Swearing Trends: When It’s Okay And Common Cursing Habits
Curse words are a part of human communication. We all have our reasons for dropping a few choice words now and then.
Remember the days when getting your mouth washed out with soap was a consequence of swearing? Seems like those days may be gone now. A poll conducted by YouGov surveyed 14,000 people about their introduction to regular swearing. About 10% confessed to engaging in profanity by the age of 10, with an even smaller 4% claiming they were “younger than 8” when they began.
Interestingly, 19% of respondents claimed they had never adopted the habit of cursing regularly. Among those who did, about 18% acknowledged starting between the ages of 14 and 16, while 13% reported they started between 11 and 13, and another 13% stated they began between 17 and 19. Moreover, 14% admitted they didn’t begin swearing regularly until they were “20 or older.”
Swearing, Why Do People Do It?
Guiding Exceptional Parents reported that swearing is a basic biological response used by creatures who have language. They also mentioned that swearing allows us to endure pain for longer and can serve as a social bonding experience. The parenting magazine noted that cursing is a more “socially acceptable response” than, for instance, hitting someone. However, they added, “It doesn’t feel very socially acceptable when your 9-year-old lets loose with words you would never dare to say.”
When Is It Okay to Swear?
Let’s be real: swearing and cursing all come down to personal preference. Some people feel it’s acceptable at any time, while others scale back occasionally. But when is it okay to swear? From personal experience, I would say when you’re angry, when someone cuts you off in traffic, when you wake up late from work, and when your computer decides to auto-restart during a major project.
According to Psychiatrist.com, the act of swearing can be a distraction, increasing a person’s ability to tolerate pain and discomfort. They added that profanity can help people process emotions, establish social bonds, and express their feelings in certain situations.
6 Baby Names You Probably Should Avoid
Messiah
In 2013, a child support magistrate in East Tennessee ruled that a 7-month-old boy named Messiah must have his name changed to Martin. “The word ‘Messiah’ is a title, and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person, and that one person is Jesus Christ,” said Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew.
Adolf Hitler
In 2009, New Jersey parents Heath and Deborah Campbell were taken into state custody after authorities got involved in a cake incident. A bakery refused to decorate a cake with the words “Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler.” The Campbell’s gave their three children Nazi-inspired names including Adolf Hitler . Though the state said that their names were not the reason, it’s been reported that the parents didn’t believe them.
Allah
In 2018, Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk of Georgia sued their home state after officials refused to let them name their daughter ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah. The issue was Allah, the two-year-old girl’s last name. Georgia law requires that children bear the last name of at least one of their parents. The parents won the case, with the help of lawyers from the ACLU.
1069
In 1976, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that short-order cook and high school teacher Michael Herbert Dengler could not change his name to “1069.”
Santa Claus
In December 1999, Robert William Handley of Ohio filed a petition to change his name to Santa Robert Claus. Judge Lawrence Belskis denied his petition saying that “the public has a proprietary interest, a proprietary right in the identity of Santa Claus, both in the name and the persona.”
III
A 1984 ruling from the California Courts of Appeal denied a request from Thomas Boyd Ritchie III to change his name to the Roman numeral “III,” pronounced “Three.” The court said that, “a change to a roman numeral did not constitute a name change within the meaning of the law and that the new ‘name’ used by appellant was inherently confusing.”
