'Women who swear are happier'.

And neither can Dame Judy (apologies to this who’ve seen this photo before)

I couldn't agree more, Anya. It's a shame that Dr Emma Bryne couldn't work that out too.

Nice to know someone read my post Hilly

It all comes down to context and creativity. If the only word you know is ‘fuck’ and you use that, and it’s derivitives, ad nauseam, then that’s not acceptable IMO. It shows a singular lack of intelligence and vocabulary.

If however you have a wide range of expletives to choose from and use them appropriately and selectively then I can’t see the problem.

Going back to the OP and Anya's explanation of how the psychologists came to their conclusions, doesn't the research just show that articulate people have a wider vocabulary of all kinds of language and the intelligence to differentiate swear words from polite language? I wonder if people who swear as a normal part of everyday speech really realise what they are saying? And what do they say to relieve the tension when they hit their thumb with a hammer or a seagull takes their sandwich?
As a secondary school teacher I always reprimanded pupils if they swore and my reply to the 'they are only words' retort was that words have meanings!
The only time I ever heard my father swear was after he had his stroke. I knew then how much he was suffering.

Re using asterisks in written swear words being "(supposedly) more polite".

I'll take that, thank you .

Riverwalk, I've tried to imagine an awful and private occasion both past and possible and I find myself with Pollyperkins in that I simply wouldn't swear. It's not a big deal: just how it is. I might let out some frustrated screamy grunt at my utter carelessness but that's it. (honestly......)

Smacking a toddler for saying a word they've heard their sibling say but probably don't know the meaning of is far worse, in my opinion, than swearing or blaspheming.

Hear, hear ticktock!

I find blaspheming really upsetting and offensive but can cope with mild swearing.

The use of asterisks on web forums is sometimes done out of caution, because some forums have an auto-correct system that turns the offending word into something mundane like "cauliflower" or "stuff".

With this in mind, I will add my thoughts, modestly edited:

These words don't have an absolute value. They're only as bad as the speaker or the listener feels them to be. If you are someone who uses the f-word as an intensifier in every sentence, it won't feel like anything special if you use it in extreme circumstances. The chosen expletive will only "work" for you if it's one you save for occasions such as extreme pain or provocation. There's nothing intrinsic in the word itself that makes any difference. You may as well use "Knickers!" or "Holy Moly!" or anything you care to choose - why not be inventive?

Another thought: there's a big difference between using a strong word to express strong feelings and directing this language towards another person. If your trap your finger in the door, the profanities that escape your lips may be acceptable in that context, but would not be so if you applied them to the person who had accidentally pulled the door shut.

There's a time and a place for swearing. Never in front of gcs. I was telling my dd about someone and described them as an a.r.s.e. ( spelled out) 5 yo gd immediately piped up "who's an arse? What does arse mean?" Forgot she's learning to spell and has an excellent grasp of phonics!

I must be very happy,luckily my dog and horse don't mind.

I dropped a nine egg cake mix on the kitchen floor ..and I didn't swear.I usually say silly woman because it was me who dropped it or where's your brain today but I dont swear.I swore ONCE when I was two,my sister who was 7 learned the word at school so I repeated it at the dinner table.My aunt who knew fine well what I had said insisted on me repeating it until my lovely Dad heard.He would never have used that word himself,so I was removed from the table taken to the bedroom and smacked.Just once ,but he had never smacked any of us before and didn't again.He was so upset about it he sat beside me on the bed and cried with me .It has lived with me all my life ,I would never have disappointed him agian by swearing.Even when I'm on my own .

I am quite sure that even people who pepper every sentence with swear words also know words such as sugar, gosh, knickers etc., so i really don't think that the argument about lack of vocabulary is valid.

DD tells me 'It's just words, mum! Thy don't hurt anyone!' But I can't agree!

My mother always said that swearing meant lack of vocabulary. Even if you want to swear you should consider other people!

dh swears occsionally but not in public; however, if I said 'Oh God' he would be down on me like a ton of bricks.

You might not believe me Riverwalk but I really wouldn't swear even if on my own! I might go so far as 'Damn!' But it would probably be 'Oh no', 'Knickers!', or even 'Oh God'! Nothing stronger ever occurs to me. And by using euphemisms such as 'sugar' or 'the f word' I'm NOT thinking myself superior or patronising anyone, , I really cannot bring myself to use these words (and dont want to anyway.) I suppose I'm a prude but I can't help it!

like when a gull swipes your sandwich right out of your hand; vicious beasts, gulls, so quite scary when they get so close
When that happened to me I was stunned into silence.

All the old people enjoying their sunshine in the park were tittering behind their hands; obviously many of them had seen it all before.

My lovely dad could, I am told, swear like a trooper when on the golf course with his male friends ((he was not a natural golfer and would get very frustrated by his poor shots) - he was a very intelligent man and had a swearing vocabulary that would take some beating, but that was also highly amusing! In polite company, or a family setting, he was known instead for his creative curses - his range of perfectly innocent and simple word combinations such as 'curse my boots' were said with such feeling that more than one grandchild grew up thinking that such oft-heard expressions were also genuine swearing. In his case, both the swearing and the 'cursing' were the product of a very sharp and creative mind.

I must admit I do swear, especially when I've lost something which happens more often these days. If I have to pick things up and put them down again too many times I'll let out a FFS (uninhibited) but that's all right as I live alone and the cat isn't going to copy me. I'm sure he can tell by my demeanour (perhaps stomping about) that I'm annoyed.
However I try not to swear in company as I feel that it sounds as if I've let myself down by stooping to swearing. I can well understand that it sounds awful to the listener.

I think the story of Baroness Trumpington shouting bollox often in the Lords at 95 is wonderful. I'm sure I would too.

Riverwalk ?....it just comes out naturally ( swearing) in a case like that, quite involuntary really.
Swear words are stress words, but if they just pepper the general conversation it simply sounds coarse.
It’s all to do with the household you were brought up in and the job you did though.I never heard anybody in my entire family use swear words ( around me) when growing up, or neighbours either.I certainly didn’t grow up in charmed surroundings, so it wasn’t that.

I have been known to use bad language when something goes wrong but when something dramatic happens the words that come out are “oh my” lol. When my son followed me down a flume in Portugal he was amused to tell me that I’d had come out with “oh my” at every bend!!!

For those who claim never to swear:

in the privacy of your own kitchen, in that instant when the roasting tin full of hot fat and roasties drops to the floor as you take it out of the oven would you really say, horlicks, blast, dearie me, sugar, knickers, puddings ??

Hand on heart