TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Vapors From:Daphne Schor <DSCHOR -at- ABA -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 2 May 1995 08:43:05 -0400
Aren't we overlooking something? The word VAPORS would *never*
have been used in polite society - certainly not in "mixed
company" if it referred to flatulence. It was so used, and it
appeared in print during a period when words such as d--n weren't
spelled out.
In my Georgia Belle (not quite antebellum) days, many elderly
women stilled carried smelling salts. Vapors were brought on by
reports that Junior had fallen and "skinned" his knee, that a
neighbor's cow was eating one's gladiolas, and similar
catastrophes. I agree that the woman in the Polaner All-Fruit
commercial has a truly artistic attack of the vapors - and I've
seen many artistic attacks.
Only horses had flatulence. Perhaps. I once received a stern
lecture from my grandmother who found a group of us giggling
about the sounds from a horse. "People who are brought up
properly DO NOT notice such things."
=============================
Daphne Schor
Publishing Services
American Bankers Association
dschor -at- aba -dot- com
=============================