Historical Linguistics: Trish Jenkins

R.L. Trask, in his book, Historical Linguistics, looks at how language changes depending on what is considered taboo in polite conversation.

"The effect of taboo can be very powerful. Several generations ago, the simple anatomical terms leg and breast came to be regarded as highly indelicate in American speech. The unacceptability of these words required euphemisms not only for talking about the human body but even for talking about roast chicken and Thanksgiving turkeys, with the result that Americans began to speak of dark meat and white meat, as they still do today, even though leg and breast have more recently lost their indelicate status."