Five f***ing fascinating facts about swearing

Where once the use of profanities would appal right-thinking members of society, nowadays words like fuck, shit and bollocks are practically mother’s milk to many of us. A recent study in the UK found that people are more comfortable with swearing on television than they used to be, for example. And research in the US indicates that people are increasingly likely to use bad language at work.

So in honour of our wonderfully creative and filthy lexicon, here are some fascinating facts about swearing – and, yes, this article contains lots of explicit references.