Is cursing just a bad habit or did it once mean more than that?

Well, archaeologists have recently found some tablets with curses on them, called "defixiones" that might shed some light on the matter. People of the ancient Greco-Roman times, took cursing very seriously. In fact, curses were used to put a hex or spell on someone. Historians already knew that cursing was widespread in earlier times, but they had no idea that they were as common as making a trip to the grocery store today.

People invariably thought they could get what they wanted by going to a magician or scribe and simply have a curse drawn up for them. Curses were thought to have the power to many things; fix contests, help you win a race, wound your enemy, make the one you love fall madly at your feet. They accomplished this by appealing to various Gods and spirits.