Gary Justis' beautiful and evocative post about his childhood and his aside about teenage swearing reminded me of a newspaper article which I read a while back.

(Gary's post was poetic and visually gorgeous so I'm ashamed that this is where it has lead my mind)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/nov/21/britishidentity.features11

For anyone who can't be bothered reading, it charts the decline of the word "fuck" in UK usage from being considered truly offensive by many in the 1950s to being everyday coinage now.

The last paragraph made me laugh as it refers to middle class (i.e. professional) parents who would rather their children said "fuck"  than "toilet" (because saying "toilet" marks you out as lower class, the "correct" usage being "lavatory" or "loo").   It's no joke- I'm on very good terms with my ex-husband, with whom I have a 14 year old daughter.  Her dad goes nuts if she says "toilet" but I have never heard him pull her up for swearing (including saying "fuck").

The BBC banned the use of the F word until fairly recently.  (The corporation's general prissiness prompted its long time nickname "Aunty Beeb").   However, that didn't stop the late raconteur Clement Freud from telling the following joke on air in the 1970s, which plays on the fact which underlies the fuck/toilet paradox, i.e. that even back in the day, use of the word fuck was much more acceptable in well-to-do circles than it was among the hoi polloi.

"Last week I went to a civic reception in Scunthorpe [small town in the north of England].  Prince Charles was the guest of honour and I was  surprised  to see that he was waring a Davy Crockett hat.  I asked him "Is there some significance to the headgear, sir? and he said "Oh, it was Mummy's idea.  I told her I was going to Scunthorpe and she said 'Oh, wear the fox hat, then.'"'