Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language

Disease, death and killing 229
and bears, snakes and other venomous creatures, sharks, rays and saltwater
crocodiles are often named by euphemisms. The Zia of south-eastern Papua
New Guinea also invoke the names of powerful dead ancestors as a help when
hunting. For instance, when throwing his spear at a quarry, a Zia man might
yell ‘A Omguta!’ hoping for that ancestor’s aid in scoring a hit. This is a
euphemistic use of names of the dead, and can only be successful when
employed by mature men, otherwise it will bring misfortune to the hunter.
There are verbal taboos reported for Scottish and Cornish fishermen. 55
Euphemisms are (or were) employed during fishing expeditions when speaking
of churches and clergymen, women and land animals, in particular the
rabbit and, in Scotland, anadromous fish (such as salmon and trout, which live
part of their life in saltwater and part in freshwater). Possibly, this language
behaviour is based on a contrast between the insider world of the fishermen
and an outsider world which can only be spoken about euphemistically. For
instance, the anadromous fish are game fish, traditionally the fare of the laird,
not the fisher-folk who observe the taboo. Until recently, there were dreadful
hazards attendant on life at sea and great uncertainty in locating fish; but as
the catch has become more predictable and the occupation much safer, the
taboos have tended to disappear. The taboo on churches and clergymen may
guard against the risk of being thought to want to be called to God, or perhaps
they are like other topics tabooed by fishermen: things associated with the
security and comforts of the land, for which a man at sea might yearn and so
cause him to be distracted or his luck to turn against him. There is some
evidence for a similar constraint among Malay fishermen. 56 Lest misfortune
befall their canoes, Zia fishermen taboo the names of headlands and other
shoreline features where accidents have happened in the past.
In most societies, women’s sexuality is believed to be a danger to hunters,
fishers, warriors and sportsmen. 57 The Zia will not allow women on hunting
trips, believing that they frighten animals away; this belief is so strong that if
attacked by a wild boar, cassowary or other dangerous creature, a hunter will
call out his wife’s name, supposing this to be enough to drive the creature
away from him. This behaviour is reminiscent of invoking God to frighten
away the devil and saying Bless you! when someone sneezes. The reason that
rabbits have been singled out for taboo in Britain is probably their centuriesold
link with women. Does it arise from fear of over-stimulating sexual desire
when no heterosexual outlet is available? Yet boats have for centuries been
pronominalized by she/her and are often given women’s names. Nonetheless,
when women today do get on board a fishing boat they are likely to be blamed
if the catch is bad. 58
We remarked in Chapter 1 that killing other human beings is normally
taboo, unless those others are sentenced to capital punishment by the judiciary
or branded enemies by the government. Language is censored so as to reflect