201 ways to say f***: How the world swears

Our brains swear for good reasons: to vent, cope, boost our grit and feel closer to those around us. Swear words can act as social glue and play meaningful roles in how people communicate, connect and express themselves — both in person, and online. More than 1.7 billion words of online language across 20 English-speaking regions have been analysed in new research published in Lingua, a peer-reviewed journal covering general linguistics. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today This has been narrowed down to 597 different swear word forms — from standard words, to creative spellings like 4rseholes,…