The m-word

[Jonathan Lighter]

Awright, Charlie, here's watcha got:  You got somebody who's nuts. Mildly, but still nuts.  She don't like "moist," and she's watcha call a politically-correct female. So she figures the problem ain't with her, it's with the word "moist."  She's "offended," so it's gotta be the word's fault. And since she's a woman, that makes it "offensive to women."

  In your specific context of college youth, the others, as soon as they heard the phrase "offensive to women," probly figured it's smarter to agree, especially if any of them have the same funny kink about "moist."

  JL

Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Jesse Sheidlower
Subject: Re: The m-word
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On Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 01:10:42PM -0400, Charles Doyle wrote:
>
> Thanks for the links, Jesse! I'm still mystified by the
> evident aversion to the word (even out of context)--and the
> vehemence of that aversion--but at least I'm reassured that
> my students are consonant with the times.

I also am mystified by the objection to this word--it's as if
someone said that "table" was to be avoided--but must
acknowledge that the feeling seem genuine.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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