18 min listen
Swearing
FromThe Why Factor
ratings:
Length:
18 minutes
Released:
Oct 11, 2013
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
#*?@! %$&@*! Why do a few, select words have such power to shock and offend? With help from swearing historian Melissa Mohr, Mike Williams traces the history of taboo language from Roman times to the present day and hears how cultural taboos have shaped offensive language down the centuries. He talks to American psychologist Professor Tim Jay about why we swear and discovers that children start using profane language at a much earlier age than you might imagine. And he meets psychologist Dr Richard Stephens who persuades him to take part in two swearing experiments, one of them rather painful, with some surprising results.(Picture: A teenage boy in a hoodie making an offensive gesture, censored. Credit: BBC)
Released:
Oct 11, 2013
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Why do we have tattoos?: Mike Williams on where tattoos come from and what they say about us. by The Why Factor