"moist"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Does anyone remember old antiperspirat ads that specifically warned
against "moisture"?

I don't.

The quasi-Freudian explanations seem very far-fetched to me. If they
were true, I'd expect that "wet" would  match or exceed "moist" in
horror. Does it?

ISTR that antiperspirants fixed "wetness," not "moistness." Diapers go
after "wetness" as well. And remember when 7-Up was "Wet and Wild!"?

(But maybe they avoided "moist" and "moisture" because it was already
tabo......Hmmmm....)

Could this "moist" business have started as an intentionally absurd
claim that has become a self-fulfilling prophesy? ("Don't say "moist"!
It's disgusting!") Cf. the mentality of the perverse genius who
invented "No soap. Radio."

Of course, that explanation is equally far-fetched.


JL

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