Damnation

A couple of months ago I was talking about swearing in other languages, and now Slate has a piece on the word "motherfucker" and the question of whether that word or some variant on it exists in every culture. The short answer is, "Yes, more or less": the long answer is, "Read the article." After all, it contains such interesting facts as this one:

Given the Chinese culture of ancestor worship, Cao ni zu shong shi ba dai, or "fuck your ancestors of 18 generations," may be the worst incest instruction of all.

Lots more here. And also some more here, a piece I did on obscenity last March 14th, so maybe we're developing some kind of theme. (As an unrelated fact, you might like to know that March 14th is Pi day.)