"...You don't have to rely on those worn-out four-letter terms to inflict rude remarks on the offending party. With careful selection of words, it's possible to elevate insults to an art form. Why not use this week's exquisite words for one of those times when nothing less will do?"

This is so true! When I was a child our next door neighbor was a grade school principal. Normal swear words were out of the question. When Harley was very angry with something (perhaps he had just hit his thumb with a hammer) he would exclaim "Thunder and MUD!" I have always thought this was more descriptive of his actual emotion at the time than any over used four letter epithet that could be substituted.

Paul


(grandpa)

That's a great story, PaulW. Welcome back, I see it's been a long time!

A while back someone (maybe tsuwm?) posted a link to a collection of do-it-yourself Shakespearean insult epithets. Has anybody got that handy?

there are a bunch of those Shakespearean insulters (just google "shakespearean insults"; here's one I like that has (mostly) actual quotes from the bard:
http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker/

Thou rank dizzy-eyed skainsmate!

(taunt me a second time!)