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I’m discussing swearing on BBC Radio Wales as most children learn how to swear before they even know the alphabet, according to a new book that examines bad language and its origins out today.
English speakers also use a swear word on average once in every 140 words, roughly the same proportion as the first person plural pronouns such as ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ or that’s once every tweet !
The surprising preponderance of swearing in everyday language probably explains why the majority of children know at least one obscene word by the age of two, says language expert Dr. Mellissa Mohr, from Stanford University in California.
It really ‘kicks off’, she adds, around the ages of three and four.
She claims that over an average day around 0.7 per cent of English language consists of swear words.
In her new book, ‘Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing,’ Dr. Mohr claims the upper classes are just as likely to turn the air blue as less educated working class people.
Rather than lazy language, obscenities can have practical uses, such as providing relief from pain if a person gets hurt, for instance when you hit your hand with a hammer.
Studies have shown that swearing sometimes has a genuine physiological effect on the body.
Swearing also helps to form social solidarity – for example, when workers use swear words while talking about their managers, it builds an ‘in-group’ which aids social and professional interaction.
So what do you think?
I wrote an article about whether it was OK for kids to swear at you as I had lots of parents asking me on my “Parenting Made Easy Talks” about how to handle it.
Click on my article
Is it OK for your children to swear at you?
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2307524/Most-children-learn-swear-know-alphabet-Forget-ABC-toddlers-prefer-F-word.html#ixzz2QERBQP9w Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebookoup least likely to use swear words, says the researcher, is the middle class.
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