Swearing can relieve pain - but only if you don't curse regularly in everyday life, claim psychologists。

　　心理学家称，说脏话可以减轻疼痛，然而太过频繁则会过犹不及。

　　Previous studies have shown that letting fly with a few choice expletives can ease pain。

　　先前的研究表明，偶尔爆几句粗口可以减轻疼痛。

　　But the bad news is that the pain relief quickly wears off for habitual swearers, according to Keele University researchers。

　　不过基尔大学的研究人员同时表示，对于那些满嘴脏话的人来说，镇痛效果并不明显。

　　Dr Richard Stephens and Claudia Umland asked 71 volunteers aged 18 to 46 to assess how frequently they swore, ranging from hardly ever to 40 times a day or more。

　　理查德 史蒂芬斯博士和克劳迪娅 乌木兰德博士进行了一项调查，他们召集了71名志愿者，年龄从18岁到46岁不等，询问他们平日说脏话的频率，比如很少说脏话，或者一天骂40句甚至更多脏话。

　　They then had to keep their hands in icy water for as long as possible to test their pain tolerance。

　　接下来他们要求这些志愿者将双手置于冰水之中，时间越长越好，以检测他们对疼痛的忍耐力。

　　Those who seldom swore were able to stand the icy water for 45 seconds longer when they were swearing than when they were not swearing. But those who often swore gained only ten extra seconds。

　　那些很少说脏话的人，当他们忍受不了而骂几句脏话时，就能在冰水中多坚持45秒，甚至更久，而那些经常说脏话的人至多再坚持10秒。

　　The experiment showed the more often people swear in daily life, the less extra time they could stand the pain。

　　实验结果显示，一个人说脏话的频率越高，他对疼痛的忍耐力就越差。

　　Dr Stephens said that swearing appeared to induce a 'fight or flight' response that acted as a stress-induced painkiller for those who did not swear regularly。

　　史蒂芬斯博士称，对那些不常骂脏话的人来说，脏话能诱使身体发生“或战或逃”反应，以减轻因压力产生的疼痛感。

　　He said: 'Many people think swearing is only for those with a low IQ or a poor vocabulary but that's far from the case. People have a need to swear, it's a human emotion that can serve a purpose in life or death situations - if you don't do it too often.'

　　他说：“很多人认为只有那些智商低、没文化的人才会说脏话，但情况远非如此。人人都有骂脏话的需求，在生死关头，骂脏话能释放人的情感——只要你不是经常这么做。”