TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Fwd: Swear Words: Now and Then From:Gwen Gall <ggall -at- CA -dot- ORACLE -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 28 Jul 1994 14:33:29 EDT
---- Included Message ----
Received: 07-27-94 16:17 Sent: 07-27-94 16:10
From: ggall.CA
To: CNSEQ1:TECHWR-L -at- VM1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu
Subject: Swear Words: Now and Then
In-Reply-To: CNSEQ1:TECHWR-L -at- VM1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu's message of 07-27-94 12:48
After following the splintered threads on this subject, I think it is safe
to conclude that the following truism (or whatever the actual wording is)
ain't really true:
Whether high or low born, we all must sh*t.
Apparently, the elite don't have to; they can defecate instead. On a similar
note, they don't die, either: they "pass away", they "expire", and so on.
Oh, and about the asterisk: no one has yet suggested (or has yet reached this
mailbox) that the asterisks were originally used to protect the young and
innocent, who would not understand the words they represented, and therefore be
protected from learning to swear. (Yeah, right...tell them there's something
they can't know/do/have...)
I'd be interested to find out the actual origin of this practice.
Gwen (Euphemisms-and-other-forms-of-deliberate-disguise-be-damned!) Gall
P.S. My father-in-law (whose surname is Reilly, _not_ Gall) likes to say
"Gall-darn-it!" "We" are amused <said like British royalty>.
