Is the “F-Bomb” still a bomb? I was 10 years old before I ever heard it and it was considered the baddest of the bad words. In contrast, my niece was two when she waltzed into the kitchen and demanded, “Where’s my fucking coat?”

The f-word has become commonplace. Any offence taken over its use occurs more from context than the word itself; no one wants to hear primary school teachers yelling at children, “Sit the fuck down!”; or a doctor who says, “Yup, it’s fucking cancer all right.” 

Language evolves, and swearing, love it or hate it, evolves along with it. Take, for example, Sophia’s objection to a marriage proposal in Henry Fielding’s 1749 novel, The History of Tom Jones;

“For this is a match which requires very little consideration in me to refuse.”

In modern terms, Sophia would be far more likely to say, “No fucking way am I marrying him.” 

My father used to say if you couldn’t express yourself without resorting to vulgar language you didn’t have a good command of the english language. Perhaps. But isn’t there decidedly more satisfaction in declaring “no fucking way” versus “…very little consideration…”?

Imagine you are late for an important meeting and you spill a full carton of milk all over the kitchen floor. What words are going to fly out of your mouth? Most of us will swear in tandem with our level of frustration, or anger, or both. Even though the f-bomb may not be the bomb it once was, there is still a release that accompanies swearing that can’t be matched with more genteel word choices.

I once put my hand directly down onto a wasp. (Yes, it was unintentional.) I was shocked at the creative stream of blue that burst out of my mouth without any apparent thought or censorship. There were combinations of curses I had never previously considered; afterwards I had a good laugh at what I had said.

What are your go-to word choices in moments of frustration? What situations make you want to swear? What are your favourite swear words?

Keep your joy.

Anne Milne is an every Sunday blogger, unless it’s a holiday weekend. Or summertime. Facebook or email.