Ameliorated words of offensive origin

[emckean at ENTERACT.COM]

How about "leg," or is that whole Victorian clothing the piano/using
"limb" instead thing a folk belief?

Erin M
editor at verbatimmag.com

On Tue, 27 Feb 2001, Duane Campbell wrote:

> On Tue, 27 Feb 2001 16:13:59 -0500 Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
> writes:
> > I'm working on a short and pressingly-deadlined essay and need to
> > come up with examples of words that are viewed as innocuous today
> > (or at least not _that_ bad) but whose origins are offensive
>
> You still can't say "screw you," but I think that "I was screwed" is
> acceptable in casual venues.
>
> How 'bout Goodbye? A contraction of "God be with you." I can't track it
> down right now, but I have read that when it came into vogue with Harvard
> undergrads in the 17th or early 18th Century, it was considered a profane
> (I was going to say sacrilegious, but I can't spell it) use of Gods name
> by the Puritans and outlawed.
>
> D
>