Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • a. & n. from swear, v.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of swear.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a commitment to tell the truth (especially in a court of law); to lie under oath is to become subject to prosecution for perjury
  • noun profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger

Etymologies

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Examples

Comments

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  • "Chris Code...points out that it is possible to neurobiologically to separate swearwords from other words in language. Swearing actually uses parts of the brain that support language and also parts of the brain that are used when laughing and crying. Often people with severe brain damage remain able to swear even when they are unable to produce other language. Perhaps swearing is the remnant of an evolutionary step at which cries were were some mix of automatic and voluntary articulation."

    -- Christine Kenneally, The First Word, p116

    July 16, 2009

  • I KNEW it! "Bad language can be good for you." Seen in Scientific American, here. Suck on THAT!! :)

    July 30, 2009

  • Well, I'll be damned.

    July 30, 2009