Is Swearing Uncouth?

Photo by Maksima Mrvicova

If you promise not to tell a soul and agree to share a red-faced moment of your own in the comments, I’ll let you in on one of my childhood humiliations.

I must have been about fourteen, and had been asked to recite a prayer at mosque. That day, all the ceremonies were being performed by children from Saturday School. It was a great honour, so our parents told us, and to refuse would be rude. More nerve-wracking still, it would take place not at our local mosque, but...