I’ve noticed it in many of Cecil’s old columns. This one would be typical.
In it, an apparently troubled man, asks
It is signed, naturally, A Pseudo-necrophiliac, Baltimore. Whatever.
But I was surprised by Mr. Adams’ reply. Cecil writes
You see, I have the original column. More specifically, I have the book with Cecil’s columns in them. And this is not how the column originally went. In the original, Cecil answers “What is this shit?”
Shit. It isn’t that bad of a word. I remember when I was still in R.C. high school, it was the only word we were allowed to use. The “F” word was off-limits. But shit was okay.
Why has this website suddenly become so puritanical? Frankly, if you ask me, I think the “S” word makes the original column. Without it, it just isn’t the same.
Assuming Cecil wrote that column in 1979 in the print version of the alternative Chicago Reader, The editors at the Reader didn’t care about the language used. Not that they cared much about if the stray teen picked up a copy, but it was low priority.
When the columns went online, they worried more about mom and dad of a teen reading the SDMB. Cleaned it up to get it accepted in more households.
I can picture it now:
Johnny: Shit shit shit, shit shit shit shit.
Tommy: Shit shit, shit, shit shit.
Johnny: Shit shit. Shit, shit the shit.
Nun: <whacks Johnny with a ruler for saying “the”>
The original columns, written for the Chicago READER, didn’t care a bit about language. Columns do undergo some revision (often updating) when they are published in a book. And our original online site was AOL-sponsored, the internet was sort of new, and it was felt that cleaner language would attract a wider following. My guess is that’s when the most language-cleaning occurred.