Re: : Slang, curses, etc., etc, etc.

Born in 1934, I grew up in far more innocent times (and was probably
over-protected as well...). My mother always joked about the time I
(pre-school) let loose with "Ooh, god damn shit poop ass!". Later, about in
5th grade and on (age 11 up) I learned the various tabooed anatomical terms,
but they were only used sotto voce in remote corners of the playground and
with a certain frisson....

Certain novels were passed around on the sly-- "Forever Amber", "Tobacco
Road", "Studs Lonnigan" etc., as they contained relatively racy language.
Sunday-school readings involving the word "ass" were occasions for smirks.
On the silver screen, Rhett Butler's "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"
shocked millions. Battle-hardened troops in WW II movies still couldn't say
that; they charged around saying Darn, Oh heck, and son of a gun. Radio and
TV were simon-pure for years.

For a few months in 1955 I worked in a factory, and encountered for the
first time the prolific use of f*ck and its many variations, as well as the
slang term for fellator, which I found quite shocking. 2+ years in the army
loosened me up a bit, but coming out of the closet really freed me up,
vocab-wise. :-)) That also coincided with the 60s, when everybody got freed
up, and it's been-- some, but not I, would say-- downhill ever since. The
language heard now in war movies etc. or "Sex and the City" seems quite
realistic. Non-cable TV, however, still has a lot of restrictions, what with
the Moral Guardians constantly on the watch; but even it's a lot freer than
it used to be.

Obviously, from the discussion here, non-US TV (and Real Life [TM])seems not
to have so many problems.