Quote:
Originally Posted by eschwartz
If I am discussing the topic of fowl today, I will feel perfectly comfortable mentioning cock, a/k/a male chicken. Although granted, I would more naturally gravitate toward the term "rooster".
I have absolutely no problem with older works using words whose meanings have changed -- a reader should be able to understand, when they are reading about older times, that an older version of the language is likely to be used.
That being said, I also have absolutely no problem with modernized texts. I don't really view that as bowdlerization, since the meaning isn't being changed. It is a translation from Ye Olde Englishe to Ye Newe Englishe.  |
But then you have a sliding slope as nowadays someone will be offended by anything and will change wording under the prefix that it is unacceptable usage, that kind of thing leads to reading Moby Phallus. And if you think that is far fetched how about the fact Agatha Christie's '10 Little Niggers' is now renamed as 'And then there were None' even in the UK.
Edit- Yes I know this is bowdlerisation rather that word usage but let us have some fun eschwartz
