Strong language once reserved to express extreme anger or frustration in extraordinary situations has become common in U.S. schools and in the street -- from use of the "f-word" to the "b-word" for a female dog.

A 20-year-old woman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the "b-word" can actually be a compliment. "I use it to reference a lot of people, not just women, and not always as something bad," she says.

The newspaper reports linguists have found many people who curse habitually in ordinary speech appear totally oblivious that others may find it offensive.

"Two-thirds (of swearing) is about frustration and anger," Timothy Jay, author of "Why We Curse: A Neuro-Psycho-Social Theory of Speech," told the newspaper. Other language experts say all the cursing and foul language in movies and on cable television has changed perceptions of what is acceptable.