h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's a good story, but I'm not sure I believe that this is a foolproof method. I remember once in work knocking a full pot of coffee off my desk and saying to the man sitting beside me: "Oh dear, that's unfortunate". While this was still in my mother tongue, it wasn't a normal expletive. I'm sure that someone could adopt the "bad language" of another language easily enough.

You forget that your mother's tongue has hidden taboos. As children we are told to watch our language. When we become adults, many of us think that we have thrown off our mother's taboos. In fact, they lie inside our instant response mechanism. I will give an expletive when hurt but I will immediately find myself biting my tongue. My mother was strongly against "that sort of language in my house". Now that I am living in my own house, I can't shake that taboo. Once again apologies for my late posting, but it is hard to find internet access in certain countries, and when you do the access is less than perfect.