Coprolalia

Coprolalia is involuntary swearing that is an occasional but rare characteristic of Tourette syndrome patients. Coprolalia comes from the Greek κόπρος meaning "feces" and λαλία meaning "babbling, meaningless talk". Coprolalia encompasses all words and phrases that are culturally taboo or generally unsuitable for acceptable social use. In Tourette's Syndrome, compulsive swearing can be completely uncontrollable due to the fact that TS is a disorder of disinhibition. The inability to control one's own vocalization can lead to the erosion of one's social and professional life.

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This symptom affects fewer than 10% of people with Tourette's, but it tends to attract more attention than any other symptom. Like schizophrenia, it is often found in use as a clinomorphism, an alteration or amplification of a medical condition for dramatic effect. In the case of coprolalia, 'compulsive profanity' is typically clinomorphically referred to as being Tourette's syndrome.

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Some patients have been treated by injecting botulinum toxin near the vocal cords. This does not prevent the vocalizations, but the partial paralysis that results helps to control the volume of any outbursts.

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Swearing: Swearing originally meant making an oath, and this usage is still current in official and legal contexts in some countries. A court witness will have to swear to tell the truth, sometimes by the name of a deity or upon things considered holy....

Tourette syndrome: Tourette syndrome — also called Tourette's syndrome, Tourette Spectrum (TS), Tourette's disorder, or Gilles de la Tourette syndrome is a neurological or neurochemical disorder characterized by tics: involuntary, rapid, sudden movements or vocalizations that occur repeatedly in the same way. Sy...

Greek: The noun Greek refers to:...