Ameliorated words of offensive origin

[Dennis R. Preston]

>I would reckon that roughly 89.4569 uses of all "obscene" words in
>English make no direct reference to their "orginal" designation. For
>example, "You are a pile of shit" has exactly that percentage rate
>in my own use in contrast to "Oh look at that pile of shit."

dInIs

>Jesse,
>         You'll enjoy this true-life story, told me by a colleague a couple
>of years ago. She was crossing campus and overheard one female student
>tell another, "Oh, shit! I just stepped in some doggy-doo."
>
>         Rudy

--
Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736