A new study found that, on the African continent, Johannesburg ranks in second place as the city that swears the most.
Joburg swears the most in South Africa
Word experts at WordTips analysed a total of 1.7 million English-language geotagged tweets against a database of 1 600 swear words to find out which countries swear the most. The data analysis was completed at the end of May 2024.
Markedly, in Africa, Johannesburg ranked in second place with 19.8 tweets per 1 000 tweets containing swear words.
Is it healthy to swear?
When is a word considered a swear word? Oxford Languages defines a swear word as ‘a word of a kind used to express anger or other strong emotion and regarded as coarse, blasphemous, or otherwise unacceptable in polite or formal speech’.
Although a topic of debate, some people argue that it is healthy to swear. According to Discover Magazine, there is research that shows that swearing can boost pain tolerance, foster emotional resilience and also signal positive traits like verbal fluency and honesty. Additionally, it claims that swearing provides stress relief and even a slight boost in physical performance.
Comparatively, some argue that using swear words is a sign of weakness and indicates a limited vocabulary.
“Profanity is the parlance of the fool. Why curse when there is such a magnificent language with which to discourse?”
Theodore Roosevelt
All in all, it seems that swear words are a part of the English language, or presumably any language, that gets a lot of attention. Take Nicolas Cage for instance, who hosted a series around the topic.
History of swear words
American actor and film producer, Nicolas Cage, hosted an educational, six-part comedy/documentary series in 2021 in which he explored the origins, pop culture usage, science, and also the cultural impact of curse words. Ves D’Elia directed the series.
The most foul-mouthed country worldwide
Markedly, the US ranks number one as the country that swears the most, with 41.6 tweets per 1 000 containing swear words.
Surprisingly, in second place, is the UK with 28.6 tweets that include swear words per 1 000 tweets.
The following countries were also in the top 10:
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
- Mexico
- Jamaica
- Colombia
- Dominican Republic
- Egypt
Countries in Africa that like to swear
Africa’s top five most swearing cities are:
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Accra, Ghana
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Ibadan, Nigeria
South Africa’s score was 17.4.
Are you surprised by this data?
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