People who frequently swear are more likely to have a bigger vocabulary than their clean-tongued peers, research revealed.

研究发现，经常说脏话的人要比说话文明的同龄人拥有更大的词汇量。

A colourful tongue does not mean the talker is lazy or uneducated, a study published in the Language Sciences journal found.

一项发表在《语言科学》杂志上的研究发现，一个人油嘴滑舌，并不意味着这个人很懒或者没受过教育。

Instead, those who are more confident using taboo words are more articulate in other areas.

相反，那些敢说禁忌词汇的人，在其他领域也更善于表达自己。

The experiment asked participants to say as many swear words as they could think of in 60 seconds.

这项试验要求参与者在一分钟内尽可能多地说出他们能想到的脏话。

They were then asked to do the same with animals.

随后，参与者又被要求在一分钟内尽可能多地说出他们能想到的动物名字。

Those who knew the most swear words were more likely to name the most animals as well, the research found.

结果显示，知道更多脏话的人也能叫出更多动物的名字。

Kristin and Timothy Jay, the US-based psychologists who co-wrote the study, said it proved swearing was positively correlated with verbal fluency.

两位共同撰写这份研究报告的美国心理学家——克里斯汀·杰伊和蒂莫西·杰伊表示：这项试验表明说脏话能力和口语流畅度呈正相关。

They added that those who used taboo words were able to make nuanced distinctions and could use language expressively.

他们补充道，那些擅用禁忌词汇的人更易分辨出用语的细微差别，因而在语言表达上也更富有表现力。

They wrote: 'We cannot help but judge others on the basis of their speech.

他们写道：“我们免不了会根据人们的说话方式来判断一个人。

'Unfortunately, when it comes to taboo language, it is a common assumption that people who swear frequently are lazy, do not have an adequate vocabulary, lack education, or simply cannot control themselves.'

“不幸的是，在说脏话这点上，人们通常的看法就是，爱说脏话的人很懒，知道的词汇量少，缺少教育，或者自控力差。”

In their conclusion, they added: 'The overall finding of this set of studies, that taboo fluency is positively correlated with other measures of verbal fluency, undermines the [normal] view of swearing.

在结论中，他们补充道：“总体来看，这项研究发现，使用禁忌语的流利度与使用其他口语的流利度呈正相关，打破了人们对说脏话者的惯常看法。

'Speakers who use taboo words understand their general expressive content as well as nuanced distinctions that must be drawn to use slurs appropriately.

“擅说脏话的人知道他们想要表达什么，也能够区分用语的细微差别，因而能更‘恰当’的使用脏话。

'The ability to make nuanced distinctions indicates the presence of more rather than less linguistic knowledge.'

“能区分细微差别的能力，显示了说话人拥有更多而不是更少的语言知识。”

Forty-nine participants aged between 18 and 22 were used in the experiment.

该试验有49名参与者，年龄在18到22岁之间。