I've noted that there is a range of attitudes to the use of swearing in different countries. If there were a scale, it may be the case that the average (reasonably well-educated) young/middle aged American at the less tolerant end and a similar person in Britain or Ireland at the more tolerant end of the scale.

Here, what seems to be more important is the way words are used, not the words themselves.

Another factor is the situation in which the word is used. In school, in front of children or in a place of work which is open to the public (a bank or a hospital clinic) the language is rather different to that used in a closed, adult-only environment, especially in a workplace where people are expected to be creative or undertake tasks which are difficult and personally demanding.

The word usage, which might be expected on a building site, would not surprise many people but would they expect to find some of the same words in an operating theatre (where the only member of the public is fast asleep)?

It seems that the barriers have broken down to a certain extent - the same words are spoken by lords and layabouts - the key difference is how they are said, and the underlying meaning the person is trying to express.

An example is the opening scene of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" - two people wake up and express irritation at potentially being late for a wedding. The same words, used in a modern gangster movie (almost any) - are used in a much more threatening way. Given that "Four Weddings and a Funeral" was a very popular love story reaching a wide audience is it true that we have moved away from focussing on words, which should be excluded, and focussing on the wider implications of what people are saying?