Insults and the Power of Taboo Language

Language does much more than just convey information. It expresses emotions, establishes social connections, and even challenges norms.

Taboo language is one of its most intriguing facets. These “off limits” words – a category ranging from insults and swear words through to racial slurs and hate speech – have extraordinary power. They elicit strong emotional responses, and reveal a massive amount about a society’s values, cultural norms, and psychological processes.

Taboo words or expressions are typically restricted by societies based on cultural, moral, or social norms. The forbidden nature of such language often stems from its association with topics like sexuality, bodily functions, religion, or derogatory references to individuals or groups.

Taboo words possess distinct linguistic and emotional characteristics that set them apart from other types of language. Recent multilingual, multi-lab scientific collaborations have identified three key characteristics of taboo words that underscore their unique role in human language and interaction:

1. They do not often appear in written language, which reflects societal norms that discourage their use in formal or public contexts.
2. Taboo words are marked by extremely low valence, meaning they carry very negative emotional connotations.
3. They are associated with high arousal, evoking intense emotional responses that make them particularly salient and impactful in communication.

Swearing to hate speech: a slippery slope

Classic studies have found that taboo words constitute about 0.5% of spoken words in daily life. However, differences in context, biases in self-reporting, and the ever-changing norms surrounding language make it hard to accurately estimate the true prevalence of taboo words in everyday communication. Despite their social inappropriateness and controversial nature, more than two thirds of the adult population report hearing others swear in public frequently.

While most people use taboo words sparingly, their usage varies significantly between languages, countries and contexts. Technology currently plays a huge part in their evolution, as social media platforms offer fertile ground for the proliferation of offensive language, with many users feeling emboldened by online anonymity.

This is not a recent development. One 2014 study analysing 51 million tweets from approximately 14 million users found that curse words appeared in more than 1% of all tweets. Remarkably, the same study showed that one in every 13 tweets included offensive language.

The widespread use of online vulgarity has the worrying potential to escalate into more harmful forms of communication, such as hate speech: severely offensive language that targets individuals or groups based on attributes such as race, religion, or gender. Coupled with widespread online misinformation, this hateful rhetoric can have very destructive impacts in the real world.

Advances in natural language processing have enabled the development of algorithms that can detect hate speech by analysing patterns of offensive language and tabooness, helping to identify and mitigate its spread on digital platforms.

Taboo here but not there?

The taboo status of a word is deeply rooted in cultural norms and historical context. Blasphemy, for instance, was once the most offensive form of language in Europe, but has lost much of its shock value in secular societies. Sexual and scatological terms remain consistently taboo in many cultures, reflecting an entrenched discomfort with topics perceived as private or indecent. The differences in what words are considered taboo can offer fascinating insights.

A 2024 study investigating these differences asked many participants from different countries to freely list all the taboo words or expressions they could think of. The results revealed striking differences in the average number of taboo words produced.

Native Spanish speakers from Spain and English speakers from the UK generated a relatively modest average of fewer than 16 taboo words per person, but Dutch speakers from Belgium came up with around 30 taboo items per person. The disparity widened further with native German speakers from Germany, who produced an impressive average of 53 taboo words each, more than three times that of their British and Spanish counterparts.

The study also revealed clear patterns of cross-cultural overlap and divergence in taboo word production. Certain words – such as the equivalents of “cunt” or “bitch” – appeared consistently across almost every linguistic sample, underscoring a shared recognition of these terms as highly taboo across cultures.

However, distinct cultural differences emerged with other terms. “Shit”, or its translated equivalent, ranked among the top 10 taboo words for English and Italian speakers, but was absent from the top rankings in French, Dutch, Spanish, or German. In contrast, racial slurs featured in the top 10 taboo words for speakers of Dutch, English, French, German, and Italian, but not in Spanish samples.

This variability demonstrates that, while taboo words exist across all languages, their prevalence and perceived importance are deeply rooted in cultural and linguistic contexts.

The neuroscience of swearing

Taboo language is not just a cultural phenomenon. It also has profound psychological and neural implications. Research shows that hearing or using taboo words activates the amygdala, a brain region associated with emotional arousal and fear responses. The cognitive significance and impact of taboo words also makes them easier to remember than other, more neutral words.

From a psychological perspective, taboo words serve various functions. They can amplify emotional expression, foster group identity, and even act as a natural painkiller – in several scientific studies, participants showed greater pain tolerance when swearing during a task in which they had to submerge their hands in ice water.

Individual differences and psychological traits also play a significant role in the use of taboo language. In public settings, men generally use taboo words more frequently than women. Personality factors such as high neuroticism and openness are also linked to frequent swearing, and people who are extroverted or have high emotional reactivity are more prone to using taboo words.

Ultimately, taboo language serves as a cultural mirror, reflecting societies’ values, taboos, and shifting norms. It reveals what topics are considered off-limits, what boundaries are being tested, and how language evolves in response to cultural changes.