bowdlerise
/'baudləraiz/ Cách viết khác : (bowdlerize) /'baudləraiz/
Definition
- Verb:
- To edit a written work by removing or altering parts that are considered offensive, vulgar, or morally objectionable, often resulting in a less expressive or censored version.
Usage
- The verb "bowdlerise" describes the act of expurgating a text. It is typically used in a critical or disapproving context, implying that the editing is excessive, prudish, or damages the artistic integrity of the original work.
- It is a transitive verb, requiring a direct object (the thing being edited).
Examples
Advanced Usage
- The term often carries a strong negative connotation, suggesting a sanitization that weakens the original's power, honesty, or historical context.
- It can be used figuratively beyond literature, for any act of purging uncomfortable truths or details.
- The report was bowdlerised to avoid political embarrassment.
Variants and Related Words
- Bowdlerize: The more common spelling, especially in American English. It is a direct synonym.
- Bowdlerisation/Bowdlerization (noun): The act or result of bowdlerising.
- The bowdlerisation of the text made it almost unrecognizable.
Synonyms
- Expurgate: To remove objectionable material from a text. (More formal/neutral)
- Censor: To suppress or remove content deemed unacceptable.
- Sanitize: To make something superficially clean or acceptable by removing unpleasant elements.
Word Origin
- Named after Thomas Bowdler, who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare's works in 1818, titled , from which he claimed to have removed "those words and expressions... which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family."
Verb
-
edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
-
bowdlerize a novel
-
Khám phá thêm
Các từ liên quan
Từ đồng nghĩa
Từ gần giống
Từ chứa "bowdlerise"
