Minutes after my column on the positives of profanity published last month, older men emailed me to tell me I was offensive.

For years, I asked people to rank swear words on a scale of one to 10 of which words were the worst. A five would be “damn” or “hell.” That was the middle range. A hundred years ago you ...

The people even love it for bathroom overflow. “Using in a half bath to hide cleaning products; I have a pedestal sink and no storage,” says another reviewer. Or, you can always stick it outside.

Swearing is a natural phenomenon found in practically every language. While the behaviour can be considered rude, it is important to look at the context and understand why people swear.