Bleep, Bleep, Bleep! Cursing and Swearing is ok now!

I have this insane addiction of checking in on the latest news updates every morning. I even have a CNN alert that emails me to notify me of breaking news. That would not be a fun addiction for most people, but for me, I like to be caught up on worldly events. Well this morning as I was scanning the worlds top news stories, when one jumped out at me and caught my attention. It was a actually a blog that was praising a new scientific study that shows that Swearing/Cursing appears to increase our pain tolerance.


This is so amusing to me. Now, I won't lie a part of me wants to buy this philosophy b/c when you stump your toe or bash your thumb with a hammer, the first word that pops into your mind is not always the most pleasant one. This study claims to give you permission to now swear away when this happens. Well, thanks but no thanks. I will stick to my same old word that my wife taught me years ago when I do something that hurts....."FUDGE." This word actually helps me deal with the pain and gets me thinking about my favorite food: Chocolate of any sort.


At any rate, the study was done by Dr. Richard Stephens and his team at Keele University in the United Kingdom. Dr. Stephens recently published this study that says swearing actually lessens the pain. He seriously believes that when we swear, we increase our pain threshold and that we can bear pain longer and even don't feel it as much.



Supposedly, Stephens came up with the idea after he accidentally smashed his finger with a hammer. For the study a certain number of participants were asked to submerge one hand in nearly freezing water for as long as they could while repeating a curse word. Later the participants submerged the same hand again, this time repeating a word they would use to describe a table, HUH???????? What does that have to do anything? The people who cursed the whole time actually kept their hands in the frozen water 40 more seconds than they could otherwise.



So what were the words used, you might be asking (or maybe not)? According to Stephens, "Turns out they were different for everyone. We decided at the outset that people would give us their own swear words." Stephens went onto say, "Swearing is quite personal and what one person finds extremely offensive, someone else may not find offensive at all. That being said, the usual suspects topped the list: S**T and the F word." WOW!


Now, some of you may swear your heads off when you do something that causes you pain. Well this blog is not to judge you in any way. As a matter of fact, I would say, thanks to Dr. Stephens you sort of have permission, I guess. But for me, I could not disagree more. But then again, my thoughts come from a different place when it comes to these types of issues. The first question that comes to mind for me, is Swearing wrong, no matter what the situation? I believe that it is.


According to the Bible in Ephesians 4:29, we are told, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 1 Peter 3:10 declares, "For, whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech." James 3:9-12 summarizes the issue: "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth comes praising and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."


This is enough for me to refrain as much as possible and to try and not be characterized by evil speech. I believe there is truth to what Jesus said when he explained that what comes out of our mouths is that which fills our hearts. Another motive to refrain from these words no matter the situation, is because of all the little ears that follow me around my house. I don't want to be in the habit of swearing so much so that when I do hurt myself (no matter how painful it may be) that it is a natural thing for me to drop curse words out for my children to hear. You think that the hammer hurt your hand???? Imagine how much it hurts your little kids ears to hear such language. And then you spend most of your time explaining that, "even though daddy said that, it is not right. You can't say that in school or church anymore. OK?" If it is not right for them, maybe it is not right for us. Just a thought.


Now, am I saying that I have never sworn? Of course not. As matter of fact, I slipped an said a curse word within the last week and it didn't have anything to do with pain. It was a slip of the tongue during a frustrating situation. No kids were around, thankfully, but my wife was and she heard it. That is not good either. Just so you know.


One other thing I want to comment on is the comparison of saying curse words and using words that describe a table. Are you kidding me? As one commenter said, "all curse words are short and have harsh consonants." Take some of your harshest curse words and compare the sound and inflection in voice needed for those with "glossy" or "shiny" or "elegant," which were possibilities for describing the table. This is no justification for using swear words. Come on!


I think that the secret to the study is making some sort of noise period. It's not necessarily curse words or what words you use at all, for that matter. It is simply, doing or saying something that will take your mind off the pain. As my father used to say, "I'll stomp your other foot and that will make you forget about that toe you just stumped." This is another option, I don't recommend by the way. Your kids will despise you for it.


All in all, I hope this study did not cost too much money. It would be a shame to waste any money, in my opinion, on poorly executed studies such as this one.


Alright folks. Its your turn. I wanna know your thoughts. Join me in this fun discussion. Do you think cursing is a pain reliever or is it distasteful?