This is a fascinating article but posting beyond the first paragraph would violate the MB-Shop standards. The article is a discussion of word power in culture and gender.

Warning! Warning! Warning!

Don't go there if the various bathroom, bedroom, and deity words offend you.


------------------------------------

Why we curse.
What the F***?
by Steven Pinker
Post date: 10.09.07

F*cking became the subject of congressional debate in 2003, after NBC broadcast the Golden Globe Awards. Bono, lead singer of the mega-band U2, was accepting a prize on behalf of the group and in his euphoria exclaimed, "This is really, really, f*cking brilliant" on the air. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is charged with monitoring the nation's airwaves for indecency, decided somewhat surprisingly not to sanction the network for failing to bleep out the word. Explaining its decision, the FCC noted that its guidelines define "indecency" as "material that describes or depicts sexual or excretory organs or activities" and Bono had used f*cking as "an adjective or expletive to emphasize an exclamation."

http://www.tnr.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20071008&s=pinker100807