囧研究：脏话频出的人词汇量更大英文更牛

 It might be time to rethink the long-held belief that people with foul¹ mouths have smaller lexicons². In fact, a study found, the number of a person drops might actually be correlated with greater overall language fluency³.

一直以来人们都认为满嘴脏话的人词汇量较小，现在该重新思量思量这句话了。事实上，一项研究发现，人们口吐脏话的词频或许就与其语言整体的流利度更高相关联。

Taking an opposite approach to the view that people who use dirty words do so because they're linguistically⁴ challenged, psychologists Kristin Jay and Timothy Jay of Marist College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts hypothesized that being fluent in four-letter words might just be a sign of better language skills.

都认为说脏话是因为词穷、语言水平差，来自玛利斯特学院和马萨诸塞文科学院的心理学家克里斯廷·杰和提姆斯·杰却剑走偏锋，他们假设认为口吐脏字儿或许就标志着其语言技能更好。

The researchers recruited study participants between the ages of 18 and 22, and asked them to do a fun little experiment: First, say as many swear words as they could think of in a minute, followed by another 60 seconds of listing animal names.

研究人员召集了18至22岁的参与者来做一项有趣的小实验。先是一分钟内能想到几句骂人的话就说几句，接下来的60秒里列举各种动物名称。

With limited variation between genders⁵, people who cursed more also named more animals, leading them to conclude that these people either A) were more likely to be well-versed in zoology⁶, or B) simply had larger vocabularies.

实验显示男女差异并不大，骂得凶的动物名字报的也多，杰因而得出如下结论：这些人对深谙动物学，或者就是词汇量偏大。

Researchers in the U.K. have already shown that using profanity can help people become more emotionally resilient; now we know that it might even be a sign they'll do better on the SAT.

英国的研究人员早已发现，污言秽语更有助人们恢复情感；现在我们得知语言不逊或许意味着他们参加（美国）学业能力倾向测验能取得更好的成绩。

The study also found that people who curse a lot seemed to understand the difference between what constitutes an "appropriate" curse word and an "inappropriate" one. Racial slurs⁷ appeared much less frequently in people's lists of swear words than "general pejoratives" .

研究同样发现，脏字连篇者似乎也明白骂人的话有“合适”与“不当”之别。比之“一般的贬损之辞”，种族污蔑之语鲜有出现在人们的脏话之列。

So the next time you lose your keys or get stuck in traffic, don't be afraid to start letting those f-bombs fly freely.

所以，下次你钥匙掉了，或者碰到交通拥堵，就火力全开，让脏话满天飞吧。

1 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

2 lexicons   

n.词典( lexicon的名词复数 )；专门词汇

参考例句：

• I have a discipline: medical, sports, and advertising lexicons. 另一些是专科词典，如医学词典、体育词典、广告词典等等。 来自互联网

3 fluency   

n.流畅，雄辩，善辩

参考例句：

• More practice will make you speak with greater fluency.多练习就可以使你的口语更流利。
• Some young children achieve great fluency in their reading.一些孩子小小年纪阅读已经非常流畅。

4 linguistically   

adv. 语言的, 语言学的

参考例句：

• But this group is linguistically, culturally, and even genetically diverse. 但这个人群在语言上，文化上，甚至在遗传上都是多样化的。
• Like the EU, Belgium is linguistically and culturally divided. 与欧盟一样，比利时是个多语言、多文化的地区。

5 genders   

n.性某些语言的（阳性、阴性和中性，不同的性有不同的词尾等）( gender的名词复数 )；性别；某些语言的（名词、代词和形容词）性的区分

参考例句：

• There are three genders in German: masculine, feminine and neuter. 德语中有叁性：阳性、阴性和中性。 来自辞典例句
• Japan was fourth among the genders of foreign students. 日本在二十个留美学生输送地中列第四位。 来自互联网

6 zoology   

n.动物学，生态

参考例句：

• I would like to brush up my zoology.我想重新温习一下动物学。
• The library didn't stock zoology textbooks.这家图书馆没有动物学教科书。

7 slurs   

含糊的发音( slur的名词复数 )； 玷污； 连奏线； 连唱线

参考例句：

• One should keep one's reputation free from all slurs. 人应该保持名誉不受责备。
• Racial slurs, racial jokes, all having to do with being Asian. 种族主义辱骂，种族笑话，都是跟亚裔有关的。