LONDON (Reuters) -- Swearing on television is increasing fast and "devastating" communication skills, according to a media watchdog Wednesday.

Nearly 40 years after the f-word's TV debut, it is now being actively projected into living rooms around the country Mediawatch-uk said.

"Far from there being a natural evolution in language, there has been a consistent effort to promote obscenity, swearing and profanity against the wishes of most people," it said.

"The effect of this on educational standards and communication skills has been devastating," it added.

It blamed parents for allowing a "daily grunt" culture to develop in which children spend several hours per day in front of their television or computer.

A Mediawatch survey focused on 60 films on the five terrestrial channels between January and June.

Martin Scorsese's mob classic "GoodFellas" topped the rankings with 212 f-words, closely followed by Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" with 197.

"In one film, 'Point Break' the volume and speed of the bad language was such that not all of it could be recorded," said the report.

The f-word was first used on UK television in 1965, when drama critic Kenneth Tynan used it live in a BBC interview. It caused outrage at the time, but many look back on the event as a cultural milestone.

© Reuters 2003

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