‘Christ fucking shit merde!’ Language preferences for swearing among maximally proficient multilinguals

Sociolinguistic Studies
Vol 4, No 3 (2010) 595–614
doi : 10.1558/sols.v4i3.595

Jean-Marc Dewaele

Birkbeck, University of London, London, England

Abstract

The present study investigates language preferences for swearing among two groups of multilinguals. The first group consisted of 386 adult multilinguals who filled out the Bilingualism and Emotion web based questionnaire (BEQ, Dewaele and Pavlenko,2001–2003) and had declared that they were maximally proficient in their L1 and L2 and used both languages constantly. The second group consisted of 20 multilinguals with a similar sociobiographical profile who were interviewed about their language choice for the communication of emotion. A statistical analysis of the quantitative data revealed that despite similar levels of self-perceived proficiency and frequency of use in the L1 and L2, the L1 was used significantly more for swearing and L1 swearwords were perceived to have a stronger emotional resonance. An analysis of the quantitative data from the BEQ and the interview data confirmed the findings of the quantitative analysis while adding rich detail about the difficulties in deciding which language to choose for swearing.

https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/SS/article/view/7344

http://www.academia.edu/1475912/Christ_fucking_shit_merde_Language_preferences_for_swearing_among_maximally_proficient_multilinguals

Vaginal orgasm is associated with vaginal (not clitoral) sex education, focusing mental attention on vaginal sensations, intercourse duration, and a preference for a longer penis

The Journal of Sexual Medicine
Volume 7, Issue 8, pages 2774–2781, August 2010
doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01469.x. Epub 2009 Sep 1

Stuart Brody PhD, and Petr Weiss PhD

School of Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, UK

INTRODUCTION:

Evidence was recently provided for vaginal orgasm, orgasm triggered purely by penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI), being associated with better psychological functioning. Common sex education and sexual medicine approaches might undermine vaginal orgasm benefits.

AIMS:

To examine the extent to which women's vaginal orgasm consistency is associated with (i) being told in childhood or adolescence that the vagina was the important zone for inducing female orgasm; (ii) how well they focus mentally on vaginal sensations during PVI; (iii) greater PVI duration; and (iv) preference for above-average penis length.

METHODS:

In a representative sample of the Czech population, 1,000 women reported their vaginal orgasm consistency (from never to almost every time; only 21.9% never had a vaginal orgasm), estimates of their typical foreplay and PVI durations, what they were told in childhood and adolescence was the important zone for inducing female orgasm, their degree of focus on vaginal sensations during PVI, and whether they were more likely to orgasm with a longer than average penis.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

The association of vaginal orgasm consistency with the predictors noted above.

RESULTS:

Vaginal orgasm consistency was associated with all hypothesized correlates. Multivariate analysis indicated the most important predictors were being educated that the vagina is important for female orgasm, being mentally focused on vaginal sensations during PVI, and in some analyses duration of PVI (but not foreplay) and preferring a longer than average penis.

CONCLUSIONS:

Focusing attention on penile-vaginal sensation supports vaginal orgasm and the myriad benefits thereof. Brody S, and Weiss P. Vaginal orgasm is associated with vaginal (not clitoral) sex education, focusing mental attention on vaginal sensations, intercourse duration, and a preference for a longer penis.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01469.x/abstract

Praying to stop being an atheist

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion
June 2010, Volume 67, Issue 3, pp 173-186
Cover Date 2010-06-01
DOI 10.1007/s11153-010-9227-8

T. J. Mawson

St. Peter’s College, Oxford, OX1 2DL, UK

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that atheists who think that the issue of God’s existence or non-existence is an important one; assign a greater than negligible probability to God’s existence; and are not in possession of a plausible argument for scepticism about the truth-directedness of uttering such prayers in their own cases, are under a prima facie epistemic obligation to pray to God that he stop them being atheists.

Keywords

God, Prayer, Atheism, Theism, Agnosticism, Divine hiddenness, Epistemic obligation

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11153-010-9227-8

Airflow efficacy of ballpoint pen tubes: a consideration for use in bystander cricothyrotomy

Emerg Med J. 2010 Apr;27(4):317-20
doi: 10.1136/emj.2008.069294

David Owens [1], Ben Greenwood [1], Alistair Galley [1], Alun Tomkinson [2], Sarah Woolley [3]

[1] Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, Wales, UK
[2] University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, Wales, UK
[3] Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol, England, UK

Correspondence to David Owens, Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, Wales CF31 1RQ, UK

Accepted 8 July 2009

Objective

To examine the suitability of commonly available ballpoint pens as a substitute emergency tracheostomy tube.

Methods

Commonly available ballpoint pens were examined and compared against two standard cricothyroidotomy sets. The pens were evaluated for dimensions, speed of construction of a temporary tracheostomy tube and airway resistance with differing flow rates.

Results

Internal diameters of the pens varied considerably. Time taken to construct a temporary tube ranged from 3 to 170 s, and in the majority of pens the airway resistance increased dramatically as the airflow rate increased.

Conclusion

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of ballpoint pens appear unsuitable for use as a substitute tracheostomy tube. In this study only two pens fulfilled the criteria for use: the Baron retractable ballpoint and the BIC soft feel Jumbo.

http://emj.bmj.com/content/27/4/317.abstract

Are cows more likely to lie down the longer they stand?

Applied Animal Behaviour Science
Volume 124, Issue 1 , Pages 1-10, April 2010

Bert J. Tolkamp, Marie J. Haskell, Fritha M. Langford, David J. Roberts, Colin A. Morgan

Sustainable Livestock Systems and Animal Health Groups, SAC Research, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, Scotland, UK

Abstract

Information on (changes in) standing and lying behaviour of cows can be used for oestrus detection, early diagnosis of disorders and to evaluate welfare consequences of changes in housing and management. Data sets on lying and standing behaviour were collected from cows with IceTag™ sensors fitted to the leg. Data were obtained with 10 late-pregnant indoor-housed beef cows (Exp. 1), 19 out-wintered beef cows (Exp. 2) and 44 housed lactating dairy cows that were milked three times daily (Exp. 3). During part of Exp. 1 video footage was recorded to validate the sensor records. Data were analysed with the aims of estimating objective lying and standing bout criteria and to test two hypotheses. These hypotheses were that (i) the probability of cows standing up would increase with the length of time the animal had been lying down and (ii) the probability of cows lying down would increase with the length of time the animal had been standing. A total of 10,814, 39,089 and 9405 lying episodes were recorded by the sensors in Exp. 1–3, respectively. On the basis of log–survivorship plots, frequency distributions of (log-transformed) lying episode lengths and analysis of the correspondence between recorded lying episodes and video footage of lying behaviour, a minimum lying bout criterion of 4min was indicated. Application of this criterion reduced the number of lying episodes by between 62% and 88% in the three experiments, even though this had only minor effects on total estimated lying and standing time (changes between 0.5% and 3.2%). Out-wintered beef cows tended to have fewer but longer lying bouts than the other groups and dairy cows had the shortest total lying time. (11.6, 10.5 and 10.2h/day in Exp. 1–3, respectively). The probability of cows standing up within the next 15min increased (P<0.001) with lying time in all experiments, which was consistent with the first hypothesis. The probability of cows lying down within the next 15min did not significantly increase with standing time. This lack of change in probability was not caused by pooling of data across day and night or across cows with different behavioural strategies. Our second hypothesis was, therefore, refuted because cows were not more likely to lie down the longer they had been standing.

Keywords:
Dairy cow, Beef cow, Lying, Standing, Bout criteria

http://www.appliedanimalbehaviour.com/article/S0168-1591%2810%2900054-7/abstract

Why Liberals and Atheists Are More Intelligent

Social Psychology Quarterly
March 2010 vol. 73 no. 1 33-57

Satoshi Kanazawa

Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom

Abstract

The origin of values and preferences is an unresolved theoretical question in behavioral and social sciences. The Savanna-IQ Interaction Hypothesis, derived from the Savanna Principle and a theory of the evolution of general intelligence, suggests that more intelligent individuals may be more likely to acquire and espouse evolutionarily novel values and preferences (such as liberalism and atheism and, for men, sexual exclusivity) than less intelligent individuals, but that general intelligence may have no effect on the acquisition and espousal of evolutionarily familiar values (for children, marriage, family, and friends). The analyses of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Study 1) and the General Social Surveys (Study 2) show that adolescent and adult intelligence significantly increases adult liberalism, atheism, and men’s (but not women’s) value on sexual exclusivity.

http://spq.sagepub.com/content/73/1/33