Well, is it common or is it “Gutter Talk”? Is it not offensive to call a person’s common speech “gutter talk”. Further, is it not racially offensive to call the expression Thai Gutter Talk or Korean Gutter Talk?
This whole discussion has become a hijack. If you want to discuss this in relation to moderation, take it to ATMB. If you want to discuss the exact sense of the phrase, take it to IMHO.
Back to the OP. When I was a young Viet Nam era AF officer, one of my duties was to go through the property of young airmen who had been killed.
I was careful to personally take any porn or suggestive materials and dispose of them respectfully (not in a ceremony, but alone) before packaging up the remaining personal property and sending it off to relatives.
I know it didn’t belong to me, but I could imagine a mother’s or wife’s reaction when receiving the materials. They certainly didn’t need that porn. So that is what I did.
Anthony Swofford wrote in Jarhead that he and his fellow Marines went through their gear and threw away all of their porn (including the really weird German stuff) before going into battle in Gulf War I. They were told that all of their personal belongings, without exception, would be sent to their next of kin if they were killed.
My ship, USS Ogden (LPD5), had a crew of around 400 and a Marine detachment of about 900.
We got along. ;o)
Their officers kept them busy so they wouldn’t touch themselves.