The Genteel Guide to Sophisticated Swearing

You can be profane without seeming vulgar

Photo by Samantha Hurley from Burst

Dirty, taboo, vulgar, lewd — all describe the sweary language a gentleman supposedly avoids. Only an uncouth brute uses profanity, or does he? It turns out cursing is a lot more fucking complex than we thought.

We have a fondness for dirty words. They show up everywhere from graffiti on the…