SUCK a taboo words in the NYT?

[Jonathan Lighter]

Three prior hits on the entire Web for "tabooity."

JL

Dale Coye <Dalecoye at AOL.COM> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Dale Coye
Subject: Re: SUCK a taboo words in the NYT?
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Taboo words come in degrees. I sometimes have students rate taboo words
from worst to least offensive. You can gauge its tabooity by thinking of a
scenario: would you say this in front of a friend of your sex, a friend of the
opposite sex, a stranger your own age? in front of a teacher? your grandmother?
a minister? I would personally say suck is a taboo word--I'd never say it
in front of my parents, and would be hesitant to use it in front of strangers.
Another word like this is "puke"--it's not a word used at home, for me, but
was certainly OK in the college dorm. "Pregnant" was another word like
this--never used at home growing up. The euphemism would be "going to have a baby."
"Pregnant" sounds a bit course to me to this day.
One word that college students today seem to have no problem bandying
about in front of teachers is the phrase "pissed off."

Dale Coye
The College of NJ

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