Expletive Deleted: A Study of Language Usage

The research findings of profane language usage need to be extended so that more may be learned about human communication. In order to establish profane language usage norms, eighty-six university students were asked to estimate their profane language usage in each of three categories (excretory, religious, and sexual) in reference to three general social situations (sex relationships, friendships, and public-private situations) and three specific categories (same or opposite sex; alone, close friends, and strangers; and private, semipublic, and public). Results of the tests showed that excretory profanity is used more than religious or sexual, that profanity occurs at a higher frequency when a person is alone, and that less profanity is used in the presence of strangers than in other situations. (Tables of findings and a list of references are included.) (JM)