bowdlerise
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Alternative forms
- bowdlerize (chiefly US)
[edit] Etymology
From Thomas Bowdler who in 1818 published a censored version of Shakespeare, expurgating "those words and expressions [...] which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family."
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Verb
bowdlerise (third-person singular simple present bowdlerises, present participle bowdlerising, simple past and past participle bowdlerised)
- To remove those parts of a text considered offensive, vulgar or adult in nature.
- the bowdlerised version of the text, while free of vulgarity, was also free of flavour
- (by extension) To remove those parts of a text considered to be damaging to an authority.
