It's good to be different...

[Botafogo]

Georgie, please elucidate for us just WHY $#it offends and "feces" does not? It is clearly a result of some sort of arbitrary conditioning as they both have exactly the same literal meaning, yes? This is not a knock on you but a serious question (and the entire thesis of the late great Lenny Bruce).

I would offer the following theory:

The short, to the point (generally Germaninc in origin) words that offend you are being percieved on a gut, emotional, animal level while the longer, academic sounding (generally Latin or Greek in origin) are processed more intellectualy and dispassionately. This is a direct result of the Puritans, who wanted to tell everyone how to live and were evicted kicking and screaming from the Low Countries and England for that.

But that's just my theory, Roberto


[This message has been edited by Botafogo (edited 09-02-2003).]