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| | Issue of June 7, 2004 |
 | | Suddenly the nation's newspapers were awash in "tawdry," "tacky," lascivious," "salacious," "lewd," "seamy," "sleazy," "licentious" and similar locutions, to the extent that an editor of a major newspaper called me on a Saturday afternoon with an emergency request to compile a glossary for her befuddled readers. |
 | | Although the basic definition of "lascivious" is "inclined to lust, engaging in lewd or wanton behavior," lascivious is not, at heart, a nasty, sleazy, tawdry or lewd word. |
 | | The root of "lascivious" is the Latin "lascivus," which meant "playful" or "sportive." Perhaps befitting its origin, "lascivious" is a good-natured word, fun to pronounce (lah-SIV-ee-ous) and almost impossible to say with a straight face, unless you happen to be wearing a powdered wig and waving a gavel. |
| www.word-detective.com /060704.html (5967 words) |
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