Have You Heard "The More You Curse. The Smarter You Are"?

What is the Purpose of Someone Uttering Swear Words?

Have you heard the statement "The more you curse, the smarter you are"? "We cannot help but judge others based on their speech. Unfortunately, when it comes to taboo language, it is a common assumption that people who swear frequently are lazy, do not have an adequate vocabulary, lack education, or simply cannot control themselves." (Kristin and Timothy Jay, 2014). The long-held notion that swearing is a sign of inarticulacy is refuted by US-based psychologists Kristin Jay and Timothy Jay in their article published in the Language Sciences journal. Their experiment sought to determine whether those more skilled in the art of swearing are less skilled in other forms of vocabulary by utilizing the "poverty of vocabulary" concept (the presumption that people swear because they lack the intellectual capacity to find another way to express themselves).The overall finding of this set of studies, that taboo fluency is positively correlated with other measures of verbal fluency, undermines the POV [Poverty of Vocabulary] view of swearing (Ashley Cowburn, 2016). In this essay, it will be explained about the Purpose of Someone Saying Oath Words.

The use of swear words is not always bad, especially if the user can see the usage depending on the situation. Humans who are born with a variety of life problems sometimes end their lives in irrational ways, or it could be said that to maintain their existence, a person occasionally needs sensational action to conceal his true flaws. Sometimes, to hide his flaws, a person loses the equilibrium of his personality, and instead of speaking and acting rationally, egoism and the desire for individual control are displayed. 

The tendency of the human personality to always appear does not always present itself as it is, but always use a face covering to hide its flaws when there is a need for immediate action (Farozin and Fathiyah, 2004: 3). A person may use swear words as a means of self-defense to express the inner turmoil that results from the situation's stimuli as well as to hide their flaws.

Swearing in communication activities does not always have a negative meaning or is not always synonymous with swear words that can harm others. This lies in the extent to which the use of cursing is expressed by the perpetrator. If the abuser expresses tension through facial expressions and voice intonation, especially if it is followed by body movements, it can be ascertained that the swearing can have a negative connotation. However, if the abuser expresses it with joy, longing, or astonishment, it can also be ascertained that the role of swearing in this condition is as an overflow of pleasure, joy, intimacy, or just expressing a sense of wonder at something. 

However, is the symbol of intimacy shown by the abuser the same as that felt by the interlocutor?  Therefore, swearing in communication can be positioned as something that symbolizes intimacy if the speaker and his interlocutor have previously established the nature of openness, mutual understanding, and mutual acceptance, and that there is no social distance (clumsiness and reluctance). If this condition occurs, the role of swearing as a symbol of intimacy will be seen in the communication event. Because the presence of swear words in communication is an expression of feelings of pleasure, happiness, and even longing for someone as his partner at that time. If not, the meaning of swearing used by the speaker can hurt both the speaker and his interlocutor. The speaker will accept the consequences as a person who is labeled insane and does not know manners by his speech partner, and the negative impact on the interlocutor is a deep sense of disappointment. This swear word is even used as a greeting (Revita, 2015).

 One of the ways to express oneself is through the expression of cursing or swearing, especially when showing emotions. Based on the variety of languages, swearing or swearing is included in the non-official variety, namely the intimate and casual variety. According to the KBBI, swearing is a vile word spoken out of anger and so on. However, in society, the fact is that swear words are not only spoken when one is angry, disappointed, sad, or feeling other negative emotions. Swearing is also often said when they are feeling happy, satisfied with something, amazed, surprised, and in the context of other positive emotions. 

The existence of swear words and their variety that live amid society shows that there are so many ways in language to express themselves, especially in Indonesian. In a study entitled Insults in Indonesian: A Study of Forms and References by Wijana (2004), swear words consist of words, phrases, and clauses. Meanwhile, references to swearing words in Indonesian can come from the names of circumstances, animals, objects, kinship, body parts, spirits, activities, professions, and appeals. The existence of swear expressions, also shows that language is unique and can be created in such a way as to meet human needs in communicating, one of which is a means to express various feelings experienced by speakers.

Not all people who use swear words are people who have bad personalities. Even the use of swearing in communication does not always have a negative impact, although in general, the effect of swearing has a much greater negative impact than the effect of swearing which has a positive impact. As long as the purpose of the use is still positive and the abuser can see the situation so as not to cause misunderstandings. 

The effect of swearing can have a positive impact if the curse is used just to release the burden of the soul that is whacking, or just to express admiration, surprise, social identification, intimacy, or just a substitute for screams. Because the curses that are used in these conditions are not aimed at anyone else except for yourself. Swearing like this is considered to reduce a person's psychological burden (stress). 

On the other hand, the effect of swearing can have a negative impact if the curse is used excessively. These negative effects have a bad effect both on the perpetrator and on individuals who always receive cursing. The negative effect on the perpetrator is that it tends to anger individuals and causes a person to lose emotional control, which results in the fall of dignity.