Ribald

1/6/11.

ribald (rahy-buhld) adj., Vulgar or indecent in speech, language, etc.; coarsely mocking or irreverent; scurrilous.
She had always admired this word for its sheer lexical versatility, but on more than one occasion a “concerned citizen” informed her that this belt was too ribald to be worn in public and she should be “ashamed”. …Of what? Loving words???