Swearing Can Be Good For You

Seems like an odd statement, but a new study shows that swearing can help relieve pain. The study, done by scientists at Keele University, found that letting out a swear-word filled tirade can have a powerful pain killing effect, especially for people who don't usually swear.

Students tested the theory by using a bucket of ice water. Turns out, that when they submerged their hand in the water and belted out every swear word they could think of, they were able to keep their hand in the bucket longer than if they used "harmless phrases".

They also found that the pain-numbing effect was four times more likely to work in the people who did not normally use bad language.

The research proves that swearing triggers not only an emotional response, but a physical one. Which may explain why the practice of swearing developed in the first place and why it still persists today.

Here's more on the study, and why swearing seems to help.