commendatory cursing, plus F-word frequency, ca1913.

[Dennis Preston]

All over the place; there was even a nice piece of research in the
50's I believe of an Antarctic (British) research team accompanied by
a social scientist who kept a clicker-counter in his pocket to tally
obscenities; they increased with aggravation but sharply declined in
danger.

On the other hand, recent cockpit recordings show both "shit" and
"fuck" in the face of an impending crash.

dInIs

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Mark Mandel <thnidu at GMAIL.COM>
>Subject:      Re: commendatory cursing, plus F-word frequency, ca1913.
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I wish I could recall where I read something to this effect. The setting was
>wartime, the front lines.
>
>"It's the real thing this time."
>"Howd'ja know that?"
>"He said 'Get your rifles'. Usually it's 'Get your fucking rifles.'"
>
>m a m
>
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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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