Date: Sun, 23 Apr 1995 11:40:00 EDT

From: "Dennis.Preston" 22709MGR[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MSU.EDU

Subject: Re: Anodyne Expletives



Euphemistic mutilation seems almost universal. It is especially effective, I

believe, when the lsitener is held in suspense (will the taboo pop out or

not?).

When we were the happy wags we were in secondary school around Louisville KY

we used to mock-stutter fu- fu- fu- fu- fu and then say Forget it (which

should also tell you something about our vowel in Forget, by the way).

But my all-time favorite the the Polish Kurrrrrrrrr (in which a trilled /r/ is

indefinitely held, only to be ended with -cza (i.e., kurcza, or chicken)). The

listener, of course, has been waiting for Kurwa (whore) - which is used

exclamatorily in Polish as it is with (or without) accompanying Shit in some

Romance languages (e.g., Port. Puta merda).

di[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nIs

22709mgr[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]msu.edu

or

preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]pilot.msu.edu