Posted
12:04 PM
by Gene
We could be like NEWS HACKS, and go pffh-hh-hh and remember our SHOW-BIZ friends and get out
the DREADED P WORD, and CURLEY'S (Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!) STOOGE furrows his, her and/or its brow ("questions have been raised about whether the group is --
anti-homosexual!!!!!" NICE passive weasel formation, CURL!), but
we'd rather salute these young people for showing a little responsibility -- and CONTINENCE.
P. S.
WORD HISTORY Being called a prude is rarely considered a compliment, but if we dig into the history of the word prude, we find that it has a noble past. The change for the worse took place in French. French prude first had a good sense, “wise woman,” but apparently a woman could be too wise or, in the eyes of some, too observant of decorum and propriety. Thus prude took on the sense in French that was brought into English along with the word, first recorded in 1704. The French word prude was a shortened form of prude femme (earlier in Old French prode femme), a word modeled on earlier preudomme, “a man of experience and integrity.” The second part of this word is, of course, homme, “man.” Old French prod, meaning “wise, prudent,” is from Vulgar Latin pr?dis with the same sense. Pr?dis in turn comes from Late Latin pr?de, “advantageous,” derived from the verb pr?desse, “to be good.” Despite this history filled with usefulness, profit, wisdom, and integrity, prude has become a term of reproach.This will happen, sadly, with some words. "Liberal" is another.