You say the word 'damn', Dave..? couple of generations ago, same response. The language is a fluid thing, and boundaries change.

I think what society today has started to learn is that the WORD is not the deed. Perhaps we are shaking off the shackles of Victorian propriety, finally. Let us not forget, while the language (in polite public society) was heavily censored back then, morality was VERY questionable, even in public. Deeds have to match speech before censorship is anything more than Mrs. Grundyism...

Shakespeare is littered with vulgarities and coarse speech. Of course, few recognize them any more. Doesn't make it any LESS vulgar than dropping the f-bomb in a song, though. Leave it to posterity to decide whether our words were harmful or not. We are seldom capable of doing it in our own times.