able to use our informal groundwork to curse better, or perhaps an upgrade to swear off cursing entirely, just as bandaids have replaced blisters.

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[ceoyoyo]

Meh. I live in Quebec. Tabarnac de sacrement de calice (roughly tabernacle of the sacrament of the chalice) is about the worst thing you can say. Swearing seems to fit much better.

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[Anonymous Coward]

Really? That's worse than "go fuck your mother" in french?

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[Anonymous Coward]

On the US East Coast, we call it "cursing".

What part of the US east coast are you from? I currently live in DC and grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and have only ever heard people use 'swearing' in conversation.

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[Anonymous Coward]

Tabarnac de maudit christ a marde
  is the worst

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[Anonymous Coward]

On the US East Coast, we call it "cursing".

Um, I'm East Coast US (upstate NY, specifically) - and for everyone I've known, it was always swearing, not cursing.

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[Doc Ruby]

I'm from NYC and Long Island.

We also call Pittsburgh "West" and DC "the South".

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[ceoyoyo]

Yeah. Weird I know. "Fuck" isn't really much of a swear word here. You can say it all you want on (French) TV.

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[Lunzo]

Your use of cursing is also incorrect historically. Just saying a bad word is nothing like placing a curse on someone or something. Letting fly with a four letter word doesn't have a target like a curse, its just an exclamation.

Language moves on. What we call swearing or cursing today is nothing like the original meaning. And I'm happy for those words to mean saying a word that is normally taboo in polite company.

Original meanings:
Cursing = calling down a misfortune on someone. e.g. "A pox on both your houses"
Swearing = making an oath by something. e.g. "May the Lord deal with me severely if I don't "

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[ShOOf]

In the South they may refer to it as cursing, in the North we just call them words.

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[2obvious4u]

Where is a mod point when you need one.
This is exactly correct and why we have fcc laws banning taboo words is beyond me.
An exclamation, even Jesus Christ, God Damn, or any of the other Christian taboo's are not biblically forbidden. What the Bible speaks against is the Cursing and Swearing that the parent mentions. Saying Jesus Fucking Christ isn't a sin, swearing to tell the truth in a courtroom is, because you are defaming God by invoking his name. I think also the only way that it would be wrong would be to say "by Yahweh", I don't think "the Lord" or "by God" was technically forbidden either. And you really needed to be a Pharisee to call someone on it.

Saying a taboo word in polite company. I like that; I believe that is how I'll explain it to my kids.

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[Anonymous Coward]

Meh. I live in Quebec. Tabarnac de sacrement de calice (roughly tabernacle of the sacrament of the chalice) is about the worst thing you can say. Swearing seems to fit much better.

For instance, a full-blown "Fuck you, you motherfucking bastard!" carries with it an implicit "I will fuck you" (implications of rape/dominance), and "Motherfucker" (goatfucker, pigfucker) implies that the targeted person or object violates the (nearly-universal incest/beastiality taboos), and for bonus points, implies that his/her/its parents were not married (older western tradition of legitimacy of offspring).

All of that could get boiled down into a single "FUCK!", "Motherfucker!", or "Bastard!" muttered at a keyboard after an application crashes; the single words by themselves, while devoid of grammatical meaning, carry with it their implied assumptions.

I'd always wondered about "Tabarnac", but thanks for the full version, of which I was previously unaware.

I think I finally get it -- it's about an implied desecration of the Host (that wafer thingy or the wine used in communion). As a non-Catholic, even I'm aware that that's about the worst thing you can do to someone who takes Catholicism seriously.

"Tabarnac" is French for "Fuck!" (or "Shit!"). "Tabarnac de sacrement de calice" is French for "I will fuck you (or shit on you), you motherfucker." Both are forms of "I will dominate, desecrate, and otherwise destroy the target of my ire, because its behavior is so offensive to me as to be beyond the pale."

Re:Cursing, Not Swearing

[Tom Smith]

"may you one day regret your actions here": cursing

"XXXX you, you XXXXXX-XXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXX": swearing

really not that hard to get...

Re:Relevant to Tourrett's syndrome?

[elashish14]

See: Copralalia

Swearing feels good. That's why we do it. Not surprising that some people with Tourette's do it uncontrollably.

I want to call *BULLSHIT*, but out of 100 coins, i

[davidsyes]

will give them 25.

Once, on my first ship, our steam boilers went off the line. We had no backup in place to generate enough heat to provide us with hot water for showers. I am sure than any residual heat quickly was dissipated or used up for engineering purposes. We were without hot water for a few hours and i wanted to go ashore fresh, not unwashed as a good number of the shipmates chose on a usual basis.

I didn't curse or swear, but i did emit guttural noises not unlike an animal or a madman. It got me through that very, VERY cold shower. But, actually, i had preconditioned myself a little bit by first wetting my hands, then my mid arms, then my face, then my skull, which had lots more heat then the rest of my body. After about a minute, i was "less shocked" by the cold water could complete my shower. It was less shocking that 'diving right it' as there was no body of water but instead a stream of water.

I dare say these people (however esteemed or academic or educated they are) aren't going to find terribly much, but as with many experiments, some get funded because there is research money to grant, burn or otherwise use up. There are people who take acupuncture treatment and don't end up screaming like wild, yet a child or even an adult being FORCED (say the subject is restrained to a table or shackled to a wall and secured in such a way as to reduce squirming, so the subject isn't actually injured by own movement) to receive acupuncture might scream out of natural instinct just because the person administering the acupuncture may be or be perceived as menacing or cruel. But, that screaming person may be a devout person of some religious vocation, may be a person who is mute, or even have had their jaw sedated so as to prevent tongue wagging and speech. Hell, if these people want to spend money, do experiments that might elicit tears out of fear, rather than studying swearing as a pain suppressant. Perception, as said in a famous auto advert, is everything.

Hm...

[that IT girl]

They didn't mention it in the study, but I have a suspicion that the volume of the word also helps. Because it seems to hurt much more when it's dark and you are trying not to wake anybody up when you stub your toe and furiously whisper "fuck fuck fuckitty fuck!" to yourself (or maybe only I do that?) However, even if you are all alone (removing the "ooh I said a dirty word in public" adrenaline rush people claim) and you yell it at the top of your lungs, it really does seem to help. :D

Re:Hm...

[santax]

I would think of it as what in martial arts people call chi... Or when you're getting that really hot stove out of the oven and you exhale, slowly, controlled, so it hurts less. I can imagine that swearing exhales your lungs in precisely the same way as 'chi' and I know for a fact (my hobby is Sanda/Sanshou) that this does let you control pain. Not in a Rambo kind of way, but nevertheless still very noticable.

Re:Hm...

[karnal]

Or when you're getting that really hot stove out of the oven

Yo dawg, I herd you like stoves, so I put a stove in your oven so you could cook while you cook!

Re:Hm...

[ceoyoyo]

Keeping a stove in an oven is dangerous for other reasons than it's hot when you take it out. Exhaling your lungs sounds like a particularly nasty side effect of swearing too. Is that anything like when smokers cough up a lung?

Re:Hm...

[inwo42]

Would this be similar to the martial art kiai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiai)? When the practitioner strikes (or takes a blow) the "kiai" helps. I'm not sure if cursing would be a similar use of energy, but I know that "shit" and "fuck" seem to have much more power than "shoot" or "frick". Perhaps the breath and energy required to project the words are similar to that of the "kiai".

Re:Hm...

[Tom Smith]

if it were, then the choice of word would not matter at all. only the manner in which you spoke it would matter.

so, no, it is not like "chi" or whatever at all.

Re:What if you don't fucking give a shit about cur

[Shadow of Eternity]

What about 4channers that don't get out much.

Coprolalia

[uassholes]

It's a shame that no mention was made in TFA to coprolalia ("the spontaneous utterance of socially objectionable or taboo words or phrases": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolalia), which is one of the symptoms of Tourette syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourette_syndrome).

It seems to me that there must be some deep psychological need for letting rip with a few choice words and phrases.

"Palin" Reflief

[Anonymous Coward]

Did anyone else accidentally read the headline as: Swearing Provides Palin Relief?

I think either is true.

Re:"Palin" Reflief

[Anonymous Coward]

Yah, she's FUCKING whore.

crap shoot cause i have too!

[markringen]

crap shoot cause i have too! crap, fuck, ass, fuck, shit, hole, pie, fuck, donkey, ASS!!!! sorry it had to be done.

Re:crap shoot cause i have too!

[markringen]

i feel much, much better now :)

And teh next question is: ....

[3seas]

What is the most common subject matter for which swearing is about?

1) Domestic quarrels
2) computer usage
3) microsoft
3) other (list)

Cursing decried in public debate!

[YourExperiment]

cursing is notoriously decried in the public debate

Kindest sirs,

I am concerned, due to the nature of the language which you have utilised upon this occasion, that you may in fact be referring to an article from around the turn of the century.

Your faithful and humble servant,
YourExperiment, esq.

Fuck, yeah!

[Rick Genter]

'nuff said, cocksuckers.

(Can you tell I've been re-watching Deadwood lately? ;-)

Re:Fuck, yeah!

[Macgrrl]

We can always tell among our friends who has been watching Deadwood recently by the peppering of conversation with random 'cocksuckers'.

I love that Wu can have entire coherent conversations using just that word and proper nouns.

That explains ...

[PPH]

... the replies to all my /. posts.

Anonymous

[Anonymous Coward]

Anything that makes you focus on something else than the cause of pain will provide relief. Scratching your back, masturbating, playing word games, you name it.

Re:What if you don't fucking give a shit about cur

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you just try saying that an individual defined by their visitation of an online message board is socially isolated?

Really?

I'll have to show my wife this article..

[cyberprophet]

..she gets mad when I drop an F-bomb when I hurt myself working on something. She doesn't believe me when I say that swearing is a tool to help get the job done.

That rings a Bell

[Anonymous Coward]

Or, wait. Would it then be just a Cymbala ?

This is why I rely on statistics

[G3ckoG33k]

This is why I rely on statistics.

More Experimental Results

[electricprof]

I performed the following experiment to test this report. In the presence of a particularly disagreeable person, I began to feel an enormous pain in my ass. I chanted neutral phrases and made small talk for 15 minutes. I observed that the person remained and the pain persisted unabated. I then began hurling profane epithets at the person. After 5 minutes I observed the person to leave and the pain suddenly abated. While not conclusive, I believe this experiment needs further study and repetition.

test #1:

[circletimessquare]

serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now serenity now

hmmm

test #2:

FUCK!

no... same relief, just faster

Re:test #1:

[MarkGriz]

No only faster relief but none of the nasty "insanity later" side effects.

Re:test #1:

[Tom Smith]

and less of the "people punching you in the face to shut you up" side-effects also...

Correlation or causation?

[Phroggy]

Maybe this simply demonstrates that the type of people who would choose a neutral word to say are likely to have a lower tolerance for pain?

Re:Correlation or causation?

[TinBromide]

i think the subjects were instructed to chant a neutral word or a swear word. Not that people who swear have higher pain tolerances than those that are so gosh durn cultured and never use that fricking language, but swearing may increase a pain tolerance.

Wrongsies

[DynaSoar]

The conclusion is OK, the details presented suffer. That's common in pop-science writing, and sadly increasingly common in SciAm.

Left side = language: Based on the largest group of similar orientation, right handed males. Not even a majority -- 40%. Left handed males are right-side language almost the same proportion but are few overall. There are 'ipsilateral language' (same side as dominant hand, as opposed to 'contralateral', other-side), as well as 'undifferentiated', with language capability on both sides. Females are somewhat similar in breakdown but more undifferentiated overall. Also, the generalization is for non-tonal based languages such as English. See "right/other side" below.

Amygdala is "under the right": The amygdala is bilateral, with left and right parts. The right part is however functionally predisposed to processing stress handling behavior http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6SYP-4CT63XM-3&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=955088512&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=7d34a0fd5e2952f900c2698ce0abe684 .

Left cortex vs. right deep: All language functions are handled in the outer few millimeters of the brain, the cortex. Some processes may be driven by deep structures, but all higher order processing relies on cortical activity.

Right/other side cortex: Opposite (or mixed with, in 'undifferentiated' brains) the language centers there is an equally employed structure that controls "prosidy", or emotional processing, understanding and expression in language. It is more oriented to tonal processing making it central to music as well as to tonal-based languages. "Right side" or prosidic region damage can result in flat monotone response to expression about both winning the lottery and death of a loved one. Or it can result in inappropriate response, such as laughter, to everything.

If you consider the necessity of 'other-side' processing in tonal language and the large population that uses it, the western/English, right handed, males, contralateral language center "dominance" becomes a great deal less world wide (there are brains world wide, honest) than the 40% usually quoted in western language research literature and texts.

Moving the expresssion of distress from the language structure dominant area to the prosidic/emotional area does tap into underlying emotion processing. Then again, so would singing. I'd like to see replication with singing instead of cursing -- betcha it's similar in outcome. Evidence: stuttering is stress based; stutters frequently don't stutter when they sing, ask (according to his belt buckle) M-M-M-M-Mel Tillis. And, a naive hypothesis: I'd bet that while those that use tonal languages may curse in pain and such, they are far more likely to use coherent language with stress (in both senses) placed in the tonal aspect of what they're expressing. Any speakers or Chinese dialects or other east Asian languages care to comment?

Lastly, an aside: The 'left side' language centers make the brain larger on the left. This is taken as a dominance of language processing over other kinds. However (1) chimps have the same assymetry, with the same proportion of 'other-sided-language', larger on the right, as with humans; (2) cortical localization is both redundant (more than one area can do the job) and plastic (one can take over when another fails); and (3) the amount of cortex devoted to something implies it requires that much effort. The same amount of processing and behavioral control can be handled by smaller areas when the processing is made mo

Duh

[FrankDrebin]

How do you think ASSpirin got it's name?

Re:Duh

[Anonymous Coward]

Reminds me of a joke from Scrubs where Turk explains to an elderly patient that the analgesic goes in the mouth :)

what?

[youkillme]

what a pile of crap!! why don't they spend that time on something more useful??

More "fuck" research

[SteveFoerster]

Then you might like this other research about the word "fuck". In fact, that's the name of the article.

Re:What if you don't fucking give a shit about cur

[Shadow of Eternity]

Learn to read jim. "THAT" don't get out much, not ", THEY" don't get out much.

Learned this many many years ago

[optimus2861]

From one of the other kids in the neighborhood, explaining to me why he swore. He used the example of dropping a hammer on his foot:

"So what am I going to say? (uses very proper-sounding tone of voice) Oh, look at this. I hurt my foot. Would someone please help me?

(switches back to normal voice) No! I'm gonna scream, Owww, goddammit, I dropped the fucking hammer on my fucking foot!

Then I feel better."

Not only that...

[v(*_*)vvvv]

Swearing can transfer pain. From the person in pain, to the person being sweared at.

On a more serious note, I believe screaming and crying are also effective, which are both natural reactions to pain. In severe cases, the sufferer can simply pass out, which might suggest the body knows more about pain tolerance than we do.

It is also said that the anticipation of pain can be just as horrific or worse psychologically than pain itself. Hence torture looses its effectiveness as the unpredictable subsides and the ends appears nearer.

Makes sense

[rrohbeck]

The religious nutjobs are all about pain and suffering on earth, so not swearing makes it all the better for them.

But why do they have to inflict that on the rest of the population?

Nope.

[Anonymous Coward]

Naw... it just means that the kind of person who would choose to swear is also tougher.

Damn it Jim!

[Torodung]

Dammit Jim, I'm a DOCTOR not an analgesic!

definition of STRESS

[cstacy]

STRESS. The confusion caused when ones mind overrides the body's natural desire to choke the living shit out of some asshole that desperately needs it.

Re:What if you don't fucking give a shit about cur

[NotOverHere]

Life is cyclical. Is it life imitating art or vice versa?

My favorite quote from Mr. Lewis Black:
          "... These are the word we use to express frustration, rage, anger.... In order we don't pick up a tire iron and beat the Shit out of some one."
In a civil society, I would rather say "Godddamnn! I want to beat the F'in shit out of you," than actually do so.

I have verified this does, in fact, work.

[Lodragandraoidh]

My own empirical studies over the years have validated the results of this study many times over.

Needs more data

[Requiem18th]

I'm pretty sure people who hate cursing don't react the same way.

I'm somehow in between, some times when I have to touch php4 or every single time I test my apps in IE6 I can't help but cursing at the damn fucking imitation of a browser (bug ridden bugger burn in hell already will ya?)

But.

When it comes to physical pain I just don't feel like cursing, at all. When I'm in pain I just try to control my breath and concentrate on withstanding it. In fact I can notice my though process doing some sort of damage assertion control, as if understanding the pain makes it hurt less. Words simply don't occur to me beyond "ouch" perhaps.

So it definitively varies across persons.

On a hunch...

[RichiH]

..you will actually shout the swearword. That means you do something 'agressive' which, in turn, means your body goes somewhat into battle mode. Especially as you are experiencing actual pain. One of the things that happen in such a situation is.. you feel less pain.

This is not scientific or anything, just a personal experience.

Re: to stub a toe

[An anonymous Frank]

Perhaps it hurts more because we're not very busy with any other stimuli, what with the environment being so quiet and all, such that the signals aren't drowned out with other unrelated chatter.

Whenever I bump a body part, I find that immediately acknowledging the pain with a prompt expletive, almost completely takes the pain away, however, suffering from chronic pain related to a spinal condition, I'm not sure that blabbering my mouth away all day long would help that pain at all.

Further thought occurs...

[Drakkenmensch]

Could the usual trash talking often involved in sports and gaming be related to the same effect?

argh no!

[Anonymous Coward]

this is not fucking possible!
ARGH! i wont admit it !

http://www.twilightcampaign.net

How much did they spend on this #$%$^ study?

[mhaskell]

They could have had data for free watching me repair my car (physical pain, e.g. skinned knuckles and the like), or watch me golf (psychological pain). Both examples would be shoved in my face on judgment day, but I repent too damn fast!
 

Actually, becoming a masochist remits stress/anger

[Anonymous Coward]

Lord Jesus Christ took all curses upon himself so we can all live in comfort and have a better relationship with God through His son.

I've actually been seeking for angry people to curse me, so I might experience the sorry of Lord Jesus Christ to become a greater servant for Him and soon a fellow servant that is not ashamed be a brother to that king.

When someone curses at me, I instigate more curses out of him that it becomes a comedy situation. Oh yes, it feels awesome when the conversion of curse to cheer is in the air. It is a better release than heroine, meth, cocaine, magic mushrooms, and LSD as people tell me. I've become their drug, you see. Just yell at the redhead hillbilly and you'll feel better, and he'll thank you for it.

Excuse me I've got a date with a bipolar manic PETA lesbian hermaphrodite negro midget Ubuntu user, and she's giving me a Richard Stallman T-shirt if I let her give me the strapon :-). It's not a walk in the park with Rosie O'Donnel, but it's endurable.

The patrons of the church salute thee.