Bad Words May Not Be So Bad, Says University of Florida Researcher

September 17, 1996

GAINESVILLE — No matter what your mother said, there may be times when swearing is appropriate, a University of Florida researcher said.

Using bad words in a conversation can sometimes reduce tensions or exhibit solidarity with a group, said Kristy Beers, a doctoral candidate in linguistics at UF.

“We have been told all our lives that swearing is inappropriate, but there are actually times when it may be appropriate, if the speaker is prone to swearing,” Beers said. “The major variable is the company we are around. If the company accepts swearing or exhibits this behavior, it might lead to less monitoring of swearing by the speaker.”

Although swearing has been the subject of other studies, Beers’ study focuses on the usage of the words, rather than the history or origin of the words.

“I am interested in how these words figure into conversation when we want to fit in with a certain group,” Beers said. “When we want to be like the person we are speaking with, we tend to take on their way of speaking. If we are around someone who peppers their conversation with swear words, we are likely to do the same thing.”

Although almost everyone agrees that swearing is inappropriate, almost everyone also does it. This could be a function of the group listening to the speaker, who would determine whether swearing is inappropriate or not, based on the speaker’s and the listener’s reaction. These words can be used as a way to identify with a group of people.

“Linguistic behavior is largely determined by environment, if you are around other people who make you feel comfortable, your language is less formal,” Beers said. “I am

trying to find how swearing can be used as a gauge of solidarity.”

There are times, however, when swearing is inappropriate. When the speaker swears in these conditions, this is recognized as a “slip.”

“Everyone had an idea of when swearing was not appropriate. There are many inappropriate environments, for example at work, around superiors. When I took a closer look, however, a lot of these people admitted to swearing at work,” Beers said. “In the back of everyone’s mind, we have rules, but what is more important than the rules is the company we are in. The company we are in overrides the environment and the rules.”

Because there is more cultural acceptance of swear words now than in the past, it seems like more and more people are dressing up their speech with naughty words, finding new uses for old words.

“If I asked you to come up with a list of swear words, you would probably come up with about eight or nine. If I asked 20 more people, I would still probably get those same eight or nine words, because there is a limited number of swear words,” Beers said. “It is not possible to invent new swear words, so we take what we have and use them in new contexts. There is some urge that says, If we can’t have more swear words, we might as well use them in more places’.”

With swear words becoming more acceptable in daily speech, words that were taboo 10 or 20 years ago are popping up in places where they were never heard before, such as prime time television.

“I am interested to see if swearing still has an effect, or if we are losing our sensitivity to these words,” Beers said. “The same people who say, Oh, it’s just a word,’ usually also say that nothing packs a punch like a swear word, attesting to the power of these words.”