Swear by it: why bad language is good for you | Emma Byrne

It bonds workers, sheds light on the brain and pacifies us. Emma Byrne on the uses and paradoxes of swearing

When I was about nine years old, I was smacked for calling my little brother a "twat".

I had no idea what a twat was - I thought it was just a silly way of saying "twit" - but that smack taught me that some words were more powerful than others and that I had to be careful how I used them.