Profanity

Socially offensive form of language

For the religious concept, see Profane (religion). For the software, see Profanity (instant messaging client). Not to be confused with hate speech. "Abusive language" redirects here. Not to be confused with Abusive language (law). "Swearing" redirects here. For the action of swearing an oath, see Oath. "Strong language" redirects here. For the 2000 film, see Strong Language (film). "Cursing" redirects here. For the supernatural invocation, see Curse.

In cartoons and comics, profanity is often depicted by substituting symbols for words ("Grawlixes" in the lexicon of cartoonist Mort Walker).

Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, or cussing, involves the use of notionally offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion, as a grammatical intensifier or emphasis, or to express informality or conversational intimacy. In many formal or polite social situations, it is considered impolite (a violation of social norms), and in some religious groups it is considered a sin.[1] Profanity includes slurs, but there are many insults that do not use swear words.

Swear words can be discussed or even sometimes used for the same purpose without causing offense or being considered impolite if they are obscured (e.g. "fuck" becomes "f***" or "the f-word") or substituted with a minced oath like "flip".

## Sources and etymology

[edit]

Different languages and cultures construct swear words and phrases from violations of different social taboos, and many names for offensive language derive from the source topic.

Profanity in the religious sense involves desecration of the sacred, whether by blasphemy or other words causing religious offense, such as taking the Lord's name in vain. Many religions include the notion of casting a curse, which is both disrespectful and intentionally harmful, and is often also taboo. Hence curse phrases like "God damn it to hell", which can be shortened to just "damn". To swear an oath in a highly religious society often involved invoking a sacred entity or event; this act has evolved into profanity.[2] For example, "I swear to God" can be used as an intensifier or to express strong emotion in a potentially offensive way. An oath can also be shortened to simply saying the name of a holy figure, for example yelling "Jesus!" when surprised.

Many cultures have taboos surrounding human sexual activity, and obscenity sometimes refers specifically to depictions or acts related to sex. Some obscenities simply mention sex acts or genitalia or erogenous zones. They can be turned into personal insults by involving the target in the sex act (e.g. "fuck you!") and can be intensified by adding details that invoke disgust or violate more taboos, such as the involvement of family members or animals. Spanish profanity often involves references to prostitution or homosexuality. The term "bastard" invokes a taboo against children born out of wedlock. Swear words like puta (whore), bitch, maricón (faggot), and bastard are also slurs which refer to specific groups of people; their use is sometimes challenged by advocates of social equality and those who oppose the underlying taboos.

Foul language is also derived from taboo bodily functions or body parts, especially those which produce disgust, such as the foul odor of excrement. Specific words referring to the same thing can be marked as offensive or polite arbitrarily; for example, "shit" is considered offensive, whereas "poop" is informal but inoffensive, and "feces" while referring to a disgusting object is considered appropriate for formal and polite contexts, such as scientific discussion. Likewise, "asshole" is usually a derogatory term for a person, but "anus" is formal and scientific.

The older sense of "vulgar" is "common"; for example, Vulgar Latin is the colloquial language of the common people of Rome, which does not carry a connotation of being offensive. Terms like "vulgar" and "colloquial" can be used as euphemisms to describe speech which is not only informal but also offensive. Vulgarism refers to a linguistic error typical of an uneducated speaker.

An expletive in the general linguistic sense is a word or phrase that is a grammatical placeholder or extraneous, including auxiliary verbs like "do" (in Standard English), and expletive pronouns like "it" and "there" (e.g. "there is a man at the door"). Another subcategory, expletive attributive, is an adjective or adverb used as an intensifier. Many of these are swear words, but not all.

### Etymology of "profane"

[edit]

The term profane originates from classical Latin profanus, literally 'before (outside) the temple', pro meaning 'outside' and fanum meaning 'temple, sanctuary'. The term profane carried the meaning of either "desecrating what is holy" or "with a secular purpose" as early as the 1450s.[3][4] Profanity represented secular indifference to religion or religious figures, while blasphemy was a more offensive attack on religion and religious figures, considered sinful, and a direct violation of the Ten Commandments in the majority-Christian Western world. Moreover, many Bible verses speak against swearing.[5] In some countries, profanity words often have pagan roots that after Christian influence were turned from names of deities and spirits to profanity and used as such, like famous Finnish profanity word perkele, which was believed to be an original name of the thunder god Ukko, the chief god of the Finnish pagan pantheon.[6][7][8][9]

Profanities, in the original meaning of "blasphemous profanity", are part of the ancient tradition of the comic cults which laughed and scoffed at the deity or deities: an example of this would be Lucian's Dialogues of the Gods satire.[10]: 110

### English

[edit]

In English, swear words like shit have a Germanic root,[11] as likely does fuck,[12] though damn and piss come from Old French and ultimately Latin. The more technical and polite alternatives are often Latin in origin, such as defecate or excrete (for shit) and fornicate or copulate (for fuck). Due to the stereotype of English profanity being largely Germanic, profanity is sometimes referred to colloquially as "Anglo-Saxon", in reference to the oldest form of English.[13] This isn’t always the case. The word "wanker" is considered profane in Britain, but it dates only to the mid-20th century.[14][15]

## History

[edit]

Words currently considered curse words or profanity were common parlance in medieval English.[16] In the Elizabethan era, some playwrights, like Shakespeare, largely avoided direct use of these words, but others, like Ben Jonson, did use them in his plays.[17] The word fuck was likely first used in English (borrowed) in the 15th century, though the use of shit in English is much older, rooted in the Proto-Germanic word skit-, then evolved in Middle English to the word schitte, meaning excrement, and shiten, to defecate.[18]

## Research

[edit]

Swearing performs certain psychological functions, and uses particular linguistic and neurological mechanisms; all these are avenues of research.

### Types

[edit]

According to Steven Pinker, there are five possible functions of swearing:[19]

* Abusive swearing, intended to offend, intimidate or otherwise cause emotional or psychological harm
* Cathartic swearing, used in response to pain or misfortune
* Dysphemistic swearing, used to convey that the speaker thinks negatively of the subject matter and to make the listener do the same
* Emphatic swearing, intended to draw additional attention to what is considered to be worth paying attention to
* Idiomatic swearing, used for no other particular purpose, but as a sign that the conversation and relationship between speaker and listener is informal

Another reason for swearing is coprolalia, which is an occasional characteristic of tic disorders, is involuntary swearing or the involuntary utterance of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks.[20] It encompasses words and phrases that are culturally taboo or generally unsuitable for acceptable social use, when used out of context. The term is not used to describe contextual swearing.[21] It can be distinguished from voluntary profanity by characteristics such as interrupting the flow of dialogue, differences in tone and volume relative to a normal voice, variable frequency that increases with anxiety, and association with brain disorders.[20] It is usually expressed out of social or emotional context, and may be spoken in a louder tone or different cadence or pitch than normal conversation. It can be a single word, or complex phrases.[21]

A group of researchers from Wright State University studied why people swear in the online world by collecting tweets posted on Twitter. They found that cursing is associated with negative emotions such as sadness (21.83%) and anger (16.79%), thus showing people in the online world mainly use curse words to express their sadness and anger towards others.[22][23]

### Frequency and demographics

[edit]

Analyses of recorded conversations c. 1972 revealed that an average of roughly 80–90 words that a person spoke each day — 0.5% to 0.7% of all words — were curse words, with usage varying from 0% to 3.4%.[24] In comparison, first-person plural pronouns (we, us, our) make up 1% of spoken words.[25]

A three-country poll conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion in July 2010 found that Canadians swear more often than Americans and British when talking to friends, while Britons are more likely than Canadians and Americans to hear strangers swear during a conversation.[26]

New York Times author Natalie Angier notes that "Men generally curse more than women, unless said women are in a sorority, and that university provosts swear more than librarians or the staff members of the university day care center".[27]

A 2017 paper by Gilad Feldman and co-workers[28] claimed to show a correlation between swearing and various measures of honesty. From three separate studies, the authors "found a consistent positive relationship between profanity and honesty; profanity was associated with less lying and deception at the individual level and with higher integrity at the society level". However, the methodology of this study has been challenged by other psychologists,[29] and the study is a subject of ongoing controversy.[needs update]

### Impact on society

[edit]

There is no evidence that swearing has harmful effects, such as leading to increased physical violence.[30]

### Lessening pain

[edit]

A 2009 study by Stephens, Atkins, and Kingston found that swearing increases pain tolerance by eliciting a fight-or-flight response, quashing the link between the fear of pain and the perception of pain itself.[30] Stephens said "I would advise people, if they hurt themselves, to swear".[31] However, the overuse of swear words tends to diminish this effect.[31] The Keele team won the Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 for their research.

### Disease diagnosis

[edit]

A team of neurologists and psychologists at the UCLA Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research suggested that swearing may help differentiate Alzheimer's disease from frontotemporal dementia.[32]

Neurologist Antonio Damasio noted that despite the loss of language due to damage to the language areas of the brain, patients were still often able to swear.[33]

### In a second language

[edit]

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Warsaw investigated bilingual swearing, and how it is easier to swear in a foreign language, finding that bilinguals strengthen the offensiveness of profanities when they switch into their second language, but soften it when they switch into their first tongue, doing both statistically significantly only in the case of ethnophaulisms (ethnic slurs), leading the scientists to the conclusion that switching into the second language exempts bilinguals from the social norms and constraints (whether own or socially imposed) such as political correctness, and makes them more prone to swearing and offending others.[34]

### By children

[edit]

Research by Jay and Janschewitz[35] suggests that swearing emerges by age two. By the time children enter school, they have a working vocabulary of 30–40 "offensive words", and their swearing becomes similar to that of adults around the age of 11 to 12.

Unlike the rest of language, children are generally not taught the grammatical aspects of how to swear competently in school, raising the question of how they do learn this skill. There is no established consensus as to how children learn to swear, although it is an inevitable part of language learning, and begins early in life.[36] Young school children may adopt various "toning down" strategies when swearing depending on the context in which they are talking.[37]

### In animals

[edit]

New York Times author Natalie Angier notes that functionally similar behavior can be observed in chimpanzees, and may contribute to our understanding.[27]

## Slurs vs. profanity

[edit]

Profanity is widely considered socially offensive and strongly impolite; slurs, however, are both intended to be and by definition are derogatory, as they are meant to harm another individual. Although profanity has been seen to improve performance or relieve anxiety and anger, and can be used in a lighthearted way, this effect and impact cannot be observed with slurs.[38] Though slurs are considered profanity by definition, being both socially offensive and strongly impolite, profanity can be used in a non-targeted manner where slurs cannot. For example, in the sentence "If I don't get an A on this exam, I'm fucked", the word "fucked" is profanity; however, the way it is embedded is not intended to offend anyone, as the speaker is not making an offensive claim.[39]

## Minced oaths

[edit]

Main article: Minced oath

Minced oaths are euphemistic expressions made by altering or clipping profane and blasphemous words and expressions to make them less or not objectionable. Although minced oaths are often acceptable in situations where profanity is not (including the radio), some people still consider them profanity. In 1941, a judge threatened a lawyer with contempt of court for using the word darn.[40][41]

## Biases

[edit]

Philosopher Rebecca Roache considers the Western cultural taboo against swearing in the presence of women (and against women swearing) to be sexist, especially when it restricts the expressiveness of the speech of women more than men. Roache also relates an example of disrespect and ableism: a person who uses a digital speech synthesizer found that instead of the normal reaction of being offended when cursed at, people laughed at the curse words coming out of the synthesizer instead of a person's mouth.[42]

## Legality

[edit]

### Australia

[edit]

In every Australian state and territory it is a crime to use offensive, indecent or insulting language in or near a public place.[43] These offences are classed as summary offences. This means that they are usually tried before a local or magistrates court. Police also have the power to issue fixed penalty notices to alleged offenders.[44] It is a defence in some Australian jurisdictions to have "a reasonable excuse" to conduct oneself in the manner alleged.[45]

### Brazil

[edit]

In Brazil, the Penal Code does not contain any penalties for profanity in public immediately. However, direct offenses against one can be considered a crime against honor, with a penalty of imprisonment of one to three months or a fine.[46] The analysis of the offence is considered "subjective", depending on the context of the discussion and the relationship between the parts.[47]

### Canada

[edit]

Section 175 of Canada's Criminal Code makes it a criminal offence to "cause a disturbance in or near a public place" by "swearing […] or using insulting or obscene language". Provinces and municipalities may also have their laws against swearing in public. For instance, the Municipal Code of Toronto bars "profane or abusive language" in public parks.[48] In June 2016, a man in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was arrested for using profane language at a protest against Bill C-51.[49]

### India

[edit]

Sections 294A and 294B of Indian penal code have legal provisions for punishing individuals who use inappropriate or obscene words (either spoken or written) in public that are maliciously deliberate to outrage religious feelings or beliefs.[50] In February 2015, a local court in Mumbai asked police to file a first information report against 14 Bollywood celebrities who were part of the stage show of All India Bakchod, a controversial comedy stage show known for vulgar and profanity based content.[51] In May 2019 during the election campaign, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed out the abusive words the opposition Congress party had used against him and his mother during their campaign.[52]

In January 2016, a Mumbai-based communications agency initiated a campaign against profanity and abusive language called "Gaali free India" (gaali is the Hindi word for profanity).[53] Using creative ads, it called upon people to use swatch (clean) language on the lines of Swachh Bharat Mission for nationwide cleanliness. It further influenced other news media outlets who further raised the issue of abusive language in the society especially incest abuses against women, such as "mother fucker".[54]

In an increasing market for OTT content, several Indian web series have been using profanity and expletives to gain attention of the audiences.[55]

### New Zealand

[edit]

In New Zealand, the Summary Offences Act 1981 makes it illegal to use "indecent or obscene words in or within hearing of any public place". However, if the defendant has "reasonable grounds for believing that his words would not be overheard" then no offence is committed. Also, "the court shall have regard to all the circumstances pertaining at the material time, including whether the defendant had reasonable grounds for believing that the person to whom the words were addressed, or any person by whom they might be overheard, would not be offended".[56]

### Pakistan

[edit]

Political leaders in Pakistan have been consistently picked up for using profane, abusive language. While there is no legislation to punish abusers, the problem aggravated with abusive language being used in the parliament and even against women.[57]

### Philippines

[edit]

See also: Tagalog profanity

The Department of Education in the Philippine city of Baguio expressed that while cursing was prohibited in schools, children were not following this prohibition at home. Thus as part of its anti profanity initiative, in November 2018, the Baguio city government in the Philippines passed an anti profanity law that prohibits cursing and profanity in areas of the city frequented by children. This move was welcomed by educators[58] and the Department of Education in Cordillera.[58][59]

### Russia

[edit]

Swearing in public is an administrative crime in Russia. However, law enforcement rarely targets swearing people. The punishment is a fine of 500–1000 roubles or even a 15-day imprisonment.[60]

### United Kingdom

[edit]

#### In public

[edit]

Swearing, in and of itself, is not usually a criminal offence in the United Kingdom although in context may constitute a component of a crime. However, it may be a criminal offence in Salford Quays under a public spaces protection order which outlaws the use of "foul and abusive language" without specifying any further component to the offence, although it appears to be unclear as to whether all and every instance of swearing is covered. Salford City Council claims that the defence of "reasonable excuse" allows all the circumstances to be taken into account.[61] In England and Wales, swearing in public where it is seen to cause harassment, alarm or distress may constitute an offence under section 5(1) and (6) of the Public Order Act 1986.[62] In Scotland, a similar common law offence of breach of the peace covers issues causing public alarm and distress.

#### In the workplace

[edit]

In the United Kingdom, swearing in the workplace can be an act of gross misconduct under certain circumstances. In particular, this is the case when swearing accompanies insubordination against a superior or humiliation of a subordinate employee. However, in other cases, it may not be grounds for instant dismissal.[63] According to a UK site on work etiquette, the "fact that swearing is a part of everyday life means that we need to navigate away through a day in the office without offending anyone, while still appreciating that people do swear. Of course, there are different types of swearing and, without spelling it out, you really ought to avoid the 'worst words' regardless of who you're talking to".[64] Within the UK, the appropriateness of swearing can vary largely by a person's industry of employment, though it is still not typically used in situations where employees of a higher position than oneself are present.[64]

In 2006, The Guardian reported that "36% of the 308 UK senior managers and directors having responded to a survey accepted swearing as part of workplace culture", but warned about specific inappropriate uses of swearing such as when it is discriminatory or part of bullying behaviour. The article ended with a quotation from Ben Wilmott (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development): "Employers can ensure professional language in the workplace by having a well-drafted policy on bullying and harassment that emphasises how bad language has potential to amount to harassment or bullying."[65]

### United States

[edit]

See also: Actionable indecency and United States obscenity law

Local law in Virginia Beach prohibiting the use of profanity along the boardwalk of Atlantic Avenue

In the United States, courts have generally ruled that the government does not have the right to prosecute someone solely for the use of an expletive, which would be a violation of their right to free speech enshrined in the First Amendment. On the other hand, they have upheld convictions of people who used profanity to incite riots, harass people, or disturb the peace.[66] In 2011, a North Carolina statute that made it illegal to use "indecent or profane language" in a "loud and boisterous manner" within earshot of two or more people on any public road or highway was struck down as unconstitutional.[67] In 2015, the city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina passed an ordinance that makes profane language punishable with fines up to $500 and/or 30 days in jail.[68] An amount of $22,000 was collected from these fines in 2017 alone.[69]

## Religious views

[edit]

### Judaism

[edit]

Rabbi Yisroel Cotlar wrote in Chabad.org that Judaism forbids the use of profanity as contradicting the Torah's command to "Be holy", which revolves around the concept of separating oneself from worldly practices (including the use of vulgar language).[70] The Talmud teaches that the words that leave the mouth make an impact on the heart and mind; he stated that the use of profanity thus causes the regression of the soul.[70] Judaism thus teaches that shemirat halashon (guarding one's tongue) is one of the first steps to spiritual improvement.[70]

### Christianity

[edit]

Various Christian writers have condemned the use of "foul language" as being sinful, a position held since the time of the early Church.[71][1] To this end, the Bible commands including "Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them" (Ephesians 4:29)[72] and also "Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving" (Ephesians 5:4).[73] These teachings are echoed in Ecclesiasticus 20:19,[74] Ecclesiasticus 23:8-15,[75] and Ecclesiasticus 17:13-15,[76] all of which are found in the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha.[77] Jesus taught that "by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (cf. Matthew 12:36-37[78]),[79] with revilers being listed as being among the damned in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.[80][81] Profanity revolving around the dictum "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain", one of the Ten Commandments, is regarded as blasphemy as Christians regard it as "an affront to God's holiness".[82][83] Paul the Apostle defines the ridding of filthy language from one's lips as being evidence of living in a relationship with Jesus (cf. Colossians 3:1-10[84]).[85] The Epistle to the Colossians teaches that controlling the tongue "is the key to gaining mastery over the whole body."[77] The Didache 3:3 included the use of "foul language" as being part of the lifestyle that puts one on the way to eternal death.[1] The same document commands believers not to use profanity as it "breeds adultery".[71] John Chrysostom, an early Church Father, taught that those engaged in the use of profanity should repent of the sin.[86] The Epistle of James holds that "blessing God" is the primary function of the Christian's tongue, not speaking foul language.[77] Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, a bishop of Eastern Orthodox Church, lambasted profanity and blasphemy, teaching that it is "extremely unbefitting [for] Christians" and that believers should guard themselves from ever using it.[87]

### Islam

[edit]

According to Ayatullah Ibrahim Amini, the use of "bad words" is haram in Islam. Additionally, impertinence and slander are considered immoral acts.[88]

## See also

[edit]

Look up profanity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* Animal epithet – Name for a person or group, by association with some perceived quality of an animal
* Army creole – Jargon or cant associated with military culture
* Bleep censor – Beep used to censor profanity, typically at 1000 Hz
* Fighting words – Speech or writing intended to incite hatred or violence
* Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting Our First Amendment Liberties – Nonfiction book by law professor Christopher M. Fairman
* Maledictology – Research into cursing and swearing
* Mandarin Chinese profanity – Profanity used within the Mandarin Chinese language
* Obscenity – Act or statement that offends the morality of the period
* Profanity in science fiction
* R v Penguin Books Ltd – 1960 UK court case on obscenity laws
* "Rude Removal" – Lost episode of Dexter's Laboratory
* "Sailor Mouth" – episode of SpongeBob SquarePants (S2 E18a)Pages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
* Scunthorpe problem – Problem caused by profanity filters on the Internet
* Seven dirty words – Words traditionally disallowed in U.S. broadcast radio and television
* Swear jar – Container used for storing money to discourage swearing
* Verbal abuse – Form of abuse using verbal communication for intent to harm person and entity
* Vulgarity – Quality of being common, coarse, or unrefined
* Wordfilter – Script used to censor words or phrases on the internet

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles to the Nations, known as The Didache" (PDF). Legacy Icons. 2016. p. 6. Retrieved 16 February 2022. "But the way of death is this. First of all, it is evil and full of curses: murder, adultery, lust, promiscuity, theft, idolatry, magical arts, witchcraft, robbery, false testimony, hypocrisy, duplicity, treachery, pride, malice, stubbornness, greed, foul language, jealousy, arrogance, pride, and boasting."
2. ^ Sam Leith (23 May 2013). "Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing by Melissa Mohr – review". The Guardian.
3. ^ Oxford English Dictionary Online, "profane", retrieved 2012-02-14
4. ^ Harper, Douglas. "profane". Online Etymology Dictionary.
5. ^ "Bad Words [in the Bible]". OpenBible.info. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
6. ^ Siikala, Anna-Leena (2013). Itämerensuomalaisten mytologia. Helsinki: SKS.
7. ^ Salo, Unto (1990). Agricola's Ukko in the light of archeology. A chronological and interpretative study of ancient Finnish religion: Old Norse and Finnish religions and cultic place-names. Turku. ISBN 951-649-695-4.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
8. ^ "Miten suomalaiset kiroilivat ennen kristinuskoa?". Retrieved 2015-12-25.
9. ^ Suomen kielen etymologinen sanakirja. 3. Helsinki: Suomalais-ugrilainen seura. 1976. ISBN 951-9019-16-2.
10. ^ Meletinsky, Eleazar Moiseevich The Poetics of Myth (Translated by Guy Lanoue and Alexandre Sadetsky) 2000 Routledge ISBN 0-415-92898-2
11. ^ Harper, Douglas. "shit". Online Etymology Dictionary.
12. ^ Harper, Douglas. "fuck". Online Etymology Dictionary.
13. ^ "Definition of Anglo-Saxon". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
14. ^ A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: Colloquialisms and Catch Phrases, Fossilised Jokes and Puns, General Nicknames, Vulgarisms and Such Americanisms As Have Been Naturalised. Eric Partridge, Paul Beale. Routledge, 15 Nov 2002
15. ^ wank. Online Etymology Dictionary.
16. ^ "By God's Bones: Medieval Swear Words". 8 November 2013. Retrieved 22 Oct 2021.
17. ^ Rowan Jones (29 May 2015). "For The Love of a Four Letter Word…".
18. ^ "shit | Search Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
19. ^ Pinker, Steven (2007) The Stuff of Thought. Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-670-06327-7
20. ^ a b Reynolds CR, Vannest KJ, Fletcher E (2018). Encyclopedia of Special Education, Volume 1: A Reference for the Education of Children, Adolescents, and Adults Disabilities and Other Exceptional Individuals (4th ed.). John Wiley and Sons Inc. p. Coprolalia. ISBN 978-0470949382.
21. ^ a b Tourette Association of America. Understanding Coprolalia – A misunderstood symptom. Accessed 12 October 2021.
22. ^ "#Cursing Study: 10 Lessons About How We Use Swear Words on Twitter". Retrieved 2015-01-05.
23. ^ "Cursing in English on Twitter" Archived 2015-01-05 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
24. ^ Nerbonne, G.Patrick; Hipskind, Nicholas M. (1972). "The use of profanity in conversational speech". Journal of Communication Disorders. 5: 47–50. doi:10.1016/0021-9924(72)90029-9. ISSN 0021-9924.
25. ^ Jay, T. (2009). "The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words" (PDF). Perspectives on Psychological Science. 4 (2): 153–161. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01115.x. PMID 26158942. S2CID 34370535. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-19. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
26. ^ Reid, Angus. (2010). Canadians Swear More Often Than Americans and British Archived 2012-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2012-11-19
27. ^ a b Angier, Natalie (2005-09-25). "Cursing is a normal function of human language, experts say". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
28. ^ Feldman, G., Lian, H., Kosinski, M., & Stillwell, D. (2017). Frankly, we do give a damn: The relationship between profanity and honesty. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8(7), 816-826.
29. ^ de Vries, R. E., Hilbig, B. E., Zettler, I., Dunlop, P. D., Holtrop, D., Lee, K., & Ashton, M. C. (2018). Honest people tend to use less—not more—profanity: Comment on Feldman et al.'s (2017) Study 1. Social psychological and personality science, 9(5), 516-520.
30. ^ a b Richard Stephens; John Atkins & Andrew Kingston (2009). "Swearing as a Response to Pain". NeuroReport. 20 (12): 1056–60. doi:10.1097/wnr.0b013e32832e64b1. PMID 19590391. S2CID 14705045.
31. ^ a b Joelving, Frederik (2009-07-12), "Why the #$%! Do We Swear? For Pain Relief", Scientific American, doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind1109-16b, retrieved 2012-11-19
32. ^ Ringman, JM; Kwon, E; Flores, DL; Rotko, C; Mendez, MF; Lu, P (2010). "The Use of Profanity During Letter Fluency Tasks in Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer Disease". Cognitive & Behavioral Neurology. 23 (3): 159–164. doi:10.1097/wnn.0b013e3181e11392. PMC 3594691. PMID 20829665.
33. ^ Damasio, Antonio (1994) Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. ISBN 978-0-399-13894-2
34. ^ Gawinkowska M, Paradowski MB, Bilewicz M (2013). "Second language as an exemption from sociocultural norms. Emotion-Related Language Choice revisited". PLOS ONE. 8 (12): e8122. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...881225G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0081225. PMC 3859501. PMID 24349044.
35. ^ Jay, T., & Janschewitz, K. (2012). The science of swearing. APS Observer, 25(5). https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/the-science-of-swearing accessed 1 January 2020
36. ^ Savage, S. D. (2016). What not to swear: how do children learn bad words? (Doctoral dissertation, University of Alabama Libraries)
37. ^ Suganob-Nicolau, M. F. (2016). Swear words among young learners: A case study of the elementary students. Indonesian JELT, 11(2), 117-132.
38. ^ Wong, Kristin (2017-07-27). "The Case for Cursing (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
39. ^ "Pejorative Language | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy". Retrieved 2020-11-03.
40. ^ Montagu, Ashley (2001). The Anatomy of Swearing. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 298\. ISBN 0-8122-1764-0.
41. ^ "Minced oath". The Phrase Finder. 11 December 2023.
42. ^ "The Offensive Magic of Swearing". RadioWest (Podcast). KUER-FM. January 9, 2024.
43. ^ Methven, Elyse (2018). "A Little Respect: Swearing, Police and Criminal Justice Discourse". International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. 7 (3): 58–74. doi:10.5204/ijcjsd.v7i1.428. hdl:10453/127530. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
44. ^ Methven, Elyse (2020). "Commodifying Justice: Discursive Strategies Used in the Legitimation of Infringement Notices for Minor Offences". International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique. 33 (2): 353–379. doi:10.1007/s11196-020-09710-z. S2CID 219441851. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
45. ^ "Summary Offences Act 1988 (NSW) s 4A". AustLII. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
46. ^ "Código Penal CP com jurisprudência unificada". brasil.mylex.net (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2018-05-12. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
47. ^ "Calúnia, difamação e injúria: os crimes contra a honra". Blog de Wellington Saraiva (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2018-05-11.
48. ^ Canada’s Surprising Park Etiquette Law: The Ban on Public Swearing, Teeterme.
49. ^ Nova Scotia man facing trial for swearing in public, thestar.com.
50. ^ "Indian Penal Code" (PDF). indiacode.nic.in. 1 May 1861. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
51. ^ "AIB Roast: Court asks to file FIR against Karan Johar, Deeepika Padukone, Aalia Bhat, Ranvir Singh & Arjun Kapoor". Moneylife NEWS & VIEWS. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
52. ^ PTI (May 8, 2019). "PM Modi lists out abuses hurled at him, says Congress did not even spare his mother". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
53. ^ "Three ad campaigns to watch out for on Republic Day". Indian Television Dot Com. 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
54. ^ "Mother, sister, daughter... whose gaali is it anyway?". DNA India. 2016-02-21. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
55. ^ vishalingale (2021-02-01). "7 Indian shows on Netflix that you should not watch with your parents". GQ India. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
56. ^ "Summary Offences Act 1981 No 113 (as at 01 March 2017), Public Act – New Zealand Legislation". www.legislation.govt.nz.
57. ^ "PTI's Use Of Abusive Language To Shame Dissident Lawmakers Exposes The Party's Deep-Rooted Problem". The Friday Times - Naya Daur. 2022-03-19. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
58. ^ a b "Educators only have good words for Baguio's anti-cursing law". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
59. ^ "Bawal magma: Anti-profanity ordinance passed in Baguio". ABS-CBNnews.com. 7 November 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
60. ^ The Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, 20:1.
61. ^ "Salford Council tries to outlaw swearing at The Quays". 2 March 2016.
62. ^ "Public Order Act 1986". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
63. ^ Swearing in the Workplace. Retrieved 2012-11-19.
64. ^ a b Work Etiquette – Swearing in the Workplace. Retrieved 2012-11-19
65. ^ Matt Keating (2006-06-03). "Should swearing be tolerated in the workplace?". Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
66. ^ Wilson, Tracy V. (30 November 2005). "How Swearing Works". HowStuffWorks.
67. ^ "State's Anti-Profanity Law Unconstitutional Rules Superior Court Judge". ACLU. January 7, 2011.
68. ^ WPDE Staff (2018-08-27). "Watch your mouth! Profanity could cost you in Myrtle Beach". WLOS. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
69. ^ "A beach in South Carolina made over $22,000 by charging people for swearing". The Independent. 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
70. ^ a b c Cotlar, Rabbi Yisroel. "The Torah on Dirty Words". Chabad.org. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
71. ^ a b Wogaman, J. Philip (1 January 1993). Christian Ethics: A Historical Introduction. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 30\. ISBN 978-0-664-25163-5.
72. ^ Ephesians 4:29
73. ^ Ephesians 5:4
74. ^ Ecclesiasticus 20:19
75. ^ Ecclesiasticus 23:8–15
76. ^ Ecclesiasticus 27:13–15
77. ^ a b c Hultin, Jeremy F. (31 August 2008). The Ethics of Obscene Speech in Early Christianity and Its Environment. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 167, 215. ISBN 978-90-474-3367-5.
78. ^ Matthew 12:36–37
79. ^ DiMarzio, Johnny (9 October 2019). The View From the Pew. Covenant Books. ISBN 978-1-64559-615-8.
80. ^ 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
81. ^ Loader, William (13 September 2012). The New Testament on Sexuality. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 326\. ISBN 978-0-8028-6724-7.
82. ^ "Thou Shalt Not Thou Shalt Not Take the Lord's Name in Vain: Blasphemy Is Still a Sin". ChurchPOP. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
83. ^ Bill Bright (2005). The Joy of Faithful Obedience. Cook Communications. p. 52\. ISBN 978-0-7814-4252-7.
84. ^ Colossians 3:1–10
85. ^ Jensen, Robin M. (June 2012). Baptismal Imagery in Early Christianity: Ritual, Visual, and Theological Dimensions. Baker Publishing Group. p. 169\. ISBN 978-0-8010-4832-6.
86. ^ Old, Hughes Oliphant (1998). The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church, Volume 2: The Patristic Age. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 189\. ISBN 978-0-8028-4357-9. "The city was stunned with fear when John Chrysostom entered the pulpit to prepare his congregation to enter the forty-day fast. Never was a congregation more ripe for repentance than the Christians of Antioch were at the beginning of the fast that year. The preacher lamented the sins of the city and challenged its citizens not merely to fast but to lay aside every form of sin, especially the sins of swearing and cursing. All through the twenty-one sermons John preached during the fast, this theme keeps recurring. Perhaps our preacher planned to mount a special crusade against the making of oaths, the use of foul language, and other expressions of anger during the fasting season, or maybe he had intended to challenge his congregation to rid themselves of the sins of the..."
87. ^ Bobosh, Ted (21 June 2018). "The Problem of Profanity". OrthoChristian. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
88. ^ "Chapter 62: Tongue Lashing and Impertinence". www.al-islam.org. 2013-01-30. Retrieved 2022-11-07.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Almond, Ian (2003). "Derrida and the Secret of the Non-Secret: On Respiritualising the Profane". Literature and Theology. 17 (4): 457–471. doi:10.1093/litthe/17.4.457.
* Bryson, Bill (1990) The Mother Tongue
* Bulcke, Camille (2001) [1968]. An English-Hindi Dictionary (3rd ed.). Ramnagar, New Delhi: Chand. ISBN 81-219-0559-1.
* Croom, Adam M. (2011). "Slurs". Language Sciences. 33 (3): 343–358. doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2010.11.005.
* Eggert, Randall (2011). This Book Is Taboo: An Introduction to Linguistics through Swearing. Kendall Hunt Publishing. ISBN 978-0757586422.
* Hughes, Geoffrey (2004) [1991]. Swearing: A Social History of Foul Language, Oaths and Profanity in English. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141954325.
* Jay, Timothy (1992). Cursing in America: A psycholinguistic study of dirty language in the courts, in the movies, in the schoolyards and on the streets. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1556194511.
* Johnson, Sterling (2004) Watch Your F*cking Language
* McEnery, Tony (2006) Swearing in English: bad language, purity and power from 1586 to the present, Routledge ISBN 0-415-25837-5.
* McWhorter, John (2021). Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter: Then, Now, and Forever. Avery. ISBN 978-0593188798.
* O'Connor, Jim (2000) Cuss Control
* Roache, Rebecca (2023). For F*ck's Sake: Why Swearing is Shocking, Rude, and Fun. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190665067.
* Sagarin Edward (1962) The Anatomy of Dirty Words
* Sheidlower, Jesse (2009) The F-Word (3rd ed.)
* Spears, Richard A. (1990) Forbidden American English
* Stollznow, Karen. "Swearing is bad?". Archived from the original on 2007-05-21.
* Wajnryb, Ruth (2005) Expletive Deleted: A Good Look at Bad Language

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Profanity.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Profanity.

Look up profanity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* Most vulgar words in The Online Slang Dictionary (as voted by visitors)
*   * Francis Grose (1811). Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue at Project Gutenberg

* v
* t
* e

Profanity

By language|

* American Sign Language
* Cantonese
* Dutch
* Esperanto
* Finnish
* Georgian
* German
* Hindi-Urdu
* Hokkien
* Italian
* Japanese
* Korean
* Latin
* Mandarin Chinese
* Norwegian
* Polish
* Portuguese
* Quebec French
* Romanian
* Russian
* Sinhala
* Spanish
* Swedish
* Tagalog

Devices|

* Bleep censor
* Broadcast delay
* Expletive deleted
* Grawlix
* Swear jar
* Wordfilter

Other|

* Expletive attributive
* Expletive infixation
* Fighting words
* Four-letter word
* Hypoalgesic effect of swearing
* Maledicta
* Maledictology
* Minced oath
* Pardon my French
* Profane Swearing Act 1694
* Profanity in science fiction
* Scunthorpe problem
* Seven dirty words
* List of ethnic slurs

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Aspects of workplaces

Topics|

* Absenteeism
* Abusive supervision
* Aggression
* Anti-pattern
* Artificial intelligence
* Bullying
* Climate
* Culture
* Computer surveillance
* Conflict
* Control freak
* Counterproductive behaviour
* Coworking
* Culture of fear
* Democracy
* Deviance
* Discrimination
* Diversity
* Divide and rule
* Drug tests
* Effects of overtime
* Emotional labor
* Emotions
* Employee assistance
* Employee engagement
* Employee experience
* Employee monitoring
* Employee morale
* Employee recognition
* Employee silence
* Employee surveys
* Empowerment
* Evaluation
* Feminisation
* Generations
* Goofing off
* Gossip
* Happiness
* Harassment
* Health promotion
* Health surveillance
* Hostile work environment
* Humor
* Incivility
* Inequality
* Intervention
* Jargon
* Kick the cat
* Kiss up kick down
* Listening
* Machiavellianism
* Menopause
* Micromanagement
* Mobbing
* Narcissism
* Office politics
* Overwork
* Parkinson's law
* Performance appraisal
* Personality clash
* Phobia
* Positive psychology
* Privacy
* Probation
* Profanity
* Psychopathy
* Quality of working life
* Queen bee syndrome
* Rat race
* Relationships
* Revenge
* Robotics safety
* Role conflict
* Sabotage
* Spirituality
* Strategy
* Stress
* Toxic workplace
* Toxic leader
* Training
* Turnover
* Undermining
* Violence
* Virtual
* Wellness
* Work–family conflict
* Workload
* Workplace harassment
* Workwear

See also|

* Corporation
* Employment
* Factory
* Headquarters
* Job
* Job sharing
* Labour movement
* Labor rights
* Office
* Organization
* Remote work
* Strike action
* Trade union
* Whistleblower

Templates|

* Aspects of corporations
* Aspects of jobs
* Aspects of occupations
* Aspects of organizations
* Employment

Authority control databases: National |

* Germany
* United States
* Israel

|

*[c.]: circa
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template