pardon this, codger!

[Natalie Maynor]

Pafra/Scott wrote:
> My age and Southern upbringing is a powerful force in my eschewing
> obscenities.

This raises a question I've wondered about:  whether my cavalier use
of "foul language" now as opposed to when I was younger is a result of
changes in the times in general, changes in what is acceptable for women,
hanging around an English Department (one question asked people applying
for secretarial positions in our department is whether they're offended
by foul language), or simply age.  Whether it was my Southern upbringing
I don't know.  But I was in my twenties before I would even think of
whispering "damn."  By my thirties I was into much more colorful language.
And now I think nothing of casually commenting that somebody is a...
never mind -- don't want to offend...
   --Natalie Maynor (maynor at ra.msstate.edu)