The linguist explained why people swear and named the professions with the main “speakers”

It would seem that the truth is that swearing dirty is ugly. But which of us has never in his life uttered obscene words in one situation or another (or at least in his thoughts), let him be the first to throw a stone at the foul-mouthed person. A recent opinion poll on one of the Telegram channels on the occasion of the unofficial Day against Profanity showed that 70% of Muscovites use swear words in their speech. Is it a lot or a little? “MK” found out from linguists and psychologists whether it is, in principle, acceptable for cultured people to swear?

Thanks to a social survey, a map of the most “indecent-speaking” districts of Moscow was compiled. The main swearers live in the Kyiv settlement (Troitsky district of Moscow, 86%), in the Krasnoselsky district (82%), Vernadsky Avenue (80%), Novogireevo (79%) and Ryazansky (78%). The Kurkino and Tverskoy districts fell slightly short of the title of cultural (45% and 46% of respondents use swear words there). And the most decent people live in the center of Moscow.

However, you shouldn’t take the survey too seriously. But certain conclusions can be drawn.

Religious leaders never tire of reminding us that foul language is considered a sin. “The nature of foul language has no divine basis and comes from demons,” priest Evgeny Podvysotsky recently wrote on his blog. – Swearing came into the speech of the modern man in the street from ancient pagan spells and rituals, often accompanied by all sorts of debauchery and dirt. By swearing, a person turns towards evil spirits and defiles himself.” At the same time, he warned: “And you shouldn’t be surprised if something doesn’t work out in life for a person for whom swear words have become part of everyday speech.”

But we do not accept churchgoers who do not allow themselves such unacceptable speech behavior. “MK” asked one of the experts in the field of the Russian language a simple question: why do some of our citizens practically speak obscenities?

If we are talking about people who constantly use obscene language in everyday life, then these are people with low speech culture,” explains linguist, associate professor of the Russian language department of the Moscow Architectural Institute, member of the Spelling Commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences Maria Rovinskaya. – Obscene words have an important property: they are semantically empty, that is, they can express a huge number of meanings depending on the situation and context. And, accordingly, for a person with a poor vocabulary, it is easier to use an offensive word in some situation than to look for another word. If swearing flows, as they say, like a river, this indicates speech helplessness.

There is an assertion that there are areas where obscene language cannot be avoided (it is believed that there it is used more or less legitimately). Some time ago there were three of them: the army, construction and prison, closed, predominantly male communities. Now these areas have been supplemented by journalists, PR specialists and marketers, who, as they claim, cannot do their work without using obscenities. This seems strange to me. And it’s not a matter of stress – I don’t think doctors and teachers have a less stressful job. Yes, the use of swear words is, of course, associated with stressful situations, but mostly with culture and self-discipline. The widespread, unrestrained use of obscene language is, first of all, a sign of permissiveness; a person allows himself such behavior, while being aware of what he is saying. Still, obscene vocabulary exists in the language as a means of expressing uncontrollable strong emotions, when a person does not control himself, when something extraordinary happened to him. And if such words are in your vocabulary, you can say them at such a moment. But if you control yourself and understand what you are saying, there is no need to use such vocabulary. Exercise even more control, find other words. And if your vocabulary is poorer than that of Ellochka the cannibal, then, of course, you won’t find other words.

– And yet, truly intelligent people, in your opinion, should not use swear words under any circumstances?

– Intelligent, cultured, highly educated people can use obscene language only when its use is appropriate. For example, quoting some joke or in some exceptional situation when it is impossible to find other words.

A separate aspect of the use of obscenity is when teenagers speak it. Each of us has noticed more than once, when passing by a group of schoolchildren, even if they were decent-looking, well-dressed boys and girls, that endless obscenities flow from their young lips. However, this has always been the case, and there is an explanation for this.

“There is a whole complex of reasons here,” says Maria Rovinskaya. – In addition to the fact that their vocabulary is not yet diverse enough (we hope that this is temporary) and it is indeed easier for them to use obscene words to express some of their simple thoughts in everyday communication, teenagers also flaunt the fact that they are supposedly already adults , since they use words that are forbidden to be used, especially by children. Thus, they strive to separate themselves from childhood. These are shortcomings in upbringing, and the influence of adults (these examples are always before your eyes), who pronounce such words much more easily than some time ago. But I would not overestimate the threat: in this case, swearing can also be considered part of teenage slang, since none of them retain such speech in adulthood. Everyone, as a rule, “outgrows” swearing. But let me emphasize that in this case we are talking about those young people who are ready to grow culturally and spiritually, who are ready to think about it.

In a conversation with MK, psychologist Evgeniy Idzikovsky expressed himself more sympathetic to the use of obscene vocabulary, who believes that swearing is “our sociocultural traditions, so in our society swearing is normal.” “In addition, there are studies that show that profanity, for example, alleviates stress and/or pain,” the psychologist added. – Representatives of the middle class seem to swear less often, but the percentage of people among them who use swear words at all is about the same. To never use such words, you need some compelling reasons, and the first of them is that it has never been accepted in the family, that is, these are issues of specific upbringing.”