Word of the Day : December 20, 2023
Bowdlerize
verb BOHD-ler-ize
What It Means
- In its strictest sense, to bowdlerize a book, manuscript, etc. is to modify it by editing so that nothing judged to be morally harmful or offensive remains. More broadly, bowdlerize means “to modify by abridging, simplifying, or distorting in style or content.”
- // The publisher’s decision to bowdlerize the classic novel was met with mixed reactions.
- See the entry >
BOWDLERIZE In Context
“Right from the beginning, Walt Disney Animation Studios leaned heavily on existing books and stories for inspiration, starting with its first feature, 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. While this has resulted in some truly wonderful movies, the studio’s tendency to make major changes to its source material—toning down the original stories’ dark or violent content, and generally softening the edges—has also been apparent from the start. It’s such a predictable part of the Disney process that the neologism ‘Disneyfication’ has become a generic term for bowdlerizing a story into a tame kid-friendly version.” — Chris Wheatley, Polygon.com, 20 June 2023
Did You Know?
“Right from the beginning, Walt Disney Animation Studios leaned heavily on existing books and stories for inspiration, starting with its first feature, 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. While this has resulted in some truly wonderful movies, the studio’s tendency to make major changes to its source material—toning down the original stories’ dark or violent content, and generally softening the edges—has also been apparent from the start. It’s such a predictable part of the Disney process that the neologism ‘Disneyfication’ has become a generic term for bowdlerizing a story into a tame kid-friendly version.” — Chris Wheatley, Polygon.com, 20 June 2023
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