Sorry, Cussing Does not Show Intelligence.

I've seen this on posts galore on Facebook and Twitter from friends and famous people. It seems a few news sites posted the results of a study that using swear words is a sign of intelligence. We've been through this before. A study does not mean it's true. A study must be replicated and independently verified. The research was done by Marist College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts which across three studies they did, actually indicated that people who know taboo w
ords may have a stronger vocabulary. Saying this knowledge shows intelligence is a bit of a stretch.

 Intelligence actually had nothing to do with the studies, and the studies also did not discuss using cuss words. What they studied was the relationship between vocabulary and swearing It seems that if someone can produce in one minute more swear words than average which was 9, then that person seemed to also have a larger vocabulary.

In other words, just because someone knows the words, it does not mean they use them. Also if that person only knows the average, s/he probably has an average vocabulary. In fact, it may mean that the vocabulary allows the person to avoid the use of swear words. The study did not study the actual verbal and written use. It looked at just how many taboo words vs. the number of animal words and non-swear words the subject could produce in a minute.

This, however, is something that should be approached with caution. There is a difference between knowledge of taboo words and daily use of the words. Another problem for the research is all three studies were conducted by the same researchers. So, it has not yet been independently verified. The person may be able to cuss with the best of them, s/he doesn't need to.

It is a far leap from vocabulary to intelligence.


https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-swearing-a-sign-of-a-limited-vocabulary/
https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/campuspress.yale.edu/dist/a/1215/files/2016/05/Giordano-rg5y5r.pdf