In some cultures as soon as someone loses his rag and starts using profanities, the person is regarded incapable of reasoned thinking and is considered a fool who is not worth listening to.
When people like Jonathan Ross started using profanities on television, they did it because they thought it was cool to swear on the BBC. It impressed the American celebrities who were not allowed to use the "F" word on U.S. channels. Look at me the anti-establshment rebel paid £6,000,000 pound a year from our licence money by the establishment, swearing inappropriately and often just to shock on TV. It was another step down in the slide into mediocrity, part of the dumbing down process that has been going on for years and no he is not worth listening to. Sorry! I'd rather listen to the sound of silence all day long.
Comedians do it all the time now because it still has a modicum of shock value and gets a cheap laugh but you never heard Ronnie Barker, Norman Wisdom, Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecombe, Les Dawson, Jimmy Tarbuck et al resort to profanities. They did not need to and unlike many comedians today who can't rise above their belts when looking for laughs, they were genuinely clever and funny.
Yes, there maybe moments when nothing but a crude profanity will do but they are few and far between. In general the replacement of adjectives or adverbs using the "F" word or worse, diminishes us and language in a very profound way and sets a poor example to children. Yes, I am as guilty as most of doing it but at least I know it's a cop out.
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