5 – Gender Swear-Off,
- In the battle for the title of Sweary-iest Sex, men reign supreme. According to a study, males curse a lot more than women. This is most likely due to social conditioning.
- Interestingly, men swear a lot less when there are women around. However, women who dare to swear don’t curb their tongues when men are around. In fact, one study found that women actually swear more when members of the opposite sex are nearby. Stop being such a fucking bad influence, fellas.
4 – Swears Per Capita,
- According to a recent study involving monitored customer service calls, the American state that swears the most is Ohio. This is by a wide margin. Yes, I’m surprised it wasn’t New York too. Ohio was also found to be in the top five ‘least courteous states’, so basically get the fuck out of their way.
- Conversely, people from Washington, DC were found to swear the least. This might be because George Washington famously detested profanity.
3 – Voters Love Politicians Who Swear,
- According to a study by Nicoletta Cavazza published in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology, voters respond positively to a politician who swears.
- The study had test subjects read blog posts by fictional candidates for an imaginary election. Participants were more likely to vote for candidates if their posts contained minor vulgarities.
- If you think about it, this makes sense. A good political candidate is relatable and transparent. By lowering their guard and swearing, a politician comes across as more genuine. This is important to most voters.
- According to the study, this only works for male candidates. Female politicians who swore didn’t win over voters in the same way.
2 – Swearing Hurts Jesus,
- In the Middle Ages, many believed that uttering swear words physically hurt Jesus. That’s right: as they leave your lips, bad words turn into tiny invisible daggers that tear apart the ascended body of Christ.
- This also happens when you use the Lord’s name in vain.
1 – Convicted Blasphemer,
- In the 1600s, swearing wasn’t the mild finger-wagging offence it is today; it was a deep-seated taboo. For instance, in 1676, Englishman John Taylor was dragged before the Westminster court to illustrate how dangerous blasphemy could be.
- Taylor’s potty-mouth was so out of control that he was first committed to an institution to see if he was a blasphemer or outright insane. When treatment – presumably a bar of soap in the mouth – failed to cure him, he was ordered to appear in court again.
- During his sentencing, the Lord Chief Justice declared swearing and blasphemy a crime punishable by a court of law. Taylor was ordered to pay a hefty fine and stand in the Westminster pillory wearing a piece of paper on his head that read, ‘For blasphemous words, tending to the subversion of all government’.
- He was then imprisoned until someone would vouch for his good behaviour. Today there’s no record of his release.
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