Word: gamier
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1940-1949
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...long seemed to be all right-even profitable-to use much gamier words, including blasphemy and obscenity, in U.S. novels. "Son-of-a-bitch" had quite a literary past, going back at least to Shakespeare (in King Lear). Owen Wister sounded it more discreetly in The Virginian (1902), where it was cloaked as "son-of-a -." The Virginian's ringing retort was well remembered: "When you call me that, smile." The only question was: Was it quite the proper phrase for the President to use in public, with or without smiling...