obscene words from "Deadwood"

[George Thompson]

I recall reading a biography of an English dealer in high-end hunting rifles and shotguns who also frequented the theater.  One night he went to see a well reviewed play about Napoleon, and could see from his orchestra seat that Napoleon's army was equipt with an assortment of target and hunting guns, mostly dating to the mid and late 19th C.  When he got home he wrote a blistering letter to the Times deploring the sad decline of the British Theatre.

I can only hope that he had better luck in getting the Times of London to print this letter than our Barry has had with the NYTimes.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998.

----- Original Message -----
From: Geoffrey Nunberg <nunberg at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2004 0:48 am
Subject: Re: obscene words from "Deadwood"

> Thanks for this, Jesse, and to Dennis, Dale et al. for the other
> comments. Of course we linguists are apt to be more put off by these
> anachronisms than other people. I think of the  story about Edith
> Head, the famous Hollywood costume designer, who as she was walking
> out of "Oklahoma!" remarked to her companion: "I don't see what all
> the fuss is about. The hems are two inches thick!"
>
> Geoff
>