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Thursday, February 22, 2018

What the #*@&?

Do you have a potty mouth at work? You’re not alone.

According to a study done by Wrike, a work management platform in the US, 57 percent of respondents admitted to using foul language in the workplace. 

The highest obscenity offenders? Women at 60 percent, with men close behind at 55 percent. The demographic that uses the most colourful language are millennials at 66 percent, compared to 54 percent of their Baby Boomer and Gen X coworkers. 

The industries with people who swear the most are healthcare, with 64 percent admitting to swearing at work, followed by finance (62 percent), professional services (61 percent), tech workers (59 percent), government staff (53 percent), and those who work in education (48 percent). 

If you’re swearing a blue streak at work, you may want to find less offensive phrases, or be more mindful of sensitive ears. Forty-one percent of those surveyed who do not swear at work felt swearing is too casual and unprofessional, and 39 percent say it causes awkward moments in the workplace.

Trying to censor yourself, but keep letting the salty talk slip? Don’t worry—research done by Language Sciences reported that cursing is positively connected to a high vocabulary and intelligence.

“It’s part of your emotional intelligence to know how and when to use these words,” says Dr. Timothy Jay of the Department of Psychology at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and author of the study. “If you’re thinking about it from a moral perspective, you’re missing how common and normal it is. Everybody knows this language.”

But you should still try to curb your potty mouth for the sake of your coworkers.

Source: Fast Company