Letting out a well-timed expletive can be pretty cathartic, but it turns out it can do more than make us feel better — it can also make us (temporarily) stronger. English psychologist Richard Stephens first got curious about the effects of swearing after watching his wife give birth — was it just a reaction to the pain, he wondered, or did cursing actually act as a physical boon?
He first tested his theory in 2009 by having subjects repeat a swear word of their choice while their hand was submerged in ice-cold water. The subjects who cursed lasted an average of 160 seconds — one minute longer than those who used non-swear words.