Why do swear words exist?

Words are wonderful! Pickle, bubble, and hullabaloo are all super fun to say.  But some words can be hurtful, like  swear words. So if we aren’t supposed to say them, why do swear words exist? We asked linguist Carolin Debray to help us find the answer.

Got a question that seems unan-swear-able? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll dis-cuss the answer.