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Colorful Language May Have Benefits, Be Sign Of Intelligence

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Ever been told to wash your mouth with a bar of soap after using, say, some colorful language? Well, it turns out the benefits of having a clean mouth might be a load of [expletive]. Researchers throughout the years have studied the use of curse words. And according to some, dropping a well-placed [expletive] or [expletive] can actually be a sign of honesty or an indication of a high pain tolerance. But the big reveal quoted in a recent CNN story is that swearing can be a sign of intelligence. I [expletive] knew it. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.