Why People Who Cuss May Be Smarter Than Those That Don’t

Humankind has long held the notion that people who cuss are less intelligent than those that don't, because people who cuss supposedly know fewer words to effectively express their feelings. This new study challenges that belief.

A recent study published in Language Sciences shows that people who swear more may actually have greater linguistic fluency. In the study, participants were given a minute to name as many "swear words" as they could come up with. Then, they were given another minute to name as many animals as possible. The researchers found that people who could name more swear words--regardless of gender--could also name more animals.

The study also found that people who are better at cussing are also more aware of what cusses are appropriate (i.e. "sh*t", "a**") versus those that aren't appropriate (such as racial slurs).

You can read the full study here.