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Abrahams cussing
12-14-2012, 09:14 PM
Post: #27
RE: Abrahams cussing
If anyone is interested there is an online Etymology dictionary for looking up the origins of the words and when used.

On the S word:

"The notion that it is a recent word may be because the word was taboo from c.1600 and rarely appeared in print (neither Shakespeare nor the KJV has it), and even in "vulgar" publications of the late 18c. it is disguised by dashes. It drew the wrath of censors as late as 1922 ("Ulysses" and "The Enormous Room"), scandalized magazine subscribers in 1957 (a Hemingway story in "Atlantic Monthly") and was omitted from some dictionaries as recently as 1970 ("Webster's New World")."

Lincoln's told the Ethan Allen joke as early as the 1830s in New Salem and was understood by his listeners, so they must have known about the word. It seems to have been a stock joke of his, as most jokesters have stock jokes. The one about the man who took the temperance pledge but asked to have alcohol put in his drink "unbeknownst" to him seems to have also been one of his stock jokes.

I personally was not offended by the inclusion of the joke. I think the movie shows Lincoln trying to break the tension in the telegraph office as they waited for news from the front. It sort of humanized him. However, if others are offended that is their right.

As far as the F word goes. It was apparently, outlawed in print in America in 1873 by the Comstock law as being obscene, so its saying must have been common enough that it had to be specifically outlawed.

I have no idea how often people said it in the 19th century vs. today and under what circumstances. People may say it more today because the legal barriers to it broke down in the early 20th century.

Again I think everyone has a right to see a movie or not due to its content.Smile
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Messages In This Thread
Abrahams cussing - Ashley Norman - 12-07-2012, 01:20 AM
RE: Abrahams cussing - RJNorton - 12-07-2012, 07:30 AM
RE: Abrahams cussing - LincolnMan - 12-07-2012, 10:28 AM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Rob Wick - 12-07-2012, 11:34 AM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Mike B. - 12-07-2012, 07:17 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Ashley Norman - 12-07-2012, 02:41 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - LincolnMan - 12-07-2012, 08:56 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Ashley Norman - 12-07-2012, 11:11 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Rob Wick - 12-07-2012, 09:51 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - L Verge - 12-11-2012, 07:43 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Jim Page - 12-11-2012, 08:06 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Gene C - 12-11-2012, 11:13 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Mike B. - 12-12-2012, 07:04 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Rob Wick - 12-12-2012, 08:15 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Mike B. - 12-12-2012, 09:16 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - L Verge - 12-12-2012, 09:06 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - L Verge - 12-12-2012, 09:28 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Rob Wick - 12-12-2012, 10:00 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Mike B. - 12-12-2012, 10:50 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Linda Anderson - 12-12-2012, 10:50 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Laurie Verge - 12-13-2012, 03:45 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Rob Wick - 12-13-2012, 07:27 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - L Verge - 12-13-2012, 08:02 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Rob Wick - 12-13-2012, 08:22 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - L Verge - 12-13-2012, 08:28 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Hess1865 - 12-13-2012, 09:16 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Mike B. - 12-14-2012 09:14 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Rob Wick - 12-14-2012, 10:59 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Linda Anderson - 12-16-2012, 01:27 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Rob Wick - 12-16-2012, 02:38 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - LincolnMan - 12-16-2012, 02:43 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - My Name Is Kate - 12-21-2012, 01:11 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Gene C - 12-21-2012, 01:34 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Laurie Verge - 12-21-2012, 01:53 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Rob Wick - 12-21-2012, 02:35 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - My Name Is Kate - 12-21-2012, 03:52 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - RJNorton - 12-21-2012, 05:18 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Rob Wick - 12-21-2012, 06:54 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - My Name Is Kate - 12-21-2012, 06:04 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - My Name Is Kate - 12-21-2012, 09:23 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - My Name Is Kate - 12-21-2012, 10:54 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - J. Beckert - 12-21-2012, 11:30 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Mike B. - 12-22-2012, 11:05 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - My Name Is Kate - 12-24-2012, 03:32 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Liz Rosenthal - 12-25-2012, 03:06 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - My Name Is Kate - 12-25-2012, 09:32 PM
RE: Abrahams cussing - Mike B. - 12-25-2012, 10:03 PM

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