Swearing is an important part of speech, used to communicate all sorts of things: - Trustworthiness - Listeners are more willing to trust someone who curses be

Swearing is an important part of speech, used to communicate all sorts of things: - Trustworthiness - Listeners are more willing to trust someone who curses because careful censorship of one's own speech can come across as calculating and inauthentic. - Involvement - Swearing as an amplifier is often used to communicate emotional involvement. People curse much more about their favorite sports team than just about anything else, for example. - In-group membership - Cursing in a group setting denotes a less formal relationship, which can actually have the effect of encouraging associates to bond more. And, like all language, certain groups have their own curses which, when wielded in the proper context, demonstrate that you "belong". - And yeah, power - Cursing in a formal setting is a great way of challenging convention and asserting authority, demonstrating that one is immune to the typical social consequences for "bad" behavior. Do people really respond to this? I know I do. And I suspect that, if people didn't react as intended, cursing wouldn't be so pervasive in every language.