We already knew Peaches ‘ lyrics were ahead their time, but now we can confirm that scientifically. A new study from the school of psychology at Britain’s Keele University have found that using profanity can lessen physical pain. A group of 64 volunteers put their hands in ice water while repeating a swear word of their choice over and over. (I would choose fatherf*cker, sticking with the Peaches theme.) The volunteers then repeated the study, this time saying a word to describe a table. (How great would it feel to yell ‘sturdy’ over and over!?) Anyway, the outcome was that people were able to keep their hands in ice water longer when repeating swear words, suggesting that their perception of pain was lower when they used expressive profanity. I wouldn’t be surprised if cussing has similar benefits for stress and anger. (Think rush hour traffic.) A la James Lipton, what’s your uncensored exclamation when you drop the frozen peas on your toes? No oopsie daisy please. ~Hannah
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