<html> <head> <meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> Since we have no innate sense of HOW improper it is, probably best to avoid using it. <br> <br> I remember on the list once people were throwing around "merde" as a mild expletive, but a French list member was really shocked. <br> <br> Susan <br> <br> On 5/22/2012 8:13 PM, John Formsma wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:CAD9J8tJZpTG9zkRPCiRD7azOJ6GF99eL+3EVoP4S+y2kfjUEgQ@mail.gmail.com" type="cite"><br> <br> <div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 8:13 PM, Susan Kline <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:skline@peak.org" target="_blank">skline@peak.org</a>></span> wrote: <div> </div> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"> <div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"><font size="+1"><font face="Courier New, Courier, monospace"><small> <br> "Bloody" was once a fairly serious swear word there, while it hardly is known here except from watching the BBC. Ruddy sounds like a variant of it. "Bloody" was strong, if I remember right, because it stands for Christ's blood. </small></font></font></div> </blockquote> <div><br> </div> <div><br> </div> <div>I heard something different from an English friend of mine. But yes, it is still considered improper.  </div> </div> <br clear="all"> <div><br> </div> -- <br> <div>John Formsma, RPT<br> </div> <div>Blue Mountain, MS</div> <br> </blockquote> <br> </body> </html>