The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Big Fat Whale  |  Failure  |  Hoopleville  |  Idiot Box  |  Lifestyle Features
ted-kennedy-memorial-1000

Another damn study

Timothy Jay, PhD, discusses words his colleagues won't
By CHRIS FARAONE  |  April 13, 2009

090410_cussing_main
Some people argue that scholarly inquiry about profanity is pointless, and even laughable. Timothy Jay, PhD, has some choice words for them. The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts psychology professor is a goddamn expert, and in a newly published study he alleges it's a fucking tragedy that so many academics don't give two shits about how and why we curse.

"Within linguistics and psychology — which are very conservative disciplines — you don't see much of what I do," says Jay, who says that even his school's media-relations team is sometimes slow to advertise his studies. "It's a concern, really, because as a result, we have an inaccurate view of human nature."

In a report published in the March issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, Jay analyzes various interdisciplinary attempts to understand the culture of cussing, as well as the implications of past and present research. Some of his findings are obvious; others are surprising; and nearly all are hilarious. Among the highlights are:

"Most taboo word use involves 10 frequently used terms (fuck, shit, hell, damn, goddamn, Jesus Christ, ass, oh my god, bitch, and sucks)."

"Researchers have often overlooked the fact that many episodes of taboo word use are casual conversational habits (e.g., 'This CD is fucking great.') in the absence of any social motive other than fitting in with others' informal use of taboo words."

" 'Eat shit!' is acceptable, maybe even expected, in a locker room, but it is impolite at the dinner table."

In other words, our countrymen and -women are brutes and savages who curse for no reason, but who — in some cases — acknowledge that it's rude to request that folks chow feces. According to Jay, even neuropsychiatrically challenged Americans are excessively profane: "American Touretters," he says, "usually shout words such as 'fuck' or 'motherfucker' but not 'poop.' "

Still — despite the unavoidable absurdity that surfaces whenever words like "fuck" and "poop" are used in serious discourse — he stresses that vulgarity is an important aspect of linguistic analysis.

"Not acknowledging that we curse is dishonest," says Jay, who earned acclaim for writing about the word "asshole" in the June 2008 Esquire, and for addressing locker-room flatulence in the NFL documentary Autumn Ritual. "It's like not acknowledging that we fart — these things are only natural."

Related: The worst word, One Day you'll learn, Will Harvard drop acid again?, More more >
  Topics: Lifestyle Features , Science and Technology, Swearing and Invective, Jesus Christ,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
Comments

Best Music Poll 2009 winners
BMP_WINNERS_AD
Today's Event Picks
ARTICLES BY CHRIS FARAONE
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   THE GRANITE STATE GANG  |  August 26, 2009
    Big bucks couldn't buy the viral awe and ire that the Free State Project (FSP) scored on August 11, when New Hampshire resident William Kostric arrived outside President Barack Obama's Portsmouth Town Hall meeting with a handgun on his right thigh — "open carrying" is quite legal in the Granite State — and a sign declaring IT IS TIME TO WATER THE TREE OF LIBERTY!
  •   AVOIDING A BORDER WAR  |  August 26, 2009
    It's a matter of moments before the likes of Lou Dobbs and Bill O'Reilly scapegoat the believed-to-be-illegal-immigrant suspects in last week's Brookline rape case for every problem in America.
  •   REVIEW: TAKING WOODSTOCK  |  August 25, 2009
    If there ever was a way to inject fresh interest into events that most people born after the baby boom couldn't care less about, it's to involve Eugene Levy and a shame-to-fame plot line made for reality television.
  •   COMMUNITY: SERVED  |  August 26, 2009
    Without Solillaquists of Sound and the holistic hip-hop hamlet that its members cultivate within Orlando, their city would be home to little more than methadone retreats and plastic rodent ears.
  •   HEALTH-CARE-REFORM TOWN HALL ALL-STARS  |  August 20, 2009
    Shamelessly successful political-smear campaigns yield exalted martyrs.

 See all articles by: CHRIS FARAONE

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group