Ameliorated words of offensive origin

[Mark A. Mandel]

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 in some
way. One example might be "scumbag," which is generally thought to
be less offensive by people who don't realize it's a word for a
condom; another might be "schmuck," which is perhaps less offensive
if you don't know it's Yiddish for 'penis'.
<<<<<

I nominate "putz", which as I recall being chidden for is a Yiddish verb for 'fuck'.

   Mark A. Mandel : Dragon Systems, a Lernout & Hauspie company
          Mark_Mandel at dragonsys.com : Senior Linguist
 320 Nevada St., Newton, MA 02460, USA : http://www.dragonsys.com
                     (speaking for myself)