It was suggested that us design students give Radio 4 a listen so I gave it a shot and now I think I'm hooked. Yesterday I caught a little bit a programme that was discussing swearing.

Is swearing right or wrong? Is swearing over used? Is swearing just used by people with a low vocabulary? I found their guest language expert (can't remember his exact title or name) very refreshing as he wasn't just anti-swearing as many people seem to be, he argued that swear-words do have their place. I have felt that way for some time and believe that, when used correctly, swear-words can be incredibly expressive. In recent years, however, swearing has been so over-used that the words have lost their impact. The discussion then moved on to the type of words that are used. In the past they tended to be to do with religion/blasphemy whereas now they tend to be to do with body parts, racism or homophobic. This suggests that even years ago swear-words must have been over-used otherwise relatively inoffensive words such as 'bloody' would still be as shocking as they were then. I feel that as long as these words are used properly and carefully then surely it's better that people express their anger verbally rather than physically.

This really got me thinking and I'll be listening to Radio 4 regularly now.