My father-in-law is a strange one. He likes an argument. No, he *loves* an argument. He’d swear the black was white if he could get an argument out of it.

Recently there has been that Carole Thatcher kerfuffle (and no, I don’t want to go into it here) but as a result every time we see him he uses the ‘n’-word, which I find objectionable. His retort: “It is a perfectly good word.” He’s trolling, again, trying to get an argument going.

Well a few days ago I snapped and told him about a very interesting street in Shrewsbury named ‘Grope Lane’ where the full name is ‘Gropec**t Lane’, a place where ladies of the night (or at least late-evening) used to let it all hang out. He disputes that the ‘c’-word was ever usable in normal conversation and that I was being both politically correct on one hand and obscene in the other.

My question is – for the more ‘severe’ swearwords that we use today, were they ever a normal acceptable word to be used in conversation?

If not, do you reckon that I should replace the flat bar on my RoadRat to a drop-bar or will I fall backwards when climbing uphill?

The lady-part noun to which you refer is a very, very old word. There is no doubt at all that when Shakespeare has Hamlet ask Ophelia “did you think I meant country matters?” he is being deliberately coarse.

This is interesting

😀

The swear filter strikes again 🙂

just call him honky or gura – see if he likes it!

Fitbin

There were several Gropecontelanes in London (as well as cock lane, love lane etc). So, you were right.

I would have thought the best way to deal with argumentative cocks is to encourage them to engage on arguments they cannot possibly win but they think they can. Better yet, get them hooked and then allow them to shoot themselves in the foot.

My father-in-law is a strange one. He likes an argument. No, he *loves* an argument. He’d swear the black was white if he could get an argument out of it.

Did you marry simonfbarnes’ daughter?

Did you marry simonfbarnes’ daughter?

har har 🙂 However there’s no need to be disingenuous, so much of what people choose to believe is plainly nonsense that I can have a fine argument without misrepresenting myself :o)

I would have thought the best way to deal with argumentative cocks is to encourage them to engage on arguments they cannot possibly win but they think they can. Better yet, get them hooked and then allow them to shoot themselves in the foot

Never argue with an idiot. They’ll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience every time.

There’s a Parson Street in my hometown of Banbury, Oxfordshire. They renamed it Parsons Street when the parsonage was built. It was previoulsy called C*** Pit Lane.

Oh, and to follow BD’s example of Shakespeare, there’s also the xenophobia AND swearing in the scene involving Princess Catherine of Valois in Henry V.