jack@rlgvax.UUCP (Jack Waugh) (07/11/85)
> Why do people use 'sh*t', 'f*ck', 'd*mn', and 'un*x' when they > know darn (damn?) well WE know what they're saying, and THEY know > what they're saying, but they won't come out and say it! > > To illustrate the dangers of using '*' in place of a real letter, > I have scanned our local dictionary for words which match these > patterns, as if each word were to be expanded as the Shell > does (ignoring the case of letters). . . . > Gordon A. Moffett ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,sun}!amdahl!gam When people write "g*d", "un*x", etc., they don't mean by the "*" what it means in the shell. It means substitute just one vowel. The reason for writing the words with the asterisk substituted for one a letter is that although the person wants to use the word, writing it in full is somehow k'pu (taboo). In the case of "unix", the taboo is trademark restrictions. Many Jews won't write "god" for fear that it might be printed and then destroyed and the writer would be partly responsible for this violation of religious law. As for "shit" and "fuck", the prohibitions may not be part of organized religion, but I suspect their origin may be similar to religious origins. Western culture attributes magic to words almost to the point of confusing words with the concepts they stand for. Shit is bad (you don't want it in your mouth or eyes because of the bacteria), so the word itself is treated as though it were as bad and therefore shouldn't be written.