On the yellow line Metro this week, I overheard a group of teens joking loudly. They were in good spirits, cracking jokes at each other and in the process incorporating the words f…k or a…hole into just about every sentence. Others on the train looked up from their papers or books scowling at such coarse language

I used to wonder what would happen if we abolished these swear words completely from the language. I found out on my latest trip to Quebec. In Montreal, the F word or A word go unused and would carry little offense, but be prepared to be reprimanded if you call someone an item from the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Yes, in the town where every street is Rue Saint-Something, the most offensive words are materials from the Catholic Mass. “Host” is an offensive term; “tabernacle” takes the place of the S-word; and “chalice” is equivocal to the F-bomb.

Think that sounds silly? Well, in Canada, using sexual and bodily words to insult would sound rather bizarre. Truthfully, the words are victims of the meaning put behind them. Curse words are only abominable when they are used to portray the full weight of insult and contempt that is associated with them; otherwise they are simply a lazy-man’s adjective.

And that’s how those kids on the yellow line were using them. There was no malice. The words bore no meaning. The only people who should really have been offended were Do tany linguists who happened to be on that train, who would take umbrage at the lazy use of the F-word or an A-word in place of any actual descriptive term.