In the course of my bookshop lecture, I mention many of the taboo words in English. (I don't swear, I tell people; I talk about swearing.) Several passages reliably bring the house down, including a 16th-century curse advising someone to engage in an undignified sexual act with a cow and a verbatim recitation of the Clean Airwaves Act, a piece of legislation stipulating what you can't say on the radio that is so filthy it effectively outlaws discussion of itself.
The exception to the expected merriment was a lecture hosted by a megachurch in Dallas and introduced by the minister; my usual laugh lines drew only nervous titters. I worried that I had offended the audience but then learnt at the signing that everyone enjoyed the lecture - they just didn't know whether they were allowed to laugh in front of the minister.
