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Subject:Pre-Norman profanity From:"Doug, Data Librarian at Ext 4225" <engstromdd -at- PHIBRED -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 4 Aug 1994 08:04:20 -0500
Folks:
With regard to the recent thread on the origins of English profanity as
the Saxon expressions for certain, shall we say, fundamental life
processes, I have a question.
What did the Saxons use for profanity? I find it difficult to believe
they drove the Celts from southern Britan saying the Saxon equivalent of
"Gosh, those son-of-a-guns have broken though our line again, let's move
it and try to cut them off."
I somehow think that profanity is a bit more than linguistic class
consciousness; it seems more fundamental than that.