Dictionary definition: ‘CAT’. taboo word

Dictionary definition: ‘PIG’. taboo word
A Dictionary of Superstitions;      657 words ...‘PIG’. taboo word 1726 C. ELLISON Benwell Village 20 [Northumb.] Neither did here, In sight appear Of ... porker’. Cf. ‘HARE’ OR ‘RABBIT’ taboo word .

Dictionary definition: ‘MINISTER’ taboo word
A Dictionary of Superstitions;      372 words ...‘MINISTER’ taboo word 1809 A. EDMONSTON Zetland Islands II 74. Certain names must not be mentioned while ... as ‘the upstander’. Cf. ‘CHURCH’. taboo word ; CLERGYMAN .

Dictionary definition: taboo word
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics;      285 words ...taboo word. A word known to speakers but avoided in some, most, or all forms or contexts of speech, for reasons of religion, decorum ...

Dictionary definition: ‘SALMON’. taboo word
A Dictionary of Superstitions;      425 words ...‘SALMON’. taboo word 1881 W. GREGOR North-East of Scotland 146. If there was occasion to speak of a salmon, a circumlocution was used, and it ...

Dictionary definition: ‘DEVIL’. taboo word
A Dictionary of Superstitions;      635 words ...‘DEVIL’. taboo word 1663 PEPYS Diary 21 May. Being at supper, my wife did say something that caused me to oppose her in; she used the word ‘ ...

Dictionary definition: ‘EGG’. taboo word
A Dictionary of Superstitions;      290 words ...‘EGG’. taboo word 1875 N & Q 5th ser. III 204 [Flamborough, Yorks.] The fishermen … had a great fear if … eggs were ...

Dictionary definition: ‘LAST’. taboo word
A Dictionary of Superstitions;      300 words ...‘LAST’. taboo word 1904 E. V. LUCAS Sussex 173 [Brighton] When the last net was overboard the master said, ‘Seas all!’ ...