More justification for my profane nature.

Not that I needed it, really, but it's always nice to have some science in your hip pocket.

Swearing mitigates pain - Boing Boing:

"Some experimental evidence to suggest that swearing makes pain less traumatic...:

...When swearing, the 67 student volunteers reported less pain and on average endured about 40 seconds longer.

Although cursing is notoriously decried in the public debate, researchers are now beginning to question the idea that the phenomenon is all bad. "Swearing is such a common response to pain that there has to be an underlying reason why we do it," says psychologist Richard Stephens of Keele University in England, who led the study. And indeed, the findings point to one possible benefit: "I would advise people, if they hurt themselves, to swear," he adds.

Why the #$%! Do We Swear? For Pain Relief (via /.) "