Though somewhat distracted by the demands of business-class travel ("Kir Royale or Buck's Fizz to start your journey, Madam?") We did notice this interesting tidbit in a 10 July New York Times obit for OED editor R.W. Burchfield:
Conceived in 1858, the original O.E.D. was every inch a Victorian enterprise. Though its editors had agonized over whether to include terms of scatology, sexual congress and racial opprobrium, delicacy won the day. With the exception of a very few entries late in the alphabet, when the restrictions had begun to ease (a breathtakingly vulgar synonym for "kestrel" can be found in the W's), offensive terms were excluded.
Subsequent inquiries among likeminded friends have turned up little information on what this "breathtaking" bit of naughtiness might be, though we do learn from the OED that "The kestril breeds in the hollows of trees." (1766 PENNANT Zool.) Do contact us if you can shed light on this burning question.
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