What’s in a swear? The world’s filthiest words typically refer to something vulgar or taboo, for one. But there’s something else swears across the world’s languages have in common. They’re all missing ...

Swearing is cathartic. Swearing is funny. Swearing is, dare we say it, pretty healthy. It’s all sorts of things wrapped up in the expression of words that are normally thought of as taboo. But where ...