An auctioneer of sporting memorabilia turned up this document from 1898* listing some general rules of conduct for baseball players, especially regarding use of bad words. It had come to the attention of the powers that be that the players had been using some quite unsavory language on the field, and they felt they should put a stop to it.
What is remarkable about this is not so much the document itself, but the examples that are put forth – language that I thought had been refined by late 20th century man. Who knew that George Carlin’s seven dirty words had been in use for over a century?
*WARNING: the language might be considered extreme to some people, so if you elect to view the documents provided at the link, be prepared
2 comments:
Well golly gosh, forsooth and blow me down. Begorrah and shiver me timbers. I have come over all faint after reading those foul-mouthed documents. Pass the Epsom salts, kind sirrah! Alas alack! (BTW, pardon my language!!)
:-)
Melusina, for christ's sake, you don't need to warn us about the language from the document; we all are grown boys and girls ;)... weel, I wouldn' sue you, for sure, but I don't know about the others.
But that's a curious document, indeed.
António
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