Several here will know the above quote, and the OE work from which it comes, which was publically suppressed until a Cambridge University Press edition of 1998.

A friend, who is a doctor in medieval English at Balliol, has sent me a copy of "Anglo-Saxon: the Four Letter Words". Privately published, this pamphlet is nonetheless the all-time authority on obscenities in OE, and I was wondering if I should reproduce it here (it is only 16 pages long)?

Or would this be inappropriate for a non-mature audience? The list does include the original Germanic terms for bugg*r, w*nk, qu*m, f*ck, c*nt, sheepsh*gger, tw*t, and sh*tstabber, to name but a random few...

Have we moved on enough to treat this material in a non-sniggering Forum?

P.L.