研究發現擅長說髒話的人詞彙量更大

People who frequently swear are more likely to have a bigger vocabulary than their clean-tongued peers, research revealed.

研究發現，經常說髒話的人要比說話文明的同齡人擁有更大的詞彙量。

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

一項發表在《語言科學》雜誌上的研究發現，一個人油嘴滑舌，並不意味着這個人很懶或者沒受過教育。

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

相反，那些敢說禁忌詞彙的人，在其他領域也更善於表達自己。

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

這項試驗要求參與者在一分鐘內儘可能多地說出他們能想到的髒話。

They were then asked to do the same with animals.

隨後，參與者又被要求在一分鐘內儘可能多地說出他們能想到的動物名字。

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

結果顯示，知道更多髒話的人也能叫出更多動物的名字。

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

兩位共同撰寫這份研究報告的美國心理學家——克里斯汀·傑伊和蒂莫西·傑伊表示：這項試驗表明說髒話能力和口語流暢度呈正相關。

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

他們補充道，那些擅用禁忌詞彙的人更易分辨出用語的細微差別，因而在語言表達上也更富有表現力。

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

他們寫道：“我們免不了會根據人們的說話方式來判斷一個人。

'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.'

“不幸的是，在說髒話這點上，人們通常的看法就是，愛說髒話的人很懶，知道的詞彙量少，缺少教育，或者自控力差。”

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.

在結論中，他們補充道：“總體來看，這項研究發現，使用禁忌語的流利度與使用其他口語的流利度呈正相關，打破了人們對說髒話者的慣常看法。

'Speakers who use taboo words understand their general expressive content as well as nuanced distinctions that must be drawn to use slurs appropriately.

“擅說髒話的人知道他們想要表達什麼，也能夠區分用語的細微差別，因而能更‘恰當’的使用髒話。

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

“能區分細微差別的能力，顯示了說話人擁有更多而不是更少的語言知識。”

Forty-nine participants aged between 18 and 22 were used in the experiment.

該試驗有49名參與者，年齡在18到22歲之間。