Americans and Brits have a fundamentally different approach to swearing. This was evident on Saturday night at the penultimate showing in Brooklyn of Black Watch, the National Theatre of Scotland's play about experience of Scottish soldiers in Iraq.
At the end of the performance, only about half the audience gave this outstanding play the standing ovation it deserved. Some of those who stayed in their seats still applauded but others did not. A man sitting next to us looked visibly discomforted throughout, at times grimacing, at other times putting his hands over his ears.
If you are an American sensitive about swearing, don't read on...
What bothered him and others in the audience? Was it the message in the play about the Iraq war? Were the strong Scottish accents and dialogue indigestible? No, it was the regular use of words like "fucking" and "cunts", both liberally used by Scottish working-class males, especially soldiers. But "cunts" is not in common use in America.
A friend who saw the same play two nights earlier said some of the audience walked out.
