Frustrated office workers swear approximately 55 times a week, a new study has found.
Staff can be heard making expletives 11 times a day.
Middle management appear to be the top culprits with over a quarter of UK workers admitting their line managers and supervisors are responsible for turning the air blue.
Just one in five polite workers say they would never use offensive language in front of colleagues.
Top 10 swear words heard daily
| 1. F*** | 68% |
| 2. S**t | 58% |
| 3. B****y | 35% |
| 4. B******s | 31% |
| 5. P*** Off | 30% |
| 6. B*****d | 29% |
| 7. T**t | 24% |
| 8. A******e | 22% |
| 9. D**k | 21% |
| 10. B***h | 20% |
One in ten said they heard foul language at least 25 times a day.
The survey was taken by telecoms business firm 4Com of 2,000 workers up and down the country.
Dr Jo Gee, psychotherapist and founder of The Luna Hive, suggests "swearing can be beneficial, as the process of swearing is often cathartic, letting out pent up emotion, as well as aiding storytelling or jokes".
Adding that those who do swear are more likely to be linked with words such as 'honest' and 'credible'.
“As to why people use them at work, alongside the above reasons, for some, offensive language might be a ‘test’ for the work setting – with employees experiencing a thrill when swearing or using swear words to draw attention to themselves in a busy workplace," Dr Gee said.
“That said, swear words often include a range of taboo words including sexual language, profanities, animal names, and vulgar terms, so this is part of why people find them offensive. Additionally, they are linked to negative emotions and our minds associate them with anger, even if they’re not used aggressively.”
