ABSTRACT
In a foreword in 1919 to the first Indian edition in English of Indian Home
Rule (as many early English translations of Hind Swaraj were titled),
Gandhi wrote: ‘if I had to revise it, there is only one word I would alter in
accordance with a promise made to an English friend. She took exception
to my use of the word ‘‘prostitute’’ in speaking of the Parliament. Her fine
taste recoiled from the indelicacy of the expression.’1
