A Very, Very Dirty Word - The British Empire's second-greatest gift to the world.

Slate-MSN: By Christopher Hitchens: "'You know, Minister, I believe that in the long view of history, the British Empire will be remembered only for two things.' What, Healey was interested to know, were these imperishable aspects? 'The game of soccer. And the expression 'fuck off.' ' The latter advice received the signal honor of being printed in full, without asterisks, in the Washington Post, thus provoking some ombudsmanlike soul-searching on its own account by the paper's editor, Len Downie.

If things go on like this—which in a way I sometimes hope they do—we will reach the point where newspapers will report exchanges deadpan, like this:

" 'Fuck off,' he shot back."
" 'Fuck off,' he suggested."
" 'Fuck off,' he opined."
" 'Fuck off,' he advised."
" 'Fuck off,' he averred."
" 'Fuck off,' he joked."
Or even, " 'Fuck off,' he quipped."