Fenster writes:
OK porn may be up but smut is down.

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About Fenster
Gainfully employed for thirty years, including as one of those high paid college administrators faculty complain about. Earned Ph.D. late in life and converted to the faculty side. Those damn administrators are ruining everything.
This is of course because ‘smut’ carries connotations of negative judgment, while ‘porn’ is merely descriptive, and since less people today than in yesteryear perceive porn in a negative light, the use of ‘smut’ reaching a minimum while ‘porn’ has gone up as more people view porn, is certainly in line with what one would expect, given cultural trends in the English-speaking world…
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the argument has been made to retire the word slut for similar reasons. maybe with slut. but smut is alive and well. the show californication for instance. it’s not porn but it’s smutty.
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Indeed; it’s a useful term. But waning in popularity, alas.
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