Americans are cursing more today than ever before. In fact, the average American utters 80 to 90 curse words every day. That’s about five f*#king curse words every waking hour. But that might not be so bad. Turns out, swearing may help make you live a happier, healthier life in the long-run.

If you’ve ever banged your toe and then yelled an expletive, you’ll already know part of the reason for swearing’s appeal—it helps us cope with pain. According to the BBC, psychologists have actually proved this under controlled conditions in a lab.

One theory is that swearing has this effect because it triggers an emotional reaction in the brain and body. Consistent with this, swearing raises your heart rate and increases your sweat levels, both of which are signs of your body shifting into a survival ‘fight or flight’ mode.

It checks out. According to U.S. News & World Report, the average American experiences 1,205 stressful or frustrating events every year. More surprisingly, 52% of Americans said something as banal as slow WiFi is enough to push them to swear. Politics can send almost 17% of people into an expletive-filled bout of frustration.

Of course, the more you swear, the more people hear you ... including little ears. The New Yorker reports that kids have been cursing more during the pandemic. There’s a joke in there about swearing like sailors, but one parent aptly replies that it’s more like “submariners who have been deployed underwater with no sight of sky or land for six months at a time.”

Then again, maybe that's not such a bad thing. Prudes will say we cuss because we lack the words to make a better point. It's known as the “poverty-of-vocabulary” hypothesis, but is that really true? Hell no. According to research published in Scientific American, those who are fluent in fucks and other curse words are often eloquent and verbose when it comes to appropriate words too.