NOT FOR KIDS -- the thread in which we are unmentionable

[lukkucairi]

Originally Posted by brightpearl

How bizarre. I just turned up to post this in news of the day (subfolder: things we've always suspected) and here you are already talking about it.
Apparently the word of your own choice is most effective.

Swearing Makes Pain More Tolerable
LiveScience.com
livescience.com – Sun Jul 12, 10:10 am ET

That muttered curse word that reflexively comes out when you stub your toe could actually make it easier to bear the throbbing pain, a new study suggests.

Swearing is a common response to pain, but no previous research has connected the uttering of an expletive to the actual physical experience of pain.

"Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon," said Richard Stephens of Keele University in England and one of the authors of the new study. "It taps into emotional brain centers and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain."

Stephens and his fellow Keele researchers John Atkins and Andrew Kingston sought to test how swearing would affect an individual's tolerance to pain. Because swearing often has an exaggerating effect that can overstate the severity of pain, the team thought that swearing would lessen a person's tolerance.

As it turned out, the opposite seems to be true.

The researchers enlisted 64 undergraduate volunteers and had them submerge their hand in a tub of ice water for as long as possible while repeating a swear word of their choice. The experiment was then repeated with the volunteer repeating a more common word that they would use to describe a table.

Contrary to what the researcher expected, the volunteers kept their hands submerged longer while repeating the swear word.

The researchers think that the increase in pain tolerance occurs because swearing triggers the body's natural "fight-or-flight" response. Stephens and his colleagues suggest that swearing may increase aggression (seen in accelerated heart rates), which downplays weakness to appear stronger or more macho.

"Our research shows one potential reason why swearing developed and why it persists," Stephens said.

The results of the study are detailed in the Aug. 5 issue of the journal NeuroReport.

pearly, I got you a prezzie:

http://www.rathergood.com/swearotron.html

so when you feel the overwhelming urge to call someone or something a fwking coont arsed pyssface shite, you can do it here.

[lukkucairi]

or you can let celebrities do it for you

[lukkucairi]

up yours, mate

[lukkucairi]

a primer for international travelers

[lukkucairi]

a how-to, for ezro, who I know for a fact has never sullied his mouth with this kind of language

[zero]

[YsaPur EsChomuw]

in case your swearing creativity ebbs

[brightpearl]

Dear Lulu,
I fvcking love you.
Pearly

[Brynn]

Yeah. This is a much better place to talk about cancer.

[Frieda]

[Frieda]

oh and i changed the title a bit

not that i expect that to work but hey, at least i tried

[Brynn]

yeah, how about a neon sign and an arrow?

[Frieda]

KIDS KIDS! GET YOUR SWEARWORDS HERE!!!!~1

[lukkucairi]

half price Tuesday?

*feckkin* half price Tuesday, rather

[Frieda]

watch and learn from the south korean parliament