kenbadoian
Cadet
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2020
Assistance Please - require information on the extent of and what profanity was used, not written but spoken during the CW. I have researched and have not found any definitive list, references, etc.
He called upon all of us by all that was Good & Infernal to kill every son of a ***** that runs without a cause. Said he, if you see me running, I want you to kill me on the spot…just stand to it and give them Hell.
One small point - you may underestimate Shakespeare and how things were actually acted out/adlibbed at the Globe Theater (and the "French" in Henry V gives a slight hint). The crowd seated at the foot of the stage was not necessarily constrained by "oaths" . .
'The Story the Soldiers Wouldn't Tell' by Thomas P. Lowry, M.D. has some pretty spectacular cussing in the chapter 'Blue with Oaths', along with the full text of the ribald camp song 'Jeff Davis' Dream', 'John Harrelson, John Harrelson' and some excerpts from semi-****ographic 'Dime Novels' and 'Penny Dreadfuls.' Quite an eye-opener
There are not many specifics since the writers did not want to put vile words into their letters and books. However, federal captain J. W. De Forest observed that "the men are not as good as they were once; they drink harder and swear more and gamble deeper." The same officer noted, however, that "the swearing mania was irrepressible. In the excitement of the charge it seemed as if every extremity of language was excusable, providing it would help toward victory." -- Croushore, James H., ed. A Volunteer's Adventure, by Captain John W. De Forest. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1949. 65, 80.Assistance Please - require information on the extent of and what profanity was used, not written but spoken during the CW. I have researched and have not found any definitive list, references, etc.
Never gave much thought to the subject but while visiting the Graffiti House in Brandy Station where the walls are covered with writing and doodles left behind by wounded soldiers...There was nothing I could see that resembled anything profane or obscene ? Actually made me ponder...Assistance Please - require information on the extent of and what profanity was used, not written but spoken during the CW. I have researched and have not found any definitive list, references, etc.
On the other hand, anybody who has played hockey and had to endure a bag skating session under a po'd coach would probably not use "monotonous" to describe what they heard.I guess there is a time and place for about any word known under the heaven. And I am sure the battlefield has many a morbid monopoly. But in the present state of intellectual advancements by society's more affluent personages, I find the character recreation of such 'drivel' abhorrent, whether it be book or movie. A lazy tongue is how I describe one versed it repetitive oaths, regardless of how 'cute' they may sound. It takes all kinds, but like a good cliché it gets monotonous and furthers nothing.
Lubliner.
[edit]: A dull blade may be sharpened by wit, but to butcher the hog is not allowed. (Lubliner just made that one up).
According to Dr Lowry, there were two versions: One written in 1863 by Bernard Covert described the Confederate president trembling at the thought of a Yankee noose around his neck, and criticised England and France for aiding the rebels. All the themes are political.I went looking for those lyrics to Jeff Davis' Dream, and found this passage is "The Common Soldier in the Civil War:"
In the correspondence of an Ohio Yank was found a poem, “Jeff
Davis’ Dream,” which for gross obscenity would stand high in erotic
literature of any period. But no information was given concerning the
source or circulation of this item.
But, no lyrics
The fist with an extended middle finger gesture to represent a phallus can be attributed to the ancient Romans and Greeks, who used the image as a form of apotropaic magic. Given that it had been used for centuries as a symbol to avert or ward off harm or evil influences, it would not be surprising to find that opposing forces would have displayed it to their foes throughout the centuries, although it certainly morphed into being interpreted as an insulting gesture over time. There is a popular myth that English Archers displayed the gesture to the defeated French forces at the 1415 Battle of Agincourt in response to a supposed French edict to amputate the first two fingers of any captured English archers, but there is no historical evidence that such a display actually occurred during or immediately after that battle.I have noted references with many using the middle finger often. It's not so much as a word, but it held a strong message.
not exactly what youre looking forAssistance Please - require information on the extent of and what profanity was used, not written but spoken during the CW. I have researched and have not found any definitive list, references, etc.
I always enjoyed the colorful oaths in the contemporaneously set Gangs of New York. I know Scorsese and the writers came upon a crime lexicon of the time. My favorite is "you boys are just a couple of Fiddlin' Bens"
Thanks for that link, you learn something every day. What a bizarre thing to do.Thomas Lowry is an extremely frustrating figure in the historical community. His book "The Story the Soldiers Wouldn't Tell" is extremely enlightening. But he also got caught altering documents.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_P._Lowry#Lincoln_document_forgery_controversy
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