12/55 It is curious here to note the antiquity of the term 'bloody' as an expletive. The Menagier says: 'Forbid them ... to use ugly oaths, or words which are bad or indecent, as do certain evil or ill bred persons who swear at bad bloody fevers, the bad bloody week, the bad bloody day ('de males sanglantes fievres,' 'de male sanglante sepmaine,' 'de male sanglante journee'), and they know not, nor should they know, what a bloody thing is, for honest women know it not, since it is abominable to them to see the blood but of a lamb or a pigeon, when it is killed before them.'-- _Ibid._, II, p. |