By someone I think you mean me. I don't have a problem with
the accuracy of the words so much as the frequency with which
they're used. Distracting almost. I doubt people cursed that
much more back then. I know it was a rough time, rough people
and all that. However, I'm reminded of a bit I saw this
comedian do comparing letters from the Civil War to letters
home from today. The joke was that the Civil War letters were
full of flowery, descriptive language and the modern letters
from say, Iraq, would go something like: "Julie, It is hot as
f**k! I wish I was home. I hate this place. It's so f**king
hot..."
In any case, either they've toned it down or I'm desensitized
- good job HBO! I'm enjoying it very much.
On May 5, 2004, at 11:13 PM, Mark Sullivan wrote:
> I heard someone commenting on all of the "dirty
words" on Deadwood. He
> wasn't disapproving, actually said he found them
amusing, but claimed
> they were not historically accurate for the 1870s.
He specifically
> listed fuck, cunt, cocksucker and "cutting the
cheese." Now I know
> fuck
> goes back further than this. The earliest use of
cunt I know of is in
> Jelly Roll Morton's 1928 recording of Murder Ballad,
but it didn't
> sound
> like he was making up a new word, so I'm sure it's
much older than
> that.
> Although it's been some time since I've read it, I
seem to remember
> Jack
> Black (no, not the one in Tenacious D, who reign
supreme, and School of
> Rock) using cocksucker in I Can't Win. Wasn't that
from the early 20th
> century? Plus I've got to figure that if cowboys
were paying for it in
> whorehouses, they had to have a name for it. I have
no idea how old
> "cut the cheese" is.
>
> Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had a slang
dictionary that might
> gives dates for when these words entered the
language.
>
> Mark
>
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