'Women who swear are happier'.

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.

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.

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

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

Afraid I swear like a trooper. Raised with brothers, worked in newspapers. So no hope for me. Ex hated it. I finds it gets aargh off my chest!

I agree with Bags. I really find the use of asterisks in adult reading material (such as The Sunday Times) patronising and unnecessary. On occasions, it actually gets in the way of the sense of the article - such as discussing whether someone's use of a particular word is racist or not.
So far as using swear words is concerned - yes, I often do, but am careful not to offend and would never swear in public places. Never swore in the home whilst the children were growing up, but now they are adults we all swear, as the occasion demands, with gay abandon!

I swear, but not in general conversation. It’s politics that triggers it in me (pretty much on a daily basis). A good FFS helps me not to exploid when the Tories lie about the NHS, and Trump can get me very creative!

I also use sugar as an expletive! As a child, we were told that knickers was a rude word, we should say pants or panties. I also remembered being told off for saying darned tootin' which was written on the back of a cereal packet I was reading! I so dislike the c word though.

I once read somewhere that although language is a left brain activity, swearing is an emotional response coming from the right side of the brain. This would be exacerbated by being taught from an early age that some words are 'bad' and would therefore emerge instinctively and without control when 'bad' things happen to you. My father in law never swore until he had a stroke after which he used language no one knew he was aware of. This makes sense according to this theory.

It is interesting how many posters say 'I don't swear, except .....' Using alternatives like 'sugar' 'flip' 'pants' is surely just the same thing except those words haven't yet developed the same nasty connotations. They certainly mean the same.

I only recently realised what I say 'instead', when my DGD used, 'Flippy floppy floo flah'. Well guess what that stands for !!

Using asterisks in publications is not patronising IMHO. It would seem that we are about 50/50 in regard to those who use swear words and blasphemy, and those who think it's quite natural. The asterisks are out of respect for those who take offence. Everyone probably knows what the asterisks represent, but some people don't need or want to have it pushed in their faces.

Whoops - I meant 50/50 as regard to those who use them and those who don't like or use them.

My mother used to resort to 'Oh sugarpuffs!' We never heard her swear, though my dad did frequently. I didn't swear as I was growing up - didn't in my young adult life either. I went to uni in the noughties and was, frankly, very shocked by the language, but also learned to 'loosen up' and not see it as terrible. I do let the odd 'swear' word out now and used sparingly, they add to force of expression ... .
DH tends to say 'Oh bo**ocks' if he is really cross and the way he says it just makes me laugh!
Still don't like swearing around children.

I agree Jackie, that is why I use the asterisk.

But why use asterisks in words like bollocks? It’s hardly more than a mild expletive IMO.

It makes me wonder what words people will come up with in the future to express frustration or annoyance. The ones used now are heard so frequently in public and in the media that their emphasis I'd being slowly eroded.

If Dr Byrne used my local buses she might revise her opinion about those who swear. I’ve heard no evidence that those whose ‘conversation’ is laced with Anglo Saxon expletives are literate and have extensive vocabularies. Quite the reverse.
The occasional use, spoken or written, can add emphasis. However a gratuitous stream is the product of a lazy and limited mind.

IMO swear words used in the ‘right’ context and with the appropriate emphasis can add something to the conversation or the incident. Using them in general conversation shows a lack of imagination, intellect and empathy for other people.
I also think it’s quite lazy especially when it comes to comedy. Many comedians seem to use swearing when they can’t come up with something funny. IMO

I hate swearing. When my sons were growing up I said to them you can swear with your friends but never in our house. They are now in their forties and I have never heard them swear. My husband is the same as me although he has said when he hits his thumb with a hammer !!! It annoyed me once when Richard
Madeley said “everyone swears” no everyone does not swear. I used to say “blooming” and “sugar” when really annoyed. I heard my dad swear once in my whole life when I was about 8 and was so shocked.

swearing definitely makes pain go away. Indeed over 30 yrs ago if my children fell off their ponies (we did a lot of competing and training) and were hurt, they were allowed to use any words they liked so long as no one else heard them! So they would grit their teeth, make it back to the lorry and then, with the doors shut let rip. Interestingly by the time they got there the pain had often gone so they did not bother but it really does work. I think it is something to do with diverting the brain from actual pain to vocalising the agony!

I hate the way the F & C word is used in normal conversation, but I do swear on occasions when there is no dodgy around to hear. A bit hypocritical I suppose.

I am glad there was nobody around a few weeks ago when I went over on my ank.e and managed to break a bone in my foot and badly sprained my ankle. I am still muttering about the bl***y inconvenience of it.

Yes, when I had sciatica, I stood outside A/E in the rain waiting for my son to pick me up, swearing away because I had read research that said it helped with pain. No one else was around to hear me ,though.

When I lived and worked in Manchester just about everybody I worked with, colleagues and clients, swore. Their swearing never bothered me, but the fact that I didn't join in used to irritate some people enormously. The more puerile among my colleagues would occasionally (and unsuccessfully) create situations to provoke me. As an aside I was also teetotal at the time and you would have thought I'd come from another planet the way I was perceived! I found people to be very intolerant.
Nowadays I very rarely hear swear words as none of my family or friends swear in front of me. I usually have a discussion on swear words with my English language students when discussing formal and informal speech registers - they are usually some of the first words they learn!

Eh Up grannyactivist, I live and worked in Manchester throughout much of my life. My experience hasn't been like yours. In fact my parents and grandparents didn't swear, although the odd 'bugger it' was occasionally heard.
I wonder if you were working with our youth wing, who use the f word as a matter of course it seems.
I don't mind swearing, providing it isn't used in anger or in a verbally aggressive way.

I was a (Children and Families) social worker in Hulme and Moss Side Iam. My mum still lives in Wythenshawe (where I was born and raised!).

I did swear in front of the granddaughter a few weeks back.
In the middle of the school run, on a busy road, which was a slight hill, raining cats and dogs, when my gear box decided to blow with a very loud bang. Granddaughter screaming "are we going to blow up nana" cars hooting me and not one bastard stopped to help!!
The situation got worse before it got better, but I won't bore you with that.