bowdlerise
to re-write a text, thereby making it more socially acceptable
TRANSLATION
bowdlerise = bereinigen, zensieren --- GOOGLE INDEX Bowdlerise: approximately 108,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
There is also a tendency in some modern bibles to BOWDLERISE the fruitier (schlüpfrig) bits of the Old Testament: the popular Good News Bible is noted for this. The Contemporary English Version, shows something of the same tendency.
(The London Independent)
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One particularly ironic circumstance is that, unknown to Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury), his publisher released a BOWDLERIZED edition of the book in 1967 that eliminated the words "damn" and "hell" for distribution to schools.
(adapted from Wikipedia)
(The London Independent)
---
One particularly ironic circumstance is that, unknown to Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury), his publisher released a BOWDLERIZED edition of the book in 1967 that eliminated the words "damn" and "hell" for distribution to schools.
(adapted from Wikipedia)
Did you
know?
bowdlerize (U.S. bowdlerize)
verb
to remove words or parts from a book, play, or film that are considered to be unsuitable or offensive
(Cambridge Dictionary)
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Thomas Bowdler was an English doctor and philanthropist. In 1807, he published The Family Shakspeare, with adapted versions of the famous works that he felt were more appropriate for the 19th century.
Bowdler and his sister, Henrietta, removed or changed words, expressions and passages they thought might offend the sensibilities of the day. Unfortunately, taking out the "naughty bits" makes many texts weaker and their words less effective.
Bowdlerisation is similar to censorship, but bowdlerising tends to rewrite texts or to clean up scenes that are considered vulgar rather than remove them completely from literature, films or television shows. Also, censorship tends to come from an authority and have a more political intention.
Particularly in US English, the word is sometimes written "bowdlerize" or capitalized as Bowdlerise / -ze). Some people consider "politically correct" language a modern day form of bowdlerisation.
One example is when texts are rewritten to replace "he"/"his" with gender-neutral "they"/"their", even at the cost of grammatical accuracy. (I think someone left their notebook in the conference room).
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SYNONYMS
abridge, ban, black out, bleach, censure, clean up, cut, delete, edit, excise, expurgate, launder, purge, purify, repress, sanitise, scissor out, squelch, sterilise, strike out, suppress, whitewash
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We had to bowdlerise our Web site after several customers complained that their internal firewalls blocked access to our site because of a few words or phrases considered offensive."
verb
to remove words or parts from a book, play, or film that are considered to be unsuitable or offensive
(Cambridge Dictionary)
---
Thomas Bowdler was an English doctor and philanthropist. In 1807, he published The Family Shakspeare, with adapted versions of the famous works that he felt were more appropriate for the 19th century.
Bowdler and his sister, Henrietta, removed or changed words, expressions and passages they thought might offend the sensibilities of the day. Unfortunately, taking out the "naughty bits" makes many texts weaker and their words less effective.
Bowdlerisation is similar to censorship, but bowdlerising tends to rewrite texts or to clean up scenes that are considered vulgar rather than remove them completely from literature, films or television shows. Also, censorship tends to come from an authority and have a more political intention.
Particularly in US English, the word is sometimes written "bowdlerize" or capitalized as Bowdlerise / -ze). Some people consider "politically correct" language a modern day form of bowdlerisation.
One example is when texts are rewritten to replace "he"/"his" with gender-neutral "they"/"their", even at the cost of grammatical accuracy. (I think someone left their notebook in the conference room).
---
SYNONYMS
abridge, ban, black out, bleach, censure, clean up, cut, delete, edit, excise, expurgate, launder, purge, purify, repress, sanitise, scissor out, squelch, sterilise, strike out, suppress, whitewash
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We had to bowdlerise our Web site after several customers complained that their internal firewalls blocked access to our site because of a few words or phrases considered offensive."
