The scolding was swift. Minutes after my column on the positives of profanity published last month, I received an email. “Ok Laura. Now you’ve done it. I literally cringe when I hear the F bomb come ...

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 ...

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.