Pardon my French

IT may still be too blue for English speakers but authorities in Canada have ruled that the F-word is no longer taboo in French language broadcasts because its use is so commonplace.

The Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council had previously classified the word as being suitable only for adults in both French and English, banning its use on radio and television to beyond the evening watershed and, even then, only with a warning.

The CBSC agreed with Montreal radio station CKOIFM’s argument that the Fword was now “part of the common French spoken language” and does not have “the same vulgar connotations”.