TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: What the f# -at- $? From:mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM Date:Tue, 26 Jul 1994 15:46:41 EDT
Matt Hicks wrote:
>shouldn't bother to use it at all. If you think seeing a word in print is
>going to bother someone, why shouldn't you believe that making them think of
>that word is going to bother them just as much.
It's a time-honored convention. Doesn't bother me any. Way I figure it,
it forces the other person to think of the word, which _does_ bother them,
but because of this convention thing they feel they can't complain.
In other words, it's a way of slipping one by the prudes. Dates right back
to some ancient law about obscenity, is my guess, and this is the way
magazine editors got around it.
BTW: While I have no objection to "dam*ed", I prefer something like
"i***ly r**f*k *asm", because prudes get even more annoyed when they can't
figure out what it means.
Later,
Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: I don't.