Linguists have noticed that many swear words share the same sharp, punchy sounds—hard consonants like “k,” “t,” and “g” that burst out of the mouth rather than flow. When a study examined those sound ...

What's in a swear? The world's filthiest words typically refer to something vulgar or taboo, for one. But there's something else swears across the world's languages have in common. They're all missing ...