term for about to curse, but not actually cursing

Factual Questions
1

hello.

there’s that old song “Shaving Cream”. Lyrics go something like “…and I stepped in a pile of shhhh- shaving cream”.

and there’s a patty-cake like game that uses the same device. about to swear, but suddenly a clever substitution.

i think the beastie boys do it in “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego”.
is there a literary term for this?

jb

2

Cursus Interruptus? :slight_smile:

Hey, look how many words Shakespeare invented by taking familiar roots and extending them in useful ways. If enough of us use the phrase, into the dictionaries it goes.

3

Precursor? Swearing Off?

Fffffuustration?

Eumotherphemism?

Cussdodge?

Coxecration?

Shitaqua?

4

Oh, and if anyone’s curious, here are some examples of Shakespeare-invented words. And here’s a Q&A on OED’s policy for admitting new words. (Which I’m only tossing in cuz it happens to mention the Big S.)