Mythbusters: Can't polish a... what?

So on this week’s episode of Mythbusters, they tested the myth that you can’t polish a… something. The producers wouldn’t let them use the desired term for some reason.

So what is this word? Is it something of which I’ve heard? I feel like such a nerd.

Maybe they could have displayed the word on screen, albeit partially obscured. Or perhaps blurred.

Turd.

But they could say feces, scat, dung, poop and a handful of other terms.

And for anyone who didn’t watch, they proved that it is possible to polish a turd using a fairly obscure Japanese technique employing nothing more than plain water and a bunch of time.

I was half expecting the argument involving furniture polish to lead to the end of the show.

ETA: Oh, today’s whoosh award goes to dropzone. :smiley: Completely absurd. They attempted to use the droppings of a bird. The polishing wheel whirred. What a mess.

Don’t be absurd.

Whoosh.

Frankly, I’d have been deterred.

wouldnt that be required before polishing one off??

You obviously have no wit. They didn’t use “a” in that phrase one bit. That’s why they couldn’t even say it. “Turd” probably would have passed, but this word gets hit. And the Supreme Court’s debating whether it’s unfit.

And so Mythbusters concurred.

Now that I think about it, the word they really used is much harder to find rhymes for, I admit. Unless of course, you pronounce it like a Brit.

It does seem absurd that the word “turd” is not allowed to be heard.

The FCC of course, has no jurisdiction over cable networks such as Discovery. Although the channel itself does strive to appeal to a broad audience, so the word “shit” is more likely to be a no-no, especially with programming that is often repeated during the daylight hours. So I can understand them setting standards for language on their network’s shows.

That wouldn’t be very bright.

Hey, don’t act returded, you two!

Buncha shit for brains up in here… :stuck_out_tongue:

Why have you demurred?

The spelling T-E-R-D is preferred.

ETA: Deleted post because it was too stupid, even in this thread.

“You can’t polish an old dog new tricks”.

You can’t polish a turd, but you can polish a sausage.

I almost started this thread. You can’t say “turd” on the Discovery Channel, seriously?

How about “fewmets”?

I saw the “next, on Mythbusters, a spat breaks out” teaser, but then I had to step away from the TV for a bit. What exactly were they disagreeing about?

IANAL…should the Mythbusters have demanded the use of “turd” when they signed the contact, as a sine guano condition?