Maybe this is part of the whole language barrier I encounter as a non-native speaker.

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:40 PM -0500 2/22/08, Baker, John wrote:
>Thinking about this further, it seems to me that Arun Raman is
>asking specifically about taboo deformation in the profanity
>context.  In English these seem mostly to be found in the contexts
>of profanity (darn, heck)

aren't all of these profanities? or is that just a broadening.
Anyway, "gosh" < "God", "gee (whiz)" and I believe "jiminy" <
"Jesus", not to mention "(Jumpin') Jee-hosephat".  And there are the
combos, as "goshdarn" for "goddamn".  "Dang(nabbit)" for "damn".
"Tarnation" for "damnation".

>, defecation (pee)

"sugar" (with a prolonged initial S) < "shit"

>, and sexuality (archaic quaint and Internet fark come to mind

fudge for "fuck" when used as an expletive ("oh, fudge").

LH

>, though I'm probably missing something obvious).  I don't know to
>what extent taboo deformations, as opposed to other euphemisms, are
>found in other languages.  I would be interested in what Arun has to
>say about Indian languages.
>
>
>John Baker
>
>
>________________________________
>
>From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Baker, John
>Sent: Fri 2/22/2008 2:23 PM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: Maybe this is part of the whole language barrier I
>encounter as a non-native speaker.
>
>
>
>         Isn't this just another way of asking whether other languages
>have euphemisms?  And, of course, there are euphemisms in many languages
>(all of them?), although there may be variation in what is treated
>euphemistically.
>
>
>John Baker
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
>Of Brenda Lester
>Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 2:12 PM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: Maybe this is part of the whole language barrier I
>encounter as a non-native speaker.
>
>I found this in my Steiner's French and English dictionary: "Allez vous
>coucher," which is colloquial for "Go to blazes." And "blazes" is a
>euphemism for "hell."
>
>   bl
>
>
>Arun K Raman <arunkr.shivers at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: Arun K Raman
>Subject: Maybe this is part of the whole language barrier I encounter as
>a non-native speaker.
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>-------
>
>Without going into the territory of what is or is not profanity, It
>always astonishes me when people censor "profanity" with substitute
>words that are obviously meant to be something else.
>
>My daughter was watching some PBS children's program called "A Big, Big
>world" and I heard the phrase "what the heck..." as an obvious
>substitute for "What the hell..."
>
>Does this happen in other languages as well? Or is this a fairly
>western/English-based pheomenon?
>
>I can't recall much of this happening in most Indian languages.
>
>-- is
>-
>Arun K Raman
>
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