What the f-word?

Are we all becoming children all of a sudden? Heard a radio interview yesterday that kept talking about the ‘p-word’ (pikey) because of Jeremy Clarkson’s comments way back. Other news items often mention someone saying the ‘n-word’ (nigger) and now, today I read this article – the ‘b-word’ (bastard). Why on earth can’t people actually use the word when it is being discussed intelligently rather than being used as an offensive, derogatory description towards someone or some group. It reminds me of a child when mum and dad didn’t want me to know something. Is the word still offensive out of context and being discussed? Words go in and out of fashion and one generation’s insult is another’s term of endearment. And anyway what the ‘f-word’ were we supposed to guess the ‘b-word’ was, when there’s so many to choose from? ‘B-word’, ‘s-word’!

The B word