Do all cultures have swear words?

Asked by: Lois Michael, Chiswick

It's been suggested people can't swear in Japanese or Finnish, but the rumours are wrong in both cases - the only languages in which one cannot swear are 'artificial' ones such as Esperanto.

The Japanese tend to use phrases rather than individual words to produce a range of taboo expressions, none of which can be printed here. Bill Bryson claims in his book Mother Tongue that there are no swear words in Finnish, but several websites give long lists.

Read more:

• What happens in our brain when we learn languages?
• Why is it rude to point?

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