Cursing not a sign of limited vocabulary

(Public Domain)

Curse words are like pungent seasoning:  A little generally goes a long way.

Some folks, however, are prone to sprinkling their conversations with one taboo word after another.  Is this because their vocabularies are otherwise limited?

A new study by Kristin and Timothy Jay assures readers that this is not the case. Those who are fluent with profanity are often fluent with everyday language, too.

So what distinguishes those who talk up an off-color streak from those who mingle well in polite company?  The difference has far more to do with personality traits than with intelligence quotients.

Jay and Jay conclude that those who substitute four-letter words for punctuation marks tend more toward “neuroticism and openness,” whereas those who verbally edit such words tend more toward “agreeableness and conscientiousness.”

Do you openly agree with this assessment?  If not, beware!  You may be one of those cursing (but not necessarily cursed) neurotics.

Resources

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S038800011400151X

Copyright December 20, 2015 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved