What’s in a Word?

Do you ever feel like every word that comes out of your mouth is dirty?  Has throwing the F-bomb around in casual conversation started to become the norm for you?  Do your friends think twice before introducing you to their grandparents for fear of what you might say?  Some people (myself included) have a tendency to be much more...uh...colorful when it comes to telling a story, or recounting the days events, or even answering the phone.

It has been said that people who swear do so because they are less intelligent and cannot think of a better way to express themselves.  It actually may be the opposite.  A 2015 study showed that the penchant for swear words may be a sign of greater intelligence. 

If you need more proof positive that profanity is good for the soul, just watch "The History of Swear Words" on Netflix.  New to streaming this month, this documentary, hosted by Nicholas Cage, delves deep into the origins and meanings of some of your favorite profanities in a very informative but hilarious way.

Each episode is dedicated to a particular vulgar term and gives you tons of background about what the word started out as, and how it came to be such a taboo.  Along with commentaries from some of your favorite celebrities, the episodes also feature clips from some very iconic movies.

My favorite episode is the first one, I can't say the title here, but it rhymes with a certain pond dwelling water fowl.  The first installment explains how the word changed meanings many times, and gives you a count of how many times its been said by your favorite characters in movies.  Spoiler Alert: the top spot does NOT go to who you think it would!

So, If you every feel like you're the only one who walks around talking like a drunken sailor, think again.  There are plenty of us who speak in exactly the same way, and we may actually be smarter than people who don't(we already knew that though, didn't we?)

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