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Subject:Re: French .NE. profanity From:Shelley Strong <sstrong -at- TECHREPS -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 4 Aug 1995 12:02:32 -0600
I watched a Business Writing seminar on a cable TV channel a week or so ago.
A professor on the show said that most of the profane words in English
actually are derived from Anglo-Saxon (or Old English). In contrast to the
"pretty" words derived from the French court of the time, the "ugly" words
came from the common folks' Old English. Examples were synonyms for
"smell:" fragrance (Fr.) vs. stink or stench (OE).
So actually, when we say, "Pardon my French," we have it backwards.
Cheers! (or should I say, Ciao!?)
Shelley R. Strong, We are all apprentices in a craft where no one
Technical Editor ever becomes a master. - Ernest Hemingway
sstrong -at- techreps -dot- com
(505) 266-5678 ext. 264
