Where did swearing get its taboo status?

Me and my brother were having a debate about swearing, but we both got to the point where aside from it being a social stigma, and a taboo word, we didn't know why (or where) it got its status. Did a group of people get together and outlaw words? Where did these roots of obscenity get their place. I honestly don't know and it sounds like a worthy challenge for the blog. I also had the thought of where did other languages get the taboo words? Each society has a list where did they come from?