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Subject:What is this cuffing tish? From:Richard Mateosian <srm -at- C2 -dot- ORG> Date:Sat, 11 Nov 1995 11:09:21 -0800
>I have seen many messages that have used "****" or some
>other variation. You also see this sort of masking in many
>publications such as Newsweek, etc. Does replacing a letter or
>two with some other symbol somehow make the word less offensive?
A little.
Eric Berne addressed this in one of his books. He wanted to be able to
communicate such terms without using them, so without ever mentioning what
they stand for, he said he would use the terms "cuff," "tish," and a few
others I don't recall now.
Even though you know exactly what he's saying, these terms have no emotional
content. It was a marvelous solution.
And yes, I know you didn't ask, but I don't care for the use of such
explicit language on this list. I was taken aback by the original posting,
and I thought that some who wrote follow-ups threw in various forms of
"cuff" gratuitously, like fourth graders gleefully reading impolite words in
the dictionary. ...RM
