Sorry Mum, you were wrong.
It turns out swearing really is good for us.
According to a new study, people who swear more actually make better friends.
Swearing can actually make you pretty strong. Here’s how. Post continues after video.
In the new research, psychologist Timothy Jay from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts found that swear words are incredibly powerful.
“Curse words have been only of brief passing interest to psychologist and linguists,” Jay explained.
“The absence of research on emotional speech has produced theories of language that are polite but inaccurate. Curse words are words we are not supposed to say; hence, curse words themselves are powerful.”
According to Jay, those who swear are more likely to be better friends as they’re more open, honest, genuine and have higher levels of integrity.
Yep, that’s best friend material right there.
Swearing is commonly regarded as “lazy language” but according to Jay’s study, those who use “taboo words” actually tend to be more expressive and fluent in their language skills. (See, we told you Mum).
According to Emma Byrne’s book Swearing Is Good For You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language, swearing has a number of positive factors – including promoting trust and increasing our pain tolerance.
In her book, Byrne found that swearing can increase productivity in the workplace.
“Research shows that swearing can help build teams,” Byrne wrote. “From the factory floor to the operating room, scientists have shown that teams who share a vulgar lexicon tend to work more effectively together, feel closer, and be more productive than those who don’t.”
Byrne also found that swearing can help mitigate pain.
