The science of swearing: What lies behind the use of four-letter words?

It was the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and Britain's female windsurfers had never before won a medal. That year's event was fiercely contested by 27 sailors from 27 nations and there was high drama in the final race. It began with a false start and part of the way around the course one of the medallists was almost knocked into the sea by another competitor. This backdrop of adversity can only have added to the immense joy experienced by Britain's Bryony Shaw when, against all expectations, she finished third and took the bronze medal.