The Globe's naughtiness threshold

Published Aug 06 2007, 08:56 PM by Adam Reilly

While catching up on my Universal Hub reading, I found an astute Aug. 3 post by blogger Steve Garfield, who notes that Boston's paper of record will print the word "penis" but not the word "dick."

Now, it just so happens that I was struck by another (albeit less complex) case of Globe prudery this weekend. It came in the Ideas section, in a review of Plain Secrets: An Outsider Among the Amish, by Joe Mackall. The Globe editor(s) didn't take issue with anything reviewer Todd Montgomery-Fate had to say; instead, the problem was language used by Mackall himself. From the review:

In one section Mackall describes a buggy ride with Samuel on a hot July day to a nearby Home Depot to pick up supplies. It takes them 90 minutes to go 10 miles. Mackall is uneasy as the cars roar by: "We roll along at five miles per hour when the horses are walking, ten to twelve when they begin a trot. . . . The rush and power of the cars flying by frightens me and, quite frankly, [infuriates me]. Although I have done it thousands of times myself, I'm angry that people out here pass buggies like they're not even there, ignoring the danger and frightening the horses. [Emph. added]

Now, "[infuriates me]" could be a replacement for "chaps my hide," "busts my hump," "drives me fucking crazy," etc. But my best guess is that it's a stand-in for "pisses me off"--which really doesn't seem all that shocking, even for a family newspaper.

So, readers: are there any other phrases that Morrissey Boulevard has deemed too risque? (Please keep your responses fact-based, natch.)