It is all a little bit silly, Sandi Toksvig makes a joke, 'The Tories put the "n" in cuts' and people behave as though British Society as we know it is on the verge of collapse. Our society may be on the brink of collapse, but I don’t think Sandi Toksvig is to blame. The most laughable idea is that she might corrupt children, children do not listen to the News Quiz on Radio 4, they’re far to busy killing people with extreme prejudice on their X boxes!
It is a little sad that we let Chaucer use the dreaded “C” word – although spelt queynt – and not Sandi Toksvig, of course Chaucer is “literature” and old so that’s ok! Cunt is a perfectly good Old English word and were it not for the Reformation and the puritans to whom it gave rise we might still be using it without batting an eyelid. The demonisation of the sexual organs and most of the basic bodily functions made the common words used to describe them unacceptable, but also allowed them to be used as insults. Were we a little less precious about our bodies and were we to use words in their proper context, there would have been no joke for Sandi Toksvig to make. As it is because she used, “cunt” in an inappropriate context she is perpetuating the centuries of abuse to which this poor misunderstood word has been subjected. A final thought, perhaps we should ban Chaucer, that might get kids to put down their consoles and pick up a book.
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