[Dragaera] _Iorich_ random brief comments (spoilers!)

[Howard Brazee]

On 2/5/2010 11:36 AM, Jon%20Lincicum wrote:
>> I meant to bring this up in a thread, too, but didn't really have
>> >anything to say about it. Iorich*did*  seem unusually vulgar... I
>> >don't have a problem with that, but I, too, wonder if there's
>> >something we're supposed to learn or if it's just a change in style.
>>      
> This was a Zelazny trick, so that's probably where Steve got it.
>
> Am re-reading the Amber Chronicles right now, and the swearing in those books uses similar masking techniques.
What is the Zelazny trick, inconsistent usage of the old replacement of 
"unprintable" words?

Growing up, I remember reading books where the author mentions the 
protagonist admiring the creative cursing of another character.   This 
wasn't uncommon at all.   But this worked only when the cursing was 
off-stage.   When our society changed so that we could actually print 
it, I found that authors were not up to the task of creating it.

Unprintable cursing seems to be a reference to those days.   Use of 
words such as asshole is just dialog.