Joshua Parfitt
INSULTS have been branded ‘therapeutic’ in a new book by Catalonian author Sergio Parra.
In Mecaguen!, published by Vox, Parra says that expletives are ‘necessary’ for reducing tension and regulating bodily hormones.
Drawing upon neurological research, Parra even maintains that individuals who lose language through brain trauma can still ‘swear’ as curse words are stored in a completely separate part of the brain.
“I do not apologise for foul language. It is a resource that we cannot do without, but shouldn’t abuse,” Parra told a Spanish news agency.
“Like a knife, it can be used to kill, or to spread butter.”
Parra defends slurs and put-downs as ‘cultural richness’, while stressing that he does not mean crude, modern swear words that shock rather than amuse.
His book favours Spanish words from the Siglo de Oro, which would be contemporaries of old English slurs like ‘driggle-draggle’, ‘fustylugs’ and ‘saddle-goose’.
His book looks at blasphemy and taboo words, and compares 18th century puritanism with the modern-day ‘witch-hunting’ of politically incorrect words on social media.
