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Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Would Dr Johnson have omitted Belle de Jour

Dr Johnson's Dictionary is 250 years old in 2005. Johnson is said to have mocked two women who praised him for leaving vulgar, coarse and obscene words out of the book - as he explained, they "must have been looking for them". Present-day readers will not have to look hard to find the rude bits in Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, the confessions of an anonymous prostitute known as Belle de Jour, published later this month.
From The Telegraph

Posted by Nick @ 08:45 GMT
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Boris Vian, L’Écome des Jours, 1947, Translated by Stanley Chapman as 'Froth on the Daydream'1967, 1970, 1988

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Herman Melvills's 'Moby Dick

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