I would have thought that polite society goes only one way, which is down. That is, that over the years, more offensive words are allowable as people become used to them.
For example, when I was growing up, no one said “ass” on tv, unless very specifically referring to a donkey. It just wasn’t done. And I remember the first time I ever heard “Bitch” on Saturday Night Live.
Today, “ass” and “bitch” are frequently on TV, but still probably only in the evening. You might wonder whether, a hundred years from now, newspapers will be printing those words as a matter of course. But it would seem very unlikely that acceptable words today would become unacceptable in the future. For example, I’d be surprised if “butt” was considered too strong a word for TV in 2107.
I was just reading Ben Franklin’s “Poor Richard’s Almanack” from 1737, and he has the following line:
“The greatest monarch on the proudest throne, is oblig’d to sit upon his own arse.”
Hey, this wasn’t some adult-only porn rag. This was an extremely popular almanac, and that line was probably read to children around fires throughout the middle colonies. But somewhere along the line, that word went bad. (It’s also interesting, of course, that Americans use ASS instead of ARSE, but that’s someone else’s doctoral thesis, not mine.)
So I look forward to a time when we can’t say tushy or pee pee in polite company.
I have no problem saying “tushy” in polite company, but I wouldn’t pee pee in polite company—unless of course said company joined me at the WC.
Actua;;y. I was talking about the soon to be outlawed phrase, “tushy or pee pee”.
Ah, I misunderstood. I seem to have a talent for that. Of course, it’s a poor man who has no talents. Any man worth his salt should have several.