Did you know swearing is common in all cultures? OK, that might not be too surprising. Did you know swearing can help you withstand pain? Got your interest now?

Before you assume I had a revelation one day when I hurt myself, let me introduce you to a guy who spent a lot of hours on this subject: Dr. Richard Stephens. He recently conducted a study on the relationship between swearing and pain at Keele University's School of Psychology, U.K. He thinks he knows why swearing is so universal.

Results of his study were recently published in the journal NeuroReport. It involved 64 students who were willing to suffer pain in the name of science. Or maybe they wanted the opportunity to swear in front of a lot of people without repercussions!

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