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SALT LAKE CITY — Most kids know how to swear before they have learned their ABCs, according to research by a Stanford University linguistics professor.
That's likely because their parents and others around them use foul language, Melissa Mohr argues in her book, "A Brief History of Swearing." She said English-speakers swear about once every 140 words.
Other words used that often include first-person plural pronouns such as "our," "us" and "we."
Although children as young as 2 can know a swear word or two, swearing usually ramps up at about 3 or 4, based on a 2010 study. The study's authors, based in the U.K., argued that the prevalence of swearing among young children can be blamed on adults' increased use of vulgarity.
"By the time kids go to school now, they're saying all the words that we try to protect them from on television," researcher Timothy Jay told the Montreal Gazette at the time. "We find their swearing really takes off between (ages) three and four."
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Research has shown a rise in children using vulgar language over the past 30 years, and at younger ages. Jay said that of the adults who have instituted no-swearing policies for their children, two-thirds swear themselves.
Mohr also found that about 0.7 percent of all English words spoken on any day are swear words — and that the wealthy swear more than the middle class.
"(It) indicates that you are a proper, good person and this is a sign of your morality and awareness of social rules," Mohr told USA Today. "Aristocrats have a secure position in society, so they can say whatever they want — and may even make a show of doing so."
