Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of expletive.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • His solo albums have been genuinely entertaining and well-produced, a fact that is particularly fortunate given that nearly all of the catchiest choruses to his songs contain expletives that can't be sung on the radio.

    The Dream of Being Discoverable - Anil Dash 2009

  • What could be a forum for democratic discourse, instead is often just a place to drag “others” mindlessly through the mud, throwing in expletives they would probably self censor if they were actually talking in a pubic forum.

    Reactionary wing-nut sends national media on witch-hunt… 2008

  • I've received many notes similar to yours, except many of them contain expletives that are beneath the level of a civil discussion.

    Is That Legal?: Brad Krantz on Peter Brimelow's Falsehoods 2007

  • I've received many notes similar to yours, except many of them contain expletives that are beneath the level of a civil discussion.

    Is That Legal?: January 2007 Archives 2007

  • I've received many notes similar to yours, except many of them contain expletives that are beneath the level of a civil discussion.

    Is That Legal?: Media Archives 2006

  • They're a bit particular about certain expletives.

    How to Reject a Rejectionist 2010

  • Sometimes two women in search of pails lay hold of the same pail at the same moment, and a wrangle ensues, in the course of which each disputant reminds the other of all her failings, nicknames, and undesirable connections, living, dead, and unborn; until an attendant interferes, with more muscle than argument, punctuating the sentence of justice with newly coined expletives suggested by the occasion.

    The Promised Land Mary Antin 1915

  • Sometimes two women in search of pails lay hold of the same pail at the same moment, and a wrangle ensues, in the course of which each disputant reminds the other of all her failings, nicknames, and undesirable connections, living, dead, and unborn; until an attendant interferes, with more muscle than argument, punctuating the sentence of justice with newly coined expletives suggested by the occasion.

    The Promised Land Antin, Mary, 1881-1949 1912

  • After all, one can listen to dubbed expletives only so many times before becoming annoyed.

    Berks county news 2010

  • They think nothing wrong with slowing their vehicle to gawk at rare passing women -- one soldier guarding the gate, who apparently checked his manners there, had no qualms about offering me an extra thorough search (I managed to decline the little git, who seemed barely old enough to shave, without using expletives, which is a personal advancement for me).

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed 2009

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