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1、mylife我的生活AsaboyI'dhavebeenindeadtroubleifI'deverusedthenameofJesusasaswearwordathome.Blasphemyjustwasn'ttolerated,eventhoughmyparentswerenon-believers.Theboundariesbetweenacceptableandunacceptablelanguageareshiftingallthetime.JohnTerry,forinstance,hasjustbeenacquittedincourtofracialabus
2、e.ButwhenIstartedoutasacourtreportermanyyearsago,themereutteringofaveryrudewordwouldhavebeenenoughtogetyouarrested,withoutracialconnotations.作为一个男孩，如果我要是用耶稣的名字来骂脏话的话，我会陷入很大的麻烦中。尽管我的父母不是信徒，亵渎神明是完全不被容许的。可接受的语言和不可接受的语言之间的界限一直在变。例如，约翰?特里刚刚在种族歧视法庭被无罪释放。但我很多年前开始做法院书记官时，仅仅说一个粗鲁的词，即使没有种族上的隐含意义，也
3、足以让你被逮捕。Irememberhowtheallegedwordcouldneverbesaidoutloud,andhadtobeceremoniouslywrittendownbythewitness,usuallyapoliceofficer.Thepaperwasthenfoldedandhandedtothemagistrate,whocarefullyunfoldeditanddulylookedshocked,allindisapprovingsilence.Themostoffensiveswearwordsusedtobereligiousrath
4、erthansexual.TheycontravenetheCommandment"ThoushaltnottakethenameoftheLordthyGodinvain,"whichwasseenasblasphemy.Thatwassoserious,infact,thatawholecodedlanguagewasdevelopedsothatpeoplecouldgoonswearingandyetstayawayfromthestocks,orthegallows,whereopenblasphemymight'veputthem.我记得，当时证词都不能大声
5、说出来，必须由证人（通常是一名警察）正式地写下来。然后文件会被折叠起来，交给地方法官。法官会小心的打开文件，然后随即会被他所看到的震惊。这一切都是在一种不赞成的寂静中进行的。最无礼的脏话通常与宗教有关，而不是与性有关。它们违反了“你不可徒然地采用耶和华的名字”的戒律，因为这会被看作是亵渎神灵。实际上，这后果太严重了，以至于人们发展处了一套暗语。它可以使人们能够继续骂脏话，而同时又可以远离手脚枷或是绞刑架，而如果公开亵渎神灵的话，就会是这样的下场。Thisistechnicallyknownastheprocessof"mincing",asinthephrase"min
6、cingyourwords".Itdisguisestheword'soriginsjustenoughtokeeptheswearerclearofthelaw.Swearingoffersusabriefglimpseofthereligioushistoryofourcountry.Beforethe16thcenturyProtestantReformation,ordinarypeoplewouldcommonlyhavereferredtotheBlessedVirginMaryas"OurLady",asRomanCatholicsstilldo.Henc
7、etheoath"ByOurLady",whichwasmincedintotheswearword"bloody",hastobeatleast500yearsold.AnotherfamiliarswearwordreferstotheAlbigensianheresyinthe13thcentury.Otherexamplesofmincedoathsincludethenowharmless"cripes"or"crikey",whichweredisguisedformsoftheword"Christ"."Blimey"ori
