Posted by RichardG on January 09, 2006 at 18:28:31 from 217.207.172.242 user RichardG.
In Reply to: The "N" word posted by Jim Hadfield on January 03, 2006 at 22:23:59:
Out of interest, if the "N" word is expunged from all published works, at what point does one introduce it to children and explain why they shouldn't use it ? I recall as a child reading Shakespeare's histories and finding that among all the Kings, Princes, Dukes & Earls there was another title, Bastard (as in "Bastard of Orleans") which I hadn't come across before, so I happily wandered out to my parents who were entertaining friends and asked "Mummy, what is a bastard ?". Cue choking noises from my elders, but in due course the meaning was explained and I was told that it was not a word to be used in polite company. If some child who has been sheltered from the "N" word comes across it for the first time in "The Big Six" (where the use is not meant to be insulting, just as in Shakespeare's use of "Bastard"), doesn't that provide an opportunity for it to be explained properly by a parent ?