81

Douglas Adams' American publishers forced him to change some of the text in Life, the Universe and Everything: "Asshole" became "kneebiter", "shit" became "swut", and most bizarre and hilarious of all, "fuck" became "Belgium".

Has anyone associated with the US publisher (Harmony/Crown/Random House) ever explained why they made Adams change the text?

Improve this question
19
  • 151
    @RedCaio Citing profanity is perfectly acceptable on StackExchange sites, and censoring it is actively discouraged, except in titles. Citing uncensored profanity is not a valid reason to downvote a question.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    May 13, 2016 at 7:46
  • 37
    @RedCaio - Don't like it, don't read it. I'm not going to do the thing the publisher never should have done, and site policy is very clear on this - profanity is fine in quotes or proper names.
    – Wad Cheber
    May 13, 2016 at 8:05
  • 13
    @WadCheber surely you agree that 'Belgium' is a better fit in Life, the Universe and Everything than 'f***'... it just adds to the overall quirkiness of the book instead of detracting from the dialogue.
    – user32390
    May 13, 2016 at 9:27
  • 17
    I like to cite this as one of the few (if not only) Good instances of censorship, in that it gave us an additional chapter (to explain why Belgium was such a bad word).
    – aslum
    May 13, 2016 at 13:10
  • 16
    CAN WE JUST STOP SAYING THE B WORD? seriously guys... I know this is the Internet, but come on, this is getting REALLY profane.
    – Patrice
    May 13, 2016 at 20:18

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
68

According to Adams, because kids were reading it

As recounted in Hitchhiker's Guide, by M.J. Simpson:

"I think what happened was my U.S. publisher was unhappy about using the word "fuck" because of the number of kids who read the books," explained Adams later. "I was a bit frustrated by that, but then it gave me an idea and I put in the whole Belgium piece."

Of course, this was merely the author's impression of what his publishers wanted, not a statement from the publisher itself.

I was unable to find any direct statement from the publishers.

Improve this answer
15
  • 18
    I have the same (excellent) book and one thing I learned is that Adams is something of an unreliable narrator even where his own life is concerned.
    – TheMathemagician
    May 13, 2016 at 9:36
  • 2
    @TheMathemagician - Alas, it may be the best we have.
    – Adamant
    May 13, 2016 at 9:37
  • 3
    If American publishers are so out of touch with American kids that they think they would be shocked/offended/unnerved by the traditional Big 5 Bad Words, this explains why kids don't much read their books any more. And @TheMathemagician, you mean "Adams was ..." because he's dead, and not just for tax purposes either.
    – frank
    May 13, 2016 at 10:32
  • 17
    @frank, the kids wouldn't mind. Some parents would. Just look at what they get books banned from schools for.
    – Chris H
    May 13, 2016 at 10:39
  • 7
    Interesting note and timeliness on this question and answer: My 13-year-old nephew will be required to read Hitchhiker's in public school. Now 13 is not really a young age to be exposed to profanity, but in American public schools the teacher probably would have a hard time assigning any book that had the f-word.
    – Todd Wilcox
    May 13, 2016 at 13:59

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.