Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language

Taboo, naming and addressing 131
streets and university buildings show that namings are mostly systematic, and
each genre develops its own themes and styles based on connotation. 18
In the United States, place names containing squaw are numerous, and they
are controversial because the term is regarded as dysphemistic by Native
Americans and used derogatorily by a large number of whites. There have
been a number of actions to have such place names as Squaw Peak (Arizona)
and Squaw Lake (Minnesota) changed, generally without success. The origin
of the word squaw is disputed; it is widely thought to derive from Mohawk
otsískwa? ‘vagina’, which fuels anger, especially among women. However,
Mohawks disagree. It is more likely to have been borrowed in the early
seventeenth century from the Massachussett word for ‘young woman’. 19
Native Americans view the use of squaw much the same way as African
Americans view the use of nigger. This renders the main argument against the
use of squaw in place names, and more generally, a matter of discourtesy to
Native Americans.
Names can be descriptive, picking up on a salient characteristic perceived
in, wanted for, or (sometimes ironically) imputed to the referent. The original
motivation for such names is description; yet once the referent is named, the
name is rigidly and persistently associated with its name-bearer. Examples are
the topographical names Green River, Black Mountain, Shiprock; Ghanaian
day names such as Akua (woman born on Wednesday), Kofi (man born on
Friday); 20 the Puritan Christian name If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-You-You-
Had-Been-Damned; the characteristics Shakespeare imputed to Doll Tearsheet,
Pistol, Justice Shallow; the implications of nicknames like Shorty and
Four-eyes (and nicknames given to schoolteachers), adopted names like Sid
Vicious (John Ritchie) and Judy Garland (Frances Gumm), or family names
like Baker and Smith. In many communities, children are named after celebrated
(and admired) religious and public figures: Jesus, the saints, Lenin,
Winston, Diana. Many Chinese names include fu 2 ‘lucky, prosperous’.
Other names are chosen to confuse evil spirits, e.g. Mongolian Muunokhoi
‘vicious dog’, Nergui ‘no name’, Enebish ‘not this one’. 21 Sometimes, a sick
Jewish child was given a false name so that an evil spirit could not find it; and
sometimes, the child got a new name to renew its health. 22 This is comparable
to a new name being given on initiation into adulthood, or a religious order, or
marriage – a new identity for a new role. It all harks back to the notion that
names somehow encapsulate the essence of the name-bearer; the very fact
which motivates taboos on naming. Our own community’s attitudes are
reflected by Iago:
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing;
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;