President Barack Obama didn't act like a typical president when he took a break from running the country to hang out with Jerry Seinfeld, driving a Corvette and drinking coffee. And Obama admitted that he doesn't always sound presidential either. The leader of the United States, it seems, is a fan of swearing. He told Seinfeld:
当美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马在不理国政的空档同杰瑞·宋飞开着游艇喝着咖啡的时候,他的言谈举止并不像一般的总统那样。而且,奥巴马自己也承认自己有时说话并不像一个总统。貌似这位美国领导人喜欢咒骂。他这样对宋飞说:
"I curse. I curse. …Bad stuff, or stupid stuff, is happening constantly, right? valuable."
"我就骂了!就骂了!但生活中常会有些糟糕的、愚蠢的事情发生,不是吗?值呀!"
Though the prim and proper may frown upon this language from a head of state, profanities are a healthy part of our lexicon. And plenty of studies have found that the odd bit of swearing can in fact be very good for you.
可能这话从一国元首口中说出来有失妥帖,但脏话是我们日常用语中司空见惯正常的一部分。而且,多项研究也发现:骂人实际上非常有益身心健康。
In 2009, psychologists from Keele University in the UK found that swearing can even help relieve pain. Some 67 participants were asked to keep their hands submerged in ice cold water as along as possible, either repeating a swear word or a neutral word over and over. Those who were swearing were able to keep their hand submerged for longer, and also reported feeling less pain.
2009年,一群英国基尔大学的心理学家发现:骂人甚至有助于减缓疼痛。研究中,67名调研者被要求在尽可能长的时间里将自己的手浸泡在冰水中,有些人要求一直重复骂人的话而另一部分人则要求重复平实的话语。研究结果显示,说脏话的人把手泡在水里的时间更长,且更不觉得痛。
Timothy Jay, a psychologist at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts who has studied cursing for 35 years, says profanities are an irreplaceable form of expression.
麻省理工学院心理学家蒂莫西·杰研究说脏话35年,他称:脏话是一种不可替代的表达形式。
Monika Bednarek, senior lecturer in linguistics at the University of Sydney, has catalogued the number of profanities in the most popular US TV (there are a lot), and agrees that swearing is important in social situations.
悉尼大学语言学高级讲师莫妮卡·贝德纳雷克在一档美国最受欢迎的电视节目中将脏话分类(多到想不到),并同意说脏话在社交中起重要作用这一观点。