I’ve always imagined that what he said was “Balls”, or some embellishment thereof: the translator was only trying to keep HIS ass from being chewed.
Dan
Pencilled in neatly in the margin of a Foreign Office memorandum was the expression: “Round Objects!”
The memorandum circulated, finally reaching the Permanent Under Secretary himself, who wrote underneath: “Who is Round, and to what does he object?”
That’s interesting, since Washington famously quipped with a bit of swearing when remarking to Henry Knox, while boarding the boats that crossed the Delaware on Christmas Eve
https://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/washington-crosses-the-delaware-dec-25-1776-217067
Perhaps the perils of war invariably engenders salty speech
I seem to remember a George Carlin routine in which he explained that “scumbags” were guys and “douchebags” were girls.
18th century cursing was a lot different than today. Profanity is now a catch all for naughty words, the “profane cursing” Washington referred to was most likely religious swearing. Washington probably would find “God damn” to be 100 times worse than “ass.”
Not at all. The profanity in the armed services is by design. It’s an immediate “You’re not in Kansas, anymore.” wake up call to recruits. Wholesome and devout boys would be welcomed with a hundred “God damns” a day to let them know the Bible is no longer the requisite field manual (especially that “Thou Shalt Not Kill” nonsense). It soon becomes ingrained that they now live in a world separate from “civil” society. They now have their own manners, principles, ethics and language that sets their new tribe apart from the one they were raised in.
Still, vulgarity (vs profanity) nonetheless carried weight. Instead of “Les noix!” General Cambronne yelled “merde!” at Waterloo, his meaning not diminished by the quantities of the actual substance present (given the surfeit of men and horses yet dearth of port-a-johns)
JAAFU – Joint Anglo-American …
SUSFU – Situation Unchanged - Still …
I remember years ago when we were discussing this topic @Nava informed us of the long-standing tradition in the Spanish military against foul language. Since the Counter-reformation they’d considered themselves as an army primarily in the service of God, and so sinful language had no place there.
As Sherman makes clear in the next paragraph, that was precisely his point.
Actually, it’s supposed to be an army of gentlemen. Gentlemen do not use foul language, so neither do Spanish soldiers (where “Spanish” refers to the flag they serve, and not to their nationalities).
My classmates and I were very confused when “An Officer and a Gentleman” came out because the idea that commissioned officers are expected to be gentlemen and the rest of the troops are not just didn’t fit in our brains. Note that it is perfectly possible to be a complete gentleman and still kick the shit out of your oponents; if they didn’t want their shit kicked out, they shouldn’t have done whatever they did.
Hi, I’m alive! Hope y’all are doing well and all that.
Profanity is the crutch of inarticulate motherfuckers.