From: benlizro@ihug.co.nz   
      
   Ah. Memories of perennial points of discussion with PTD on a.u.e.   
   Which actual phonetician was the character of Prof. Higgins based on?   
   What were Shaw's actual views on English accents and dialects?   
   Was "My Fair Lady" meant to have a sly reference to "Mayfair"?   
   and probably more.   
      
   But Crystal is interested in one word. This was apparently the talk of   
   the town when the play opened. Eliza Doolittle (played by Mrs Patrick   
   Campbell) was to speak the line: "Not bloody likely!" The second word   
   there was, at the time, not considered printable, nor speakable on the   
   stage. She did speak it. Nothing happened. She wasn't arrested, the play   
   was not shut down, but people continued to talk about it for years.   
      
   "Bloody" developed its intensifying force in the late 17th century.   
   Sometime in the 18th century respectable opinion turned against it, and   
   Johnson (1755) labels it "very vulgar".   
      
   I used the word as a youth (in Canada); it was certainly colloquial, but   
   not indecent, and in fact seemed to me like an avoidance term, less   
   offensive than its alternatives in something like:   
   		Shut the bloody (*damn) (**fucking) window!   
      
   When I arrived in New Zealand, I was surprised to find that many people   
   still considered it "strong language", not suitable for a respectable   
   academic. I don't know if it's ever been banned from stage or print   
   here. But by now things have changed....   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)