(Expletive Deleted)

By Don Shearon First Published August 20, 1974“(Expletive deleted).”That phrase popularized through publication of the White House Transcripts seems firmly entrenched as a part of the Mother Tongue. One might say it is a legacy from an era future historians are almost certain to label The Watergate Years.Those two words, along with the brackets that insulate them from perils of the workaday world, can be a convenient tool. Their generous employment threaded through the White House Transcripts is evidence enough. But the words and their brackets, to be called here The Phrase, could lend themselves to a variety of applications for both good and evil.The writings of William Shakespeare don't have to be scratched very deeply to discover that the Bard of Avon wasn't scribbling nursery rhymes intended for tender ears. It is downright frightening to think what could have happened to some of the Bard's more memorable lines had The Phrase been in general circulation during earlier, less per-missive periods.Consider, for example, the famous quote from Macbeth, Act V, that might have been revised to read: “Out, ( expletive deleted) spot! out, I say!”Used indiscriminately, The Phrase could work some mischief, too. It could be the vehicle for turning an innocent line into something sinister. For instance, abuse of The Phrase could cast a shadow over this tidbit lifted from Act I of Shakespeare's The Tempest: “Misery acquaints a man with (expletive deleted) bedfellows.”Very little imagination is needed to read some interesting substitutions for The Phrase into that line. But there's nothing wrong with it as written by Shakespeare: “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”The unlamented Watergate Years that gave prominence to The Phrase will long be remembered, doubtless overshadowing many others, less unpleasant happenings of similar vintage. To prove the point, ask the first dozen persons you meet in the street their opinions of that (expletive deleted) era; it's a sure bet their responses will be nearly unanimous: “(Expletive deleted).”And there, neighbors, you have it all.

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