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When you mess up, or get angry or hurt, you may find yourself reaching for some words that ...
你在陷入困境、生气或受伤的时候，可能会发现自己想说一些话...
well, your mom might not be so proud of.
哦，你妈妈可能不会为这些话感到自豪。
But regardless of what you were told as a kid, sometimes swearing just feels like the right way to deal with things.
但是不管你小时候被告知过什么，有时候说脏话就像处理事情的正确方法。
Psychologists are just starting to research why we swear and whether or not it could be helpful,
心理学家们刚刚开始研究我们为什么说脏话以及它是否有帮助，
so there's still a lot we don't know about how it affects our brains.
所以对于它影响我们大脑的方式，我们仍有很多不知道的地方。
But it turns out that as far as language goes, curse words are pretty powerful.
但事实证明，就语言而言，脏话是相当有力量的。
A lot of that power comes from taboo concepts, like sex or disrespect for authority.
它的很多力量来自于禁忌的概念，比如性或者对权威的不尊重。
I mean, how many can you think of that aren't in at least one of those categories?
我的意思是，你能想出多少个不属于这一类的脏话？
Wait! Don't answer that. The point is, when we swear,
等一下，不要回答。问题在于，当我们说脏话时，
we're invoking concepts that are traditionally viewed as shocking to really drive home what we're feeling.
我们正在唤起那些传统上被视为令人震惊的思想，以此来真正表达我们的感受。
They're kind of like honking the horn on your car: they get a lot of attention, really fast.
它们就像你在车上按喇叭：它们会非常快地得到很多关注。
So it's possible that when we swear after hurting ourselves,
所以很可能我们在受伤后说脏话
we're trying to grab that attention and emphasize that we're overwhelmed by the pain.
是在试图抓住人们的注意力，并强调我们被痛苦淹没了。
Almost like a yelping animal, we spit out something that communicates not just that we're hurt,
我们非常像一只尖叫的动物，说出的话不仅能传达我们受伤了，
but that it's almost too much to handle.
而且还传达出它超出控制范围的含义。
But, as is often the case with psychology, that's probably not the whole picture.
但就像心理学常见的案例一样，这可能不是全部。
Even though research on swearing is pretty limited,
即使关于说脏话的研究相当有限，
one experiment suggested that swearing could also be a way to protect us from pain.
但一项实验仍表明，说脏话可以保护我们免受痛苦。
The main study on this was published in 2009 in the journal NeuroReport,
这项实验的主要研究发表在2009年的《神经报告》（NeuroReport）上，
where researchers tested whether swearing had an effect on how people perceived pain.
研究人员在实验中测试了说脏话是否影响人们对疼痛的感知。
They had 67 undergraduates from Keele University in the UK dunk their hands in a tub of icy cold water,
他们让英国基尔大学的67名本科生把手浸在冰水盆里，
then measured whether swearing changed how long they could keep their hand in the tub.
然后测量说脏话是否改变他们的手放在冰水盆里的时间。
Subjects submerged their hands twice:
受试者两次把手伸进冰水里：
once while swearing like a sailor, and once while repeating a neutral, non-sweary word.
一次像水手一样说脏话，一次重复性得说一些中性的、非说脏话的话。
Each time, they were asked to rate the pain they'd experienced,
他们每次都被要求评估他们经历的痛苦，
as well as fill out some surveys on anxiety and fear of pain.
以及填写一些关于焦虑和对痛苦的恐惧的调查。
The researchers found that swearing every few seconds helped people
研究人员发现，每隔几秒钟说一次脏话能帮助人们
keep their hand in the tub for longer than when they weren't allowed to swear.
把手放在冰水盆里更久，比他们不被允许说脏话时的时间长。
All the subjects also reported less pain when swearing.
所有受试者都报告称说脏话时疼痛感较低。
So the authors concluded that swearing increased people's tolerance to pain.
于是作者得出结论，说脏话可以增强人们对疼痛的忍耐力。
Some researchers think this could be because swearing taps into parts of the brain that control our emotions.
一些研究人员认为这可能是因为说脏话会刺激大脑中控制情绪的区域。
Something about saying words so emotionally loaded and taboo
说一些带有感情色彩和禁忌的词
may cause an emotion that stops us from feeling so anxious about being in pain,
可能会引起一种情绪，阻止我们对痛苦产生焦虑，
which could make that tub of icy water feel less threatening.
这可能会让那盆冰水感觉不那么危险了。
Basically, swearing helps people separate their fear of pain from their experience of pain.
从根本上说，说脏话可以帮助人们将他们对疼痛的恐惧和痛苦经历分开。
Instead, the emotions people feel when they're swearing trigger the sympathetic nervous system,
相反的是，人们说脏话时的情绪会触发交感神经系统，
which throws their body into fight-or-flight mode.
它将他们的身体投入战斗或逃跑模式。
Instead of being distracted by fear, they prepare to either take on the threat or run for their lives.
他们没有被恐惧分散注意力，而是准备应对威胁或逃命。
That 2009 study found that people's heart rates were higher while they were swearing,
2009年的一项研究发现，人们说脏话时的心率更高，
which supports the idea that they were experiencing fight-or-flight.
这支持了他们正在经历战斗或逃跑模式的观点。
Their bodies were full of adrenaline, as though they were confronting a dangerous situation.
他们的身体充满了肾上腺素，好像他们正面临一个危险处境似的。
The exact swear-induced-emotion that pulls people into that state is still up for debate,
将人们带入这种状态的说脏话诱发情绪的确切观点仍有待讨论，
although the authors of the study suggested that it might be aggression.
尽管研究作者认为这可能一种侵犯。
And then those same researchers did another study earlier this year,
接着，这些研究人员在今年早些时候做了另一项研究，
and their results are calling that whole fight-or-flight thing into question.
他们的研究结果让整个战斗或逃跑模式都遭受质疑。
The team figured that if swearing was triggering the fight or flight response,
该研究小组认为，如果说脏话会引发战斗或逃跑反应，
athletes would perform better while swearing.
那么运动员说脏话的时候会表现得更好。
And they found that athletes' power and grip strength improved when they summoned up those swears, just like they expected.
他们发现，当运动员们像他们预期的那样大声咒骂时，他们的力量和握力都得到了改善。
But the heart rate changes just weren't there,
但是他们的心率没有变化，
they weren't seeing physical evidence of an increased fight-or-flight response that would help separate fear from pain.
他们没有看到身体证据，表明更多的“战或逃”反应有助于把恐惧和痛苦区分开来。
So, we're sort of back to square one.
所以，我们回到了起点。
We have evidence that swearing does increase your ability to tolerate pain,
我们有证据表明说脏话确实能提高你忍受疼痛的能力，
and it does improve your physical performance in exercise.
而且它确实能改善你的运动表现。
But we don't know exactly why.
但我们不知道具体原因。
As with so many topics in psychology, and language for that matter, the reasons for swearing are complicated.
就像心理学和语言中的许多话题一样，说脏话的原因也很复杂。
So we'll have to do more studies to get the whole story on why potty mouths kill pain.
所以我们需要做更多研究来了解满口脏话能杀死疼痛的来龙去脉。
But until then, the next time you step on a LEGO ... we won't judge you if you let loose.
但在下次你踩上乐高之前……如果你撒手不管，我们不会批评你的。
And if you're interested in watching some of the SciShow team and friends let loose
如果你有兴趣看一些科学秀的成员和朋友们
while trying to amaze each other with science,
试图用科学来让彼此惊奇时候的随心所欲，
you can check us out on what we'll just call Holy (bleep)ing Science,
你可以看看我们所谓的神圣科学，
the science podcast that is very much not for children.
这是一个非常不适合儿童的科学播客。
