ABSTRACT
In the quest for an immoral equivalent of profanity and obscenity–just in case the f-word fatigue sets in or, perhaps, a neo-puritanical backlash and cleanup threatens–there is always fall-back position well-inked during the Mergenthaler yesteryears. Like "Etaolin Shrdlu" the sensitive keyboard of the linotype machine almost automatically produced a hot-lead conglomerate of signs and symbols which can be usefully revived and re-enlisted in domesticated service. English tabloids have already staked their claims to the new-old cliché by taking up the Mergenthaler option. By comparison with what can be in store for us in the event that the cryptograms of the obsolete Mergenthaler linotype machine do actually come into fashion again, the current standard mode is simple and unproblematical. When tennis star Andre Agassi gets ejected from a Grand Slam tournament for using "foul language" he is quoted as saying, "It was tough for him to gather any thoughts and he just sat there".
