Swearing has lost none of its power to shock – thank f***! | Eva Wiseman

The ASA recently investigated ads for Tesco Mobile after receiving complaints that using the words “shiitake”, “pistachio”, and “fettuccine” in a context where they “alluded to expletives” was offensive and inappropriate for children to see.

In the House of Commons the following day, where she was making a statement about the crumbling concrete, Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson suggested that if the education department needed more money it might install a swear box in the office.

These funny little incidents, where someone swears when they believe their microphone’s switched off (like Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who was once taken off air for a week after being overheard, off-camera, using the C-word to describe Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker, or when MP Andrew Mitchell was reported to have called a group of police officers “fucking plebs”), are remarkably common.

My daughter has suddenly arrived at the age when one becomes aware of swearing and it’s interesting to see how she understands it, as something extremely adult that must be quietly noted, wielded carefully and which requires punishment.

But it’s hard to explain to her what makes, for instance, “shit” offensive, but “poo” funny (or “poop” obscene), or what a swear word actually is.

But what is changing I think, is our ability to understand the relevance of context, and the ways language evolves and reshapes itself around a culture, so we are learning to hear the nuance between a swear word thrown like a weapon and one offered in surprise or hilarity or soppy affection, and then to accommodate it appropriately.