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From: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
Newsgroups: news.newusers.questions
Subject: Re: What constitutes abuse ...
Message-ID: <1989Dec30.235448.14196@world.std.com>
Date: 30 Dec 89 23:54:48 GMT
References: <50217@bbn.COM>
Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die
Lines: 56
In-Reply-To: cosell@bbn.com's message of 30 Dec 89 17:12:21 GMT


Ok, the challenge seems to come down to finding a word for common
usage which means what some folks seem to want "censorship" to mean.

First, Webster's 7th on "censorship" and "censor":
--------------------
cen.sor.ship \'sen(t)-s*r-.ship\ n 1: the institution, system, or practice
   of censoring or censors 2: the office, power, or term of a Roman censor 3:
   exclusion from consciousness by the psychic censor

1. cen.sor \'sen(t)-s*r\ \sen-'so-r-e--*l, -'so.r-\ n [L, fr. cense-re to
   assess, tax; akin to Skt s'am.sati herecites] 1: one of two magistrates of
   early Rome acting as census takers, assessors, and inspectors of morals and
   conduct 2a: an official who examines publications for objectionable matter
   2b: an official who reads communications and deletes forbidden material
   archaic  3: a faultfinding critic 4: the psychic agency that represses
   unacceptable notions before they reach consciousness - cen.so.ri.al aj
2. censor \'sen(t)s-(*-)rin\ vt or cen.sor.ing : to subject to censorship
--------------------

(I think 2a and 2b lean heavily towards my interperetation, I suppose
we can now argue about what "an official" is, 3. is similar to the
other interpretation but is both marked archaic and seems to miss the
essence of suppression of publication.)

But there actually are more accurate words available for removing or
denying publication of material as a non-state act:

--------------------
bowd.ler.ize \'bo-d-l*-.ri-z, 'bau.d-\ vt [Thomas Bowdler -1825 E editor] :
   to expurgate (as a book) by omitting or modifying parts considered
   indelicate

ex.pur.gate \'ek-sp*r-.ga-t\ \.ek-sp*r-'ga--sh*n\ \'ek-sp*r-.ga-t-*r\ vt [L
   expurgatus, pp. of expurgare, fr. ex- + purgare to purge] : to cleanse of
   something morally harmful, offensive, or erroneous; esp : to expunge
   objectionable parts from before publication or presentation -
   ex.pur.ga.tion n
--------------------

I vote for "expurgate" and its other forms as the correct word for
what people are often trying to make "censor" mean. No one can
remember the spelling of bowdlerize anyhow (it took me a few hits to
look it up.)

It might beg an adverb to fend off its seemingly positive nature, as
in "The moderator has flippantly expurgated articles..." (arbitrarily,
randomly, unfairly, mindlessly, "expurgated with odious intent", etc.)

And let's leave "censorship" to the purview of the state where it
belongs.
-- 
        -Barry Shein

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