“wild, profane, and godless” [HOUN]
For all of the realism that the Sherlock Holmes stories give us from late Victorian / early Edwardian England, we're mostly shielded from that which would make young ladies from that era collapse on the fainting couch.
We are, of course, referring to profanity.
We get a sense of foul language from time to time, but we're never given an exact quote. When Sir Hugo Baskerville, "a most wild, profane, and godless man" finds that the girl he kidnapped has made her escape, we get a sense as to his temper tantrum:
"Then, as it would seem, he became as one that hath a devil, for, rushing down the stairs into the dining-hall, he sprang upon the great table, flagons and trenchers flying before him, and he cried aloud before all the company that he would that very night render his body and soul to the Powers of Evil if he might but overtake the wench. And while the revellers stood aghast at the fury of the man, one more wicked or, it may be, more drunken than the rest, cried out that they should put the hounds upon her."
One has to imagine such a fellow as employing a few choice invectives.
And although there are no profanities—even the use of "bloody" is reserved for actual sanguinary events—there are a number of insults that are peddled.
Holmes himself is the subject of many of these, usually uttered by frustrated antagonists. He's been called a jack-in-office, a busybody, a rascal, a spy and thief, "Mr. Cocksure," a double traitor, and more.
There are insults aplenty to be had, and you can listen to an entire discussion about them in Episode 91 of Trifles:
Meanwhile, we'll see how the boys manage to keep their mouths clean at Baker Street Elementary...
Baker Street Elementary follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in Victorian London. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at the Baker Street Elementary website.
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