bowdlerise

/'baudləraiz/ Cách viết khác : (bowdlerize) /'baudləraiz/

Thân thiện

The editor decided to bowdlerise the classic text for the new edition.

Definition

1. 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."

Học thuật

Verb

1. edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
   • bowdlerize a novel

Từ đồng nghĩa

• bowdlerize
• expurgate
• castrate
• shorten