What to cover with asterisks?

In the Russian language, unlike many Western European languages, obscene vocabulary is taboo. For the media, Roskomnadzor has compiled a special list of words that cannot be used. It’s easy to remember - there are only four roots: “... An obscene designation for the male genital organ, an obscene designation for the female genital organ, an obscene designation for the process of copulation and an obscene designation for a woman of dissolute behavior, as well as all linguistic units derived from these words.”

What does a foul-mouthed person look like?

Judging by the common expressions in our language, this is some kind of uncouth fellow. I noticed this at a very young age. Even if you have white knee socks on your feet and a bow on your head, even if your favorite pastime is jumping rope, but as soon as you come to adults with the question (caused solely by linguistic interest and the ability to read words in an elevator) “What is “x*” **** [bad]?", your bows will turn into nothing. You will be compared to a longshoreman, a drunken shoemaker, or a plumber. And you, by the way, are only six years old.

But a toilet, a drunken sailor and something f***** [bad] will forever be politically incorrectly intertwined in your mind.

When I, already as an adult, told my family that in my glossy magazine editorial meetings were held in an exquisite mixture of English, French, Russian literary languages ​​and Russian obscenities, they were surprised, and in my mind’s eye a greasy plumber’s cap grew on the editor-in-chief’s head, and in his hand he had a plunger.

In order to somehow justify, first of all, drunken sailors, and secondly, editors-in-chief, a lot of research was carried out at universities around the world. In general, they say that a person who uses obscene language in his speech is more pleasant in all respects. In any case, unlike a person who avoids obscene expressions and does not immediately find a rhyme for the word “star,” I want to get to know him.

Swear words, according to psychologists from the Massachusetts College of Human Sciences, account for approximately 0.5% of the total number of words a person speaks per day. Experts also point out that analyzing how the average person swears doesn't help much; it's important to study specific examples, since personality traits are more important. Although the habit of expressive expression is characteristic of people of different genders, socio-economic statuses and ages, men and adolescents are still most often susceptible to it.

Among the traits of the five-factor model of personality, the frequency of using obscene language is positively correlated with extroversion, openness to new experience, and neuroticism, and negatively correlated with agreeableness and conscientiousness. And the aforementioned psychologists from Massachusetts claim that love for strong words is negatively correlated with religiosity and sexual anxiety.

If we simplify and instead of all these correlations we draw two portraits in our heads, two extremes - a foul-mouthed person and a person who never uses obscene language, then we will see on the one hand a sociable, courageous and slightly emotionally unstable hooligan, and on the other - an excellent school student with oblique, bashful and diligent.

What is a mat?

The root word for “foul language” is “filth.” Dahl in his dictionary gave the following definition of filth - everything disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, abomination.

The roots of swearing go deep into the past, during pagan times. Foul language was used for spells when they wanted to communicate with demons. Black magicians and sorcerers used obscenities to cause damage and send curses.

Important! Foul language has a clear impact on the body and psyche - by using swear words, a person, without knowing it, calls on evil forces.

Why is it a sin

Priests and people close to the church argue that foul language is scary because it kills in a person the trait that makes him related to God - the ability to speak. Through swearing, demons try to distort in a person that which unites him with Christ and distinguishes him from any other creation - the gift of speech. The more often and more a person swears, the dirtier his soul and thoughts become, he cannot sincerely love, be kind, merciful.

Of course, you need to fight against swear words, but this is not a fight against bad language, but to remain a Christian worthy of turning to God.

Important! Remember that the quantity of swear words will sooner or later turn into quality - at first there will be small troubles, but if you don’t stop in time, a big trouble is just around the corner, health problems.

Where did the mats come from and how do they harm?

The opinion that swearing was customary among the Slavic peoples is completely wrong. Until the mid-19th century in Rus', those who allowed themselves to use foul language were severely punished. This act was considered a criminal offense. During the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, they were punished with blows in public for swearing.

Unfortunately, already at the end of the 19th century the situation changed - abusive speech began to be heard in taverns, on the streets of cities, villages, and very soon such speech became the norm for artisans and the working class.

In fact, foul language reflects a person’s limited vocabulary, as well as a person’s inability to navigate and express their own emotions.

The answer to the question - is foul language dangerous - is definitely positive. Swear words harm both mental and physical health, especially when it comes to boys and girls. Here are the statistics for 20 years:

• the number of children with mental and physical disabilities has increased 10 times;
• about 80% of newborns are sick and only every tenth school graduate is healthy;
• mortality in Russia - more than 2.5 thousand people;
• In terms of life expectancy, Russia is in 133rd place;
• almost half of children are unable to complete high school.

Not the least role in this is played by verbal promiscuity. It turns out that this habit is far from harmless.

What is the danger of swearing:

• the culture of speech is degrading - swear words do not carry any intellectual load, they mean nothing;
• the dignity of a person is destroyed - both the one who uses foul language and those who hear it;
• swearing is a habit, and a person is dependent on his habits, very little time passes and a person cannot do without swear words;
• Foul language is a criminal offense, and such words can also result in physical injury, disgust from people, and absolute disregard.

Scientists have proven that with the help of words a person is able to create or destroy his own DNA. This is quite possible, since words are transmitted via electromagnetic channels and processed by the brain. Swear words resemble radiation in their effect - they destroy, injure, and lead to serious illnesses.

Important! The expression “A word can kill and a word can save” has received scientific justification. People who swear live shorter lives than those who do not swear.

What is swearing used for?

Foul language is a weapon of people who are insecure, weak, and vulnerable. Such vocabulary indicates a spiritual illness, because words can tell a lot about a person’s state of mind.

Modern people most often use mats for the following purposes:

• increase the emotionality of speech;
• throw out negative emotions;
• demonstrate aggression, lack of fear, disregard for prohibitions, belonging to a certain social group.

Powerful words and strengths

The findings of experimental scientists also shake the ground under the belief that foul-mouthed people are unpleasant people: a person who uses curse words in his speech is liked more by his listeners. If anything, it seems more convincing and inspires more trust.

An interesting experiment was conducted by psychologists from Northern Illinois University. Almost a hundred students were shown the same speech, although in one version the speaker behaved decently, in the other two he used abusive language. This did not affect the authority of the speaker in any way, but the video where the guy used obscene language impressed the audience more - this time. The second interesting discovery: the listeners were more inspired by his idea (it was about reducing tuition fees).

That is, if you insert a couple of sharp words into your speech at a HOA meeting, you can sound somehow more significant, more authoritative.

That someone might deliberately use profanity to make an impression is nothing new. Looking at Donald Trump, you understand that his political strategy could not do without this. Emma Byrne, an English researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, writes about this in the book “Swearing is Good: The Amazing Science of Cursing.” She draws a line between planned and rehearsed swearing, as they say, on camera, and spontaneous swearing, which sounds at the moment when we, sitting with friends, suddenly remember that yesterday there was a deadline. A phenomenon that would surprise your grandmother: someone uses derogatory words specifically to please her. For example, the expression “fuck” came out of Trump’s mouth for a reason—it’s part of a thoughtful rhetorical strategy.

The researcher notes that the words we say during friendly gatherings - especially when our favorite football team misses a goal - to some extent create a pleasant, sincere atmosphere. She believes strong language helps us build trust and create a sense of camaraderie. Byrne cites studies conducted in Australia and New Zealand.

Those guys who exchange strong phrases in the office reported that they trust each other more.

It works like this: when we decide to share with someone a word that is replaced with the sound “peep” in morning programs, we walk on the edge. That is, with our heads we understand that we are about to blurt out something quite shocking. But at the same time, we have reason to believe that the recipient will not faint or slam the door, but will joyfully nod in response or laugh. So, on the one hand, we take risks, and on the other, we show that we already know the person well, understand his mental model, or, more simply, consider him our boyfriend.

Why are you swearing?

First, let's find out why you started using swear words.
What advantage does using foul language give you? Think that you have decided to cure the disease. First you need to find out the reasons, the original source, otherwise swearing will appear in your vocabulary again after some time. 1. Take a pen and a piece of paper. Concentrate in a calm environment. Remember the first time you uttered swear words. What was connected with this? Write it down on a piece of paper.

2. Think about how swearing helps you? how to stop swearing depend on your answer.

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3. Remember when you swear most often. Try to create a certain system, find out what exactly makes you swear.

4. Mentally reproduce how you would behave if.

5. Tell yourself: how much do you need a mate? Can you do without it without feeling worse and not showing aggression? If you feel that you are unable to speak without harsh expressions, then pay attention to your inability to control yourself. It is difficult to depend on the habit of swearing. Get rid of it to feel more confident.

6. Write down on a piece of paper the actions, gestures and words of strangers or situations when you usually swear. To stop swearing

, some effort will be needed to improve the negative factors. You won’t get rid of everything negative in one go, but you need to reduce the number of irritants.

By taking an internal inventory, you will see what type of behavior is similar to yours. Highlight the main reason why using swear words has become a habit

Honestly

Another explanation for why we like people who avoid euphemisms is that we simply think they are honest. On the one hand, this is strange. Swearing is a taboo, but those who swear don’t give a damn about the norms of decency, and it’s probably easier for them to break other rules of social interaction. But it turned out quite the opposite. American scientists conducted a major study: they interviewed hundreds of respondents and also studied the speech behavior of tens of thousands of people on social networks.

As a result, a stable positive correlation was revealed between the habit of swearing and honesty, both in live communication and in the virtual space.

It seems that our consciousness perceives rude remarks that have not passed internal censorship as intuitive and therefore sincere.

How to achieve mastery

Another important feature of a lover of obscene language is emotionality. This is also attractive: people like to see displays of emotion, and the stronger their intensity, the more reluctant we are to leave the theater.

Although expressive coloring is characteristic of swearing in general, there are also special studies that conclusively establish a connection between swearing and increased emotional arousal. In one of them, subjects were asked to play computer games. The first group got meditative golf on green lawns, the second - a first-person shooter (this is when the player sees his character not from the back, but as if he were holding a rifle in his hands). After ten minutes of shooting or stomping on the lawn with a stick, the scientists tested all participants' level of swearing fluency. The guys who played the shooter won, which allowed the researchers to conclude: emotional intensity helps us quickly find the right expressions and easily select the appropriate witty word.

How to stop swearing

Agree that obscene language does not decorate a person, but it is very difficult to stop swearing. You will have to show persistence and perseverance. So, practical recommendations from psychologists for those who want to start speaking correctly.

1. Recognize the problem.

First of all, you need to clearly understand why you decided to get rid of the swear word - write five points. You must have strong motivation, otherwise you will not be able to achieve results.

Finding motivation is not as difficult as you think. Just imagine that every obscene word kills you, ruins your life. You probably won't want this.

For greater clarity, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the results of a simple experiment. Scientists planted three groups of plants. The seeds of the first group were regularly exposed to the mat; as a result, no more than half of the seedlings sprouted. Next to the second group of seeds, people simply cursed, without using a mat - only 60% of the seedlings sprouted. In the third group, the seeds were played with pleasant music, books were read, and they prayed, as a result, almost 96% of the seeds sprouted.

Important! Obscene language creates a feeling of anxiety and aggression in a person. And a woman who swears over time becomes like a man; male hormones predominate in her body.

1. Reduce your stress levels.

Often, a person starts swearing to get rid of stress. But you can get rid of negative energy in other ways. The main thing is to be alone with yourself and allow yourself to relax. To do this, you can growl, dance, shout, you can utter harsh words, but they must be censored. After this, you will feel how much easier it has become for you.

1. Use self-control and self-analysis.

Just set a timer for every hour or two and after each signal, analyze whether you uttered obscene words during this time or not.

1. Think about the possible consequences.

Always remember that when you use swear words, you look vulgar, your emotional state becomes unstable, and you hurt the feelings of others.

If you overcome yourself and get rid of a bad habit, you will receive the following benefits:

• take the first step towards higher standards of living;
• earn the respect of yourself and others;
• set a positive example for people.

1. Control yourself.

Control consists of a system of fines and rewards - fines for using obscenities, and rewards for cultural speech. How and with what to punish yourself or reward yourself - choose yourself, but in any case it should be something significant and meaningful to you.

1. Exceptions.

In this matter, it is better not to give yourself any concessions and live without exceptions. If you are determined to stop swearing, this is what you need to do. There is no need to show weakness.

Be careful, comrade Gender

So far, everything looks like swearing will allow you to become the star of the party. However, there is one subtlety here: how the speaker’s speech will be perceived depends on his gender.

In 2001, R. O'Neill of Louisiana State University conducted a study in which he read transcripts of recorded speeches to volunteers in which speakers occasionally uttered the word fuck. If he reported that the speech belonged to a man, everything was fine, but when it turned out that fuck was heard in a female speech, the attitude of the respondents changed.