Book Shopping

I had a great day last Thursday. I spent the whole day trawling round the bookshops at Hay-on-Wye. I dragged John into each one, found the corner with car and motorbike books and left him there knowing he wouldn't move until I was ready to go.

I bought A Dictionary of Obscenity, Taboo and Euphemism by James McDonald. Thought I might be able to overcome my 'small disfunction'.

I found that the one swear word I do allow myself, DAMN, is not as innocuous as I'd thought. Apparently it was once a strong word, widely avoided in conversation and could only be printed in a disguised form, for example as D***. Bowdler, in his famous expurged version of the works of Shakespeare (1818) found it necessary to amend the line from MacBeth, "Out, damned spot!" to "Out, crimson spot!"

And don't even ask about the word, 'Berk' which I always thought meant (only) a foolish person.

Glen