Swear words in different languages - why do they sound as they do? https://theconversation.com/swear-words-we-studied-speakers-of-languages-from-hindi-to-hungarian-to-find-out-why-they-sound-the-way-they-do-192473 (Courtesy @theconversationau) #study #language
Follow
@brainsmatter @theconversationau More importantly, who decides that a given word is a “swear word?” Why is “shit” a bad word, but “excrement” isn’t, even though they mean the same thing. Why do we not yell “oh fornication!” When something goes wrong?
@brainsmatter @theconversationau Definitely a great research topic!
@AlliFlowers the mysteries of the way society and language works! I'm sure there is a PhD in there somewhere! /cc: @theconversationau