Susan Johnson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> The boob words push me over the edge since they always mean some form
> of "female idiot."  Any reference to the breast as "boob" contains
> this layer of meaning. 

Well, no, they don't. If you had an Australian client from, I believe,
pretty much any social group in Australia, this layer of meaning would
likely be completely absent. It's just not there in our dialect and
subculture. "Boobs" might not be used in formal discourse (eg in news
media discussions of breast cancer), but it is a completely everyday
word for "breasts", and doesn't signal any level of value judgement or
carry any pejorative meaning.

Lara Hopkins

 

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