Bad words (Re: Some finer points of grammar)

[still lookin 4 the face i had b4 the world was made]

_M&D_ spoilers, sorta...









On Thu, 8 May 1997, Jeremy Osner wrote:
> 
> It's interesting that many curse words are bleeped out (for instance
> d---l), but fuck is not. Any thoughts?

This would be the distinction between profanity (religious oaths--"hell,"
"damn," "Christ," etc.) and obscenity (relating to bodily functions--"fuck,"
shit," arse/ass," etc.).  I have been told that northern European cultures
have tended to frown more on obscenity than profanity, while Mediterranean
cultures are the other way around.  This suggests a southern relaxation
about body functions but greater seriousness about religion, and a northern
uptightness about sex, excretion, etc., but more tolerance of "blasphemous"
language.

Can anyone else offer any insights?  By the logic of what I just posted,
M and D, being Brits, should be more uptight about "fuck" than "Devil"
or "damn."  Maybe "D----" and "d---'d" are just 18th-c. conventions in
English printing/writing...

Max

 M a x i m u s  D a v i d  C l a r k e | What a wonderful butler.
          http://www.afn.org/~traveler | He's so violent!
                 "Surrealist-At-Large" | --The Doctor, in _Dr. Who_:
                      traveler at afn.org | "City of Death"