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Annotated Bibliography

Should People Curse More Often?

Nethnapha Phonesavanh
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
27 February 2015

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Annotated Bibliography
Harel, Monica C. "What the &%$@?" ELLE. ELLE, 23 Jan. 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
This magazine article touches on why swearing is such a bad habit for the majority of us.
Not only does cursing affect one psychologically, but it affects one socially. Former
Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz talks about her personal relationship with cursing. She gives a
very brief description of her firing and how she had cursed through the phone, making
her question her word choices. She then leads into her first experience cursing. Bartz
communicates with Richard Stephens who is a senior psychology lecturer at Keele
University in the UK and finds out that cursing gives us an adrenaline rush. Swearing
increases the heart rate and sets off the bodys fight-or-flight response, says Stephens. A
very interesting experiment on cursing was undertaken by Stephens demonstrating the
effects of cursing. He discovered that cursing aids in the tolerance of pain, but what was
more interesting was that he discovered that cursing also delivers relief. Expletives, or
swear words, are stored in the frontal cortex, which links to our emotions, whereas
ordinary language is stored on the left side of the brain. However, just like any other
drug, if there is repeated exposure to cursing, the effects will eventually wear off, and,
soon enough, we will no longer be getting the usual adrenaline rush we would normally
get from cursing. The very first time I cursed, I did have the biggest adrenaline rush. I
was feeling many different emotions at that very moment: happy, excited, unstoppable,
invincible, and even cocky. Over the years, I found that I have been a part of many
different groups of friends. Cliques. Everyone is a part of a certain clique. Humans tend
to stick with one main group of friends throughout their lives, given that their groups will
change over time. This article demonstrates the positive effects of cursing. It will help

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me argue the fact that cursing is indeed helpful in a psychological way and in a physical
way as well.
Jay, Timothy B., and Kristin Janschewitz. "The Science of Swearing."Association for
Psychological Science RSS. Observer, May 2012. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
This article concentrates on swearing from the perspective of psychological science,
though swearing is related to sociology, linguistics, and anthropology as well. Posed
questions within this article include Is swearing problematic or harmful? Is it bad for
children to hear or say swear words? Has swearing become more frequent in recent
years? and Do all people swear? There is no say that there is a DIRECT correlation
between swearing and harm, but there IS a relationship between the two. As said in the
article, Swearing can occur with any emotion and yield positive or negative outcomes.
Studies suggest that most uses of swear words are, however, not problematic. Instead of
thinking that swearing is harmful or morally wrong, reflect on what goals swearing will
achieve. Many of us swear within our groups of friends, and for what? Some may want
to have a feeling of acceptance, others might to get a laugh or two out into the
atmosphere, but for others, it is just a way of life. For children, swearing can be harmful
in terms of verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and discrimination. There is no certainty on
the increase of the usage of swear words because of the unreliability of gathering data,
but if we take a look at television shows and radio stations, there has been an increase in
the tolerance and usage of swear words. This is not indicating that our culture is
worsening in respect to swearing. Swearing is positively correlated with extraversion,
a defining feature of a person with Type A personality. It is negatively correlated with
conscientiousness, agreeableness, sexual anxiety, and religiosity. We all learn what

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swear words are and which words are, in fact, swear words, but not everybody makes use
of them. This article is more focused on the negative effects of swearing and it will
provide more information for the understanding of the two sides, pro and con, of
swearing.
"Spiritual Effects of Swearing and Why to Speak Softly Instead of Loudly."SSRF English. SSRF
English, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
This website examines human communication, specifically, the usage of swear words and
the increasing volume in our voices as we speak. It defines what swear words are, what
part of the brain is active when using swear words, the spiritual effects of speaking loudly
versus speaking softly, and the reasoning behind all of it. Many people use swearing as a
way of getting attention from an audience of people, as do people who excessively
amplify his/her speech. Speaking loudly is said to generate negative energies such as
ghosts, demons, and devils upon that person. Talking softly, on the other hand is
complementary to developing spiritually conducive qualities such as listening attitude,
humility and introversion, as said in the selection. On a personal note, my father doesnt
participate in swearing unless he is really angry, and he used to speak with a loud,
aggressive tone in his voice all day every day. Ever since my parents split up, he has
become calmer in his speech. This is a more spiritual take on swearing, but it provides
me with effects of rather than reasons for swearing and/or speaking loudly versus softly.
Tickle, Louise. "Research Demonstrates How the Use of Bad Language Can Alter Our
Behaviour." The Guardian. The Guardian, 3 Oct. 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
This online article examines the effects cursing has on people. People who swear behave
differently than those who do not swear. Swearing gives off adrenaline and swearers

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often behave more rambunctious and wild whereas those who do not swear tend to be
more calm and reasonable. Ive learned this by observing the behavior of myself and my
friend Joselyn. Joselyn does not engage in swearing and she is a very sweet, friendly and
calmer person than I. I, on the other hand, can sometimes be mean, sweet on the inside
sour on the outside like a Sour Patch Kid, friendly, but more wild than she. When I first
read this article during our class library session, I was really taken back by the effect of
having the full word fuck in this article. Not only was fuck in the article, it was in
the first sentence of the article. I didnt really understand why I was so disturbed from
reading the word fuck since I use the word quite often. This was truly quite interesting
to me because someone who uses the word without hesitation had a hesitation reading the
word in an article. Why did this happen to me? At this very moment, my interest in this
subject sprung through the roof and declared this as my inquiry question. This article
will help in my paper by communicating the reasoning behind the actions and reactions
of swearing from one person to another.