Vulgar honesty

From The Telegraph:

Temperate language has traditionally been considered a social virtue, but new research suggests people who refrain from swearing are often the most devious and dishonest.

Those fond of effing and blinding, by contrast, are likely to be the most honest in any given group, according to academics at the University of Cambridge.

Published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, the study describes how a cohort of 276 participants were asked to list their favourite swear words in order to gauge how fond they were of turning the air blue.

They were then given a survey asking them to agree or disagree with statements such as “I never lie” and “all my habits are good” to assess their propensity for dishonesty.

The researchers found that the most honest in the group were also the biggest swearers.

Dr David Stillwell, one of the study's authors, said the correlation may stem from the constraints imposed by social convention.

“If you’re trying to follow the social norms rather than saying what you think, you are saying what people want to [hear],” he said.

“In that respect you are not being very honest.

“We did not look at extreme dishonesty such as fraud, so from that experiment it’s an open question as to whether there would be a link.”

But what this study fails is to consider is whether the heavy swearers are actually correct. Honesty is a wonderful virtue, but being honestly wrong defeats the purpose of telling the truth.

Mind you, that doesn't mean the non-swearers are being accurate. If anything, they have a tendency to be self-deceiving. If you can't be honest with yourself, you certainly won't be honest with other people.

Fortunately, there is a happy medium. When one's language is properly salted with appropriate swear words, it is possible to communicate with honest emphasis. Overuse of swear words is like opening a salt bottle and dumping a pile on your food. It's damned nasty!

On the other hand, complete lack of swear words is also a cautionary signal. When a person becomes too measured in their speech, then their words flow with the monotone of plain white rice. There is no emotion or true feeling, because those are completely buried behind a facade, hence their own dishonesty.

So don't be afraid of a little well-placed salty language. But don't let it take the place of seeking truth in your own thinking. There is a fine line between being emotionally honest, and being right. A person can be both, if they allow room for both in their thought processes.