Indeed, swearing may literally be good for your health -- as an outlet for stress. In Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Robert Sapolsky writes: We humans also deal

Indeed, swearing may literally be good for your health -- as an outlet for stress. In Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Robert Sapolsky writes: We humans also deal better with stressors when we have outlets for frustration--punch a wall, take a run, find solace in a hobby... A variant of Weiss's experiment uncovers a special feature of the outlet-for-frustration reaction. This time, when the rat gets the identical series of electric shocks and is upset, it can run across the cage, sit next to another rat and... bite the hell out of it. Stress-induced displacement of aggression: the practice works wonders at minimizing the stressfulness of a stressor. It's a real primate specialty as well. A male baboon loses a fight. Frustrated, he spins around and attacks a subordinate male who was minding his own business. An extremely high percentage of primate aggression represent frustration displaced onto innocent bystanders. In that light, swearing might be seen as a more civilized form of displacing stress-induced aggression. Edit: Also, what (the aptly monikered) @justratsinacoat said: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12229408 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12229408