A colourful tongue does not mean the talker is lazy or uneducated, a study published in the Language Sciences journal found.

 

Instead, those who are more confident using taboo¹ words are more articulate in other areas.

 

The experiment asked participants to say as many swear words as they could think of in 60 seconds.

 

They were then asked to do the same with animals.

 

Those who knew the most swear words were more likely to name the most animals as well, the research found.

 

Kristin and Timothy Jay, the US-based psychologists who co-wrote the study, said it proved swearing was positively² correlated with verbal fluency³.

 

They added that those who used taboo words were able to make nuanced distinctions and could use language expressively⁵.

 

They wrote: 'We cannot help but judge others on the basis of 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.'

 

In their conclusion, they added: 'The overall finding of this set of studies, that taboo fluency is positively correlated with other measures of verbal fluency, undermines the [normal] view of swearing.

 

'Speakers who use taboo words understand their general expressive⁴ content as well as nuanced distinctions that must be drawn⁶ to use slurs⁷ appropriately.

 

'The ability to make nuanced distinctions indicates the presence of more rather than less linguistic⁸ knowledge.'

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