History Bowdlerise / RealLife

* In an attempt to make the works of Creator/RoaldDahl more "inclusive", the early 2020s editions of a number of his books were edited to remove references to characters' [[FatBastard weight]] and [[BeautyEqualsGoodness ugliness]], along with other lines that could be construed as having unfortunate implications. These edits have proven to be controversial, to say the least. A [[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/17/roald-dahl-books-rewritten-offensive-matilda-witches-twits/ side-by-side comparison]] shows that it goes to BluenoseBowdlerizer levels -- changing ''Literature/TheBFG'''s "black" shadow to a "dark" one to remove references to race, for example.

* In an attempt to make the works of Creator/RoaldDahl more "inclusive", the most recent editions of several of his books were edited to remove references to characters' [[FatBastard weight]] and [[BeautyEqualsGoodness ugliness]], along with other lines that could be construed as having UnfortunateImplications. These edits have proven to be controversial, to say the least. A [[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/17/roald-dahl-books-rewritten-offensive-matilda-witches-twits/ side-by-side comparison]] shows that it goes to BluenoseBowdlerizer levels -- changing ''Literature/TheBFG'''s "black" shadow to a "dark" one to remove references to race, for example.

* In an attempt to make the works of Creator/RoaldDahl more "inclusive", the most recent editions of several of his books were edited to remove references to characters' [[FatBastard weight]] and [[BeautyEqualsGoodness ugliness]], along with other lines that could be construed as having UnfortunateImplications. These edits have proven... [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment controversial]], to say the least. A [[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/17/roald-dahl-books-rewritten-offensive-matilda-witches-twits/ side-by-side comparison]] shows that it goes to BluenoseBowdlerizer levels -- changing ''Literature/TheBFG'''s "black" shadow to a "dark" one to remove references to race, for example.

* Along with his career as a somewhat successful painter in his own right, Daniele da Volterra was somewhat infamous during the Italian Renaissance as "Il Braghettone" (the breeches maker or large pants man). He painted fig leaves and loincloths on all of the upper half of Michelangelo's ''The Last Judgement'' fresco in the Sistine Chapel (the lower half was interrupted by the death of Pope Pius IV as they had to take his scaffolding down to elect the new one). He also repainted the figures of Saint Catherine and Saint Blaise as, in the original version, Blaise appeared to be looking at Catherine's naked back (and to some, the position even suggested intercourse).
** He went all-out on this, too; the reason the original hasn't been restored to the pre-Bowdlerisation version is because he actually chiseled off some of the fresco he was repainting, including the (large) section with Saint Catherine and Saint Blaise.

* After Administrivia/TheSecondGoogleIncident, commands from the advertising that keeps the site afloat mandates that Website/ThisVeryWiki either eliminate trope pages for more sexually explicit works or find new (much less family friendly) sources of funding. A number of works the sexual explicitness of which is debatable (most prominently ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'', which has since been restored, and ''Literature/{{It}}'', which does feature underage copulation in one scene but otherwise contains little explicit sexual content) were caught in the mass deletions.

** John Nance Garner IV, a Vice President of the United States under Franklin Roosevelt, once described the office (as reported) as "not worth a bucket of warm spit." The word he really used was "piss", and (according to [[Wiki/ThatOtherWiki TOW]]) he "once described a writer who quoted it this way as a 'pantywaist'."

* After Administrivia/TheSecondGoogleIncident, commands from the advertising that keeps the site afloat mandates that Wiki/ThisVeryWiki either eliminate trope pages for more sexually explicit works or find new (much less family friendly) sources of funding. A number of works the sexual explicitness of which is debatable (most prominently ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'', which has since been restored, and ''Literature/{{It}}'', which does feature underage copulation in one scene but otherwise contains little explicit sexual content) were caught in the mass deletions.

* Two villages in Austria named "Fucking" were renamed to "Fugging", the first in Lower Austria in 1836 and the second in Upper Austria in 2021.

* A similar example: a cardinal once had plaster leaves placed over the genitals of a collection of naked Roman statues in a musesum. In order to make them fit, he actually had to go through the museum and chisel off parts of their penises.

** Similarly, the so-called "Four F's" that drive a lot of animal behavior[[note]] arguably ''all'' animal behavior, even for humans[[/note]] are often given as Fight, Flight, Feeding...and [[LastSecondWordSwap Reproduction]] (or Fornication, to preserve the theme).

* The discontinuation of lingerie for {{Franchise/Barbie}} dolls in the late 2000s.

* After Administrivia/TheSecondGoogleIncident, commands from the advertising that keeps the site afloat mandates that Wiki/ThisVeryWiki either eliminate trope pages for more sexually explicit works or find new (much less family friendly) sources of funding. A number of works the sexual explicitness of which is debatable (most prominently ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'', which has since been restored, and ''Literature/{{It}}'', which does feature underage copulation in one scene but otherwise contains little explicit sexual content) have been caught in the mass deletions.

* Movie fans living in Barbados in the 1980s were treated to newspaper advertisements for ''Film/DoctorDetroit'' with the tagline "He's got five personalities. And they've all got a one-track mind" crudely changed to "He's got five lovely women. And they've all got a one-track mind." The (literal) scissors came out even further for ''Film/TheBestLittleWhorehouseInTexas'', with one part of the title - no prizes for guessing which - being cut out and replaced with "Fun."

* A village in Upper Austria called "Fucking" had its named changed to "Fugging" this year at the time of writing (2021), the same thing happened to a Lower Austrian village of the same name also changed its name to Fugging in 1836.

* Actor Creator/BenedictCumberbatch invoked this on the fanbase, the [[FanCommunityNickname Cumberbitches.]] After Benedict expressed some discomfort at that name, his fans, out of respect (and since some of them didn't like calling themselves "bitches" in the first place,) started using the more benign "Cumberbabes" more and more.

* There's an acronym "ACAB", often used by libertarians, anarchists and the like that's usually said to mean "all cops are bastards". In places that don't allow swearing, it's sometimes instead rendered as "all cops are ''bad''".

* Another Disney Theme Park example: the face character version of [[Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire Kida]] is actually shown there in a long flowing dress instead of in a bikini and a sarong like in her movie (in the actual film, that dress only appeared in the ending).

** However, the scene where pirates are selling women, with a banner proclaiming "take a wench for a bride" remained for years after the revamp. Later they changed it, with the Red Headed bride now being a pirate.

* The ''Ride/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' ride at Ride/DisneyThemeParks suffered this over the years. The Pirate that originally was looking for a young girl whose underthings he snatched was commenting how spry she was -- with her head poking out from the barrel behind him. His lines were toned down, underwear taken away. Then it got changed to the pirate looking for Jack Sparrow.
** The portly woman chasing after hot pirate tail was changed to her chasing with a rolling pin after pirates who stole her pies.
*** The whole scene was changed -- ''all'' the pirates are being chased by women for stealing their food (the rooster chasing the hen appears to be fine).
** However, the scene where pirates are selling women, with a banner proclaiming "take a wench for a bride" remains. (Update they have now changed this with the Red Headed bride now a pirate)
** Another Disney Theme Park example: the face character version of [[Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire Kida]] is actually shown there in a long flowing dress instead of in a bikini and a sarong like in her movie (in the actual film, that dress only appeared in the ending).

** However, the scene where pirates are selling women, with a banner proclaiming "take a wench for a bride" remains.

* After Administrivia/TheSecondGoogleIncident, commands from the advertising that keeps the site afloat mandates that ThisVeryWiki either eliminate trope pages for more sexually explicit works or find new (much less family friendly) sources of funding. A number of works the sexual explicitness of which is debatable (most prominently ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'', which has since been restored, and ''Literature/{{It}}'', which does feature underage copulation in one scene but otherwise contains little explicit sexual content) have been caught in the mass deletions.

* In 2007, Goldman Sachs were selling selling securities they knew were bad and, more or less, betted against those securities. An email from Goldman senior executive, Tom Montag, was brought up at a Senate hearing. In his email, Montag remarked of the Timberwolf I security, "[B]oy, that timeberwof [sic] was one shitty deal." Senators Carl Levin and Susan Collins proceeded to refer to these securities as "shitty deals." Every newscast covering the story [[Series/CountdownWithKeithOlbermann except one]] bleeped the word "shitty." In order to prevent this from ever happening again, Goldman Sachs put up a email filter that blocks swear words.

* In 2007, Goldman Sachs were selling selling securities they knew were bad and, more or less, betted against those securities. An email from Goldman senior executive, Tom Montag, was brought up at a Senate hearing. In his email, Montag remarked of the Timberwolf I security, "[B]oy, that timeberwof [sic] was one shitty deal." Senators Carl Levin and Susan Collins proceeded to refer to these securities as "shitty deals." Every newscast covering the story [[CountdownWithKeithOlbermann except one]] bleeped the word "shitty." In order to prevent this from ever happening again, Goldman Sachs put up a email filter that blocks swear words.

** John Nance Garner IV, a Vice President of the United States under Franklin Roosevelt, once described the office (as reported) as "not worth a bucket of warm spit." The word he really used was "piss", and (according to [[ThatOtherWiki TOW]]) he "once described a writer who quoted it this way as a 'pantywaist'."

* When Japan was originally opened to the West, there came a serious interest among Western intelligentsia for Japanese literature and mythology. What they got didn't always sit well with them--in particular, the "Kojiki", perhaps the most important collection of Shinto stories. The way in which Izanagi and Izanami created the gods and islands of Japan -- sex -- was far too vulgar for the Victorian audience, and was excised from the first English-language translations.

* That picture of the ''David'' statue with the boxer shorts on the main page? It was clearly done in jest, but something like that actually happened. A plaster cast of the statue was made as a gift to Queen Victoria, and since this was one of the more prudish times in history, they felt that male nudity might offend someone, so a plaster fig leaf was made to use [[http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/d/davids-fig-leaf/ during the Queen's visits.]]

* A rather funny one from the UK, a council in [[OopNorth Yorkshire]] attempted to rename a local land mark from ''Tickle Cock'' to the rather less funny Tittle Cott and were [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome forced to change it back]] by the elderly residents' committee (usually the [[MoralGuardians demographic that forces]] these changes). Read the story [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7263162/Tickle-Cock-Bridge-returned-to-original-name-after-row.html here]].
* The ''{{Pirates of the Caribbean}}'' ride at Ride/DisneyThemeParks suffered this over the years. The Pirate that originally was looking for a young girl whose underthings he snatched was commenting how spry she was -- with her head poking out from the barrel behind him. His lines were toned down, underwear taken away. Then it got changed to the pirate looking for Jack Sparrow.