Why is the word  "BASTARD"  no longer used in legal contexts ?
463993
Because society used to frown upon having children out of wedlock that it used to shame a family if there was such a scandal,(That's why it is such an insult to call someone a bastard) now a days, society is so moral less, there are all sorts of bastards around, but its no Politically Correct to call them that anymore.
98133
No, it's just Yahoo!'s lazy non-context sensitive censorship of certain words. I can type cun't, but I can't refer to a rooster saying cock-a-doodle-doo. I can't even refer to it as a cock, without having to spell it kock or c0ck. \n\nI've seen sites where it's even worse, where you can't even make a reference to Andy Roddick without it coming out as Andy Rod****. Or my personal favourite, Marvin ***e
399720
Yes you can, but it isn't called an annullment any more.\n\nYou will need to speak with the Canon Lawyers at the Diocese offices, they will tell you how to proceed.\n\nThe term anullment was changed because the word, by definition, would give the implication that the marriage never occured, thus making the children "bastards", so the view is now that the marriage happened, but was not valid because one of the participants was not 100% committed to the marriage from the start.\n\nChildren will NOT be "bastards" in the eyes of the Church.
358389
It is Esq.  It stands for Esquire, and it used to mean the person was a landowner.  It is now appropriate to be used by both male and female lawyers.
323764
"Bollocks" is a swear word meaning testicles in British English. The word is often used figuratively, most commonly as a noun to mean "nonsense" or as an expletive following a minor accident or misfortune, but also in a number of other ways; as an adjective to mean "poor quality" or "useless", and in various compound expressions (see below). Due to its versatility, bollocks has been called the Swiss Army Knife of andrological profanities.\n\nPerhaps the best-known international use of the term in this sense is in the title of a Sex Pistols album. Testimony in a resulting lawsuit over the "obscene" term demonstrated that in Old English the word referred to a priest, and could also be used to mean "nonsense" (see Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols for details).
1096355
its an age old custom which has mostly died out now.rem reading about it in history classes
381044
Yes and chivalry is dead!!!\n\nI'm trying my hardest to teach my two year old to say "firefighter" or "police officer" or "mail carrier".  It's hard b/c when I was growing up, they were "fireman" and "policeman" and "mailman".  Oh, and God forbid you call a "flight attendant" a "stewardess".
45103
I don't like it's origins (not the root of the word, but the hateful use of the word) but the fact is, it's meaning has changed over time, I'm not offended if I hear it used in a friendly way "What's my nigga?" sort of thing (though I think it's a little awkward when said by a white person to a white person.  It's such a touchy subject because many people find it offensive, for good reason.  As for me, I'm only offended if it is used as racially condecending.
1094818
Never heard of that one!! Despite spending even longer in England than pniccimiss!!\n\nBut there are always new slang terms evolving, so it may be in use among the 'yoof' of today!!\n; )\n\nIt's not an official or colloquial 'English' term though, but it could become one with frequent use!
299714
I've always thought it didn't make sense. Truth is, a lot of profanities were once perfectly acceptable words. 'C---' was used by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales, and is the derivation of the word 'quaint' (and rhymes with how the word would have sounded in Middle English). A 'W---' was American military slang for a bed in WW2, and I'm sure you can use your own imagination for how it's meaning changed. Despite what people might tell you, no one really knows the derivation of the word 'F---' but what is known is that it's earliest recorded use is the 13th century.\nAnd so on.\nWhat I find most odd is how people substitute other words for a profanity. For example, someone might say, 'Oh sugar!' instead of a more robust, 'Oh S---!'. This, it seems to me, is daft. In this case everyone knows what the word 'sugar' is replacing and so it has the same meaning. We might say that is fine, but the word 'sugar' is not so ugly. Well, fair enough. That might be the case now but how long will it be until 'sugar' etc are deemed profanities just like our modern swear words were once acceptable.\nI don't mind swearing. There's a place for a good, well-timed, 'Oh F--- off!' And neither do I think it's a limited vocabulary. Those words do the job VERY well at times. What worries me most are the semi-literate idiots who punctuate sentences with, 'you know what I mean', 'yeah' and 'right' etc. I find that far more offensive.
1066802
I guess it depends on your dictionary. I didn't see it in Webster's. You must be using a special, childish, name-calling version.
161210
First let me say that I agree with you whole-heartedly.  In fact your example word is a good one, and if this is a site for 13 + year olds, I cannot see why it should be *'ed out.\nI tend to agree with Lenny Bruce.  S M U T is in the mind of the beholder.  Yet since Victorian times, our society has taken the view that what you do and say in private should never be reflected in public.  So we end up with priests who abuse young boys and book thumpers who swoon at the thought of the word phuck.\nSo I have to write about Richard Chaney and call a male chicken a rooster.  All because some see themselves as better than those of us common people who use common (vulgar does mean common) words.\nI understand why Yahoo does what it does.  The last thing it needs is a group of politically power fanatics stomping their cyberbutts for allowing crude language.\nYet Mary did ride an ass into Bethlehem.  And Peter did deny knowing Christ three times before the cock crowed.  And Noah did know his daughters and none of this is bleeped out of their Bibles.\nOkay, we try to watch our potty-mouths, but sometime bending over backwards to avoid offending someone is not the best way to become closer to Divinity.\nAny by the way, outside of direct reference in prayer, the use of the name G_d is still a sin, even if quoted by a so-called righteous person in an argument.
1059487
It used to be the criminal charge put on a sign over the stocks of prisoners put on public display.\n\nFornicational Use of Carnal Knowledge. \n\nThat was too long to carve on the sign so they shortened it to F.U.C.K.
1037117
The origin of the word f**k is lost in the sands of time, I'm afraid, but most of the apocryphal stories about it (that it's an acronym for "fornication under consent of the King", or "for unlawful carnal knowledge" for instance) don't even seem to have a shred of truth.\n\nIn all likelihood, the word is descended from the German word "ficken", which means "to strike, or club".  When the Saxons invaded England and their language merged with the natives and became entwined in middle English, the word became "fucken" (no, I'm not kidding).\n\nSo, considering what a good, hard f**k is actually like (sorry to be crude, but think about any time you've seen a guy going hog wild in the sack and you'll get the point), you can see where people would pick up using the word as slang for the act, especially considering what an erect penis looks like... and from there it became the ever so infamous "f-word".\n\n=)
623406
I don't want to use it.. I think it's a tasteless word in my personal opinion.. but I have seen instances when I have been around black people where they use the word like I would say "Dude" in my own personal slang.\n\nI wouldn't want to use that term, it just isn't in my personal vocabulary.. I've asked this question before because I was curious as to why is it ok for this term to be used, or even accepted.. it appears to be sometimes.\n\nI know when I hear a word that is set in different tones what the meaning behind it is. When I have heard a white person say that word, it bothers me because I see it as a negative racial term.  But when I hear the word between two black people, it makes me curious as to why why why?\n\nCultures are different.. I don't know why others would want to use that specific word...but I do know there are many slang terms that seem to be universal in meaning.. this one is not one in my opinion.
23128
no, archaic means it has fallen completely out of usage.  ribald is unusual, but you still see it in pretentious places like the london review of books and awful fantasy fan-fiction.  so no.
1092015
hide behind words like illegal ?  wtf  its a word to describe breaking the law i don't care if your purple its still the word used for breaking the law  try to come up with something new besides the race card  its old and its not working