Counting curses (on Twitter, in English)

Words can be tallied. Words were. This study gives details: “Cursing in English on Twitter,” Wenbo Wang, Lu Chen, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan [pictured here], and Amit P. Sheth, paper presented at CSCW’14 , February 15-19 2014, Baltimore, MD, USA. The authors, at Wright State University, explain: “In this paper, we examine the characteristics of cursing activity […]

“Swearing – the Language of Life and Death”

Richard Stephens has published a life and death account of  research about swearing: “Swearing – the Language of Life and Death,” Richard Stephens, The Psychologist, vol. 26,  pt. 9, September 2013, pp. 650-653. In 2010, Professor Stephens and two of his students were awarded the Ig Nobel Peace Prize. The citation reads: Richard Stephens, John Atkins, […]

Improbable Research