For those of you who have been around a couple of decades or more, have you sensed a relaxation of what is acceptable language in our society, whether speaking of entertainment or real-life discourse in business and social environments? Has cussing, the use of expletives, or crass language become more commonplace, and not just acceptable, but even encouraged?

Cussing, whether related to religion, persecution, sex, or just plain hitting your thumb with a hammer has surely been around as long has man has existed, but, in our day, we have scientific studies that try to prove cussing to be a good thing. They will use psychobabble to justify it as cathartic, providing some measure of physical or emotional pain relief, therefore, it’s okay in that setting. They will even come up with studies where they conclude that it’s an expression of higher intelligence, in contrast to the historical belief that it’s a proof of lower intelligence.

If you happened to do a Google search on “why do people cuss?,” you would find articles like, “Worried About Swearing Too Much? Science Says You Shouldn’t Be,” from Discover Magazine, or, “Why it’s a good sign if you curse a lot,” from the Washington Post, or “Swearing Is Actually a Sign of More Intelligence – Not Less,” from Science Alert.

Some of the articles you will find are based on a study published in 2015, which concluded a higher use of expletives is a sign of greater intelligence, a study which Scientific American discussed in better detail than most articles I found. Please forgive me, but I need to trouble you for your time as I read from this article.

Is Swearing a Sign of a Limited Vocabulary?
New research challenges the idea that vulgar words are a sign of failure
Piercarlo Valdesolo, April 5, 2016

When words fail us, we curse. At least this is what the “poverty-of-vocabulary” (POV) hypothesis would have us believe. On this account, swearing is the “sign of a weak vocabulary”, a result of a lack of education, laziness or impulsiveness. In line with this idea, we tend to judge vulgarians quite harshly, rating them as lower on socio-intellectual status, less effective at their jobs and less friendly.

Further in the article…

New research by cognitive scientists at Marist College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts attempts to test this possibility, and further debunk the POV hypothesis, by measuring how taboo word fluency relates to general verbal fluency. The POV hypothesis suggests that there should be a negative correlation: the more you swear, the lower your verbal prowess. But the researchers hypothesized just the opposite: the more you swear the more comprehensive your vocabulary would be.

Continuing further down the article…

Across three studies, they gave participants a well-known measure of verbal fluency called the Controlled Word Association Test (COWAT).

Results from Study 1 showed that participants generated 400 unique taboo words (see the Results for some of the more colorful entries) and, as the researchers predicted, fluency in generating these words correlated positively with performance on the COWAT. This finding was replicated in Studies 2 and 3…

This finding can serve as a nice empirical “demonstrative hand gesture” from vulgarians everywhere, directed at those who had, until now, been unfairly judging them for their linguistic abilities. Swearing, it seems, can be creative, smart, and even downright lyrical.

Article conclusions…

That said, these results need to be taken with a grain of salt. Knowledge of taboo words and the regular use of those words are two very different things. I might very well have an encyclopedic knowledge of vulgarity, but I might also have the tact necessary to regulate my language in social situations. In other words, just because verbally fluent people have the ability to cuss with the best of them, does not mean that they will do so. This presents a bit of a problem with the current research since the authors do seem to want to make the claim that their results inform what kinds of people actually curse in the real world. This conclusion cannot be drawn from these data.  The studies tell us nothing about how speakers use taboo words, just what they would be capable of saying if they chose to use them. Swearing regularly and being able to generate a long list of curse words when prompted are very different. Indeed, the POV hypothesis could still survive this criticism. It still might be true that those with greater verbal fluency, even though they also have greater taboo fluency, swear less because they have the lexical database required to actually express themselves in other ways.

Thoughts?

In some ways up to now, I may have just wasted your time, because it doesn’t really matter if using foul language is cathartic. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s an expression of your level of intelligence. What really matters is what it reflects about the character of the user of such language, whether they have a favorite expletive for everything, or whether they are quite diverse in their ability to use expletives to be emphatic, sensational or crass.

What is God’s view on the matter of uncouth language?

Luk 6:45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Col 3:8  But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

Eph 4:29  Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

The title of this message is, “What on Earth Is So Bad About Cussing?”

The inspired word of God explains that any kind of inappropriate language, no matter the reason for using it, does not reflect godliness. The bottom line is, if I cuss, suddenly I’m not representing my God.

We should take into account that not using God’s name in vain, is not just the use of God’s name as support for an empty vow or as a curse toward somebody or something. In every way that we present ourselves to people and angels and to God (am I really alone?) is supposed to express our personal mission to be godly.

When we take into account the way we think, not just the way we speak, the natural response might be to declare, even with curse words, “Why, that’s IMPOSSIBLE!,” but we can be encouraged by the words of Jesus our Savior found in Matthew 19…

Mat 19:24  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Mat 19:25  When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?"
Mat 19:26  But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

The truth is, and man apart from God’s influence cannot understand this, we must deeply cherish the gift of God’s Holy Spirit given to us, because this Spirit makes all things are possible. It is the only true key for our ability to respond to all aspects of this life in a godly way, not just outwardly, but from deep within.

God, in the expectation that we remove uncouth language from our vocabulary, does not leave us without something to replace it, so let’s quickly review thoughts and language that can replace coarse language.

Returning to Colossians 3…

Col 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Col 3:17  And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Col 4:5  Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
Col 4:6  Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

Finally…

Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

Our success in expressing virtue in our language (and our actions) is dependent on using God’s Spirit to PRACTICE meditation on godly thought and language. God help us to reflect the language of God’s righteousness.