Watch your language! Countdown star of Dictionary Corner Susie Dent reveals that foul-mouthed rants at inanimate objects like tubs of washing up liquid help her destress

Plunging into freezing water may leave you turning the air blue.

But you could save yourself the ice bath and just stick to the swearing outburst instead, Countdown lexicographer Susie Dent says.

Foul-mouthed tirades mimic the physical health benefits of a cold plunge by lowering stress hormone levels and raising serotonin, she reckons.

And she says it is healthy to launch into a sweary rant when you stub your toe or bump into something.

The 59-year-old Countdown star, who has been on the Channel 4 show's Dictionary Corner since 1992, admitted she 'lets rip' all the time.

But the mother of two admitted she saves her outbursts for when she's on her own – usually after banging into a table.

She told the Namaste Motherf***ers podcast: '[It's] very good. It's not just that – it lowers your cortisol levels, your stress hormones, it raises your serotonin levels, physiologically.'

Her swearing occurs when she slips into resistentialism.

She says: 'Resistentialism is the belief that inanimate objects are out to get you. So, that is when a table bumps into you or –as so happened to me yesterday morning – a whole tub of washing up liquid falls on your head.

'And that's when I absolutely let rip at this inanimate object. Where suddenly I get this flash of anger that can only be purged by a good swear.'