this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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https://www.scribd.com/document/899239966/Henry-the-Green-Engine-1951-Scanned-by-ThatERTLGuy
Page 60. Published in 1950, and retracted in 1972 from my quick research.
p64 of the document, p60 of the book
For the lazy who don't want to look it up
It feels so out of the blue, so unnecessary. Like the writer had been bored. It's difficult to imagine that this didn't jolt readers out of the story, even at the time.
It was England, which never treated the n-world quite like those ungrateful colonials.
It was called out for being offensive even in that time by fellow English.
Languages change. Moron, idiot and imbecile used to be medical terms. Gay used to simply mean happy and excited. A fag used to be a term for a cigarette.
I really doubt it would have appeared in a mainstream children's book if it were seen as at all offensive.
Words like "bugger" and "damn" used to be extremely offensive curses. Now they're often used as very mild expressions of annoyance to avoid using the serious ones.
Fag still is a term for a cigarette...
Yeah, but only in old-timey countries, like England.
"Bah humbug," was that era's equivalent of Scrooge wandering around saying, "whatever, bullshit."
Buggery used to be a crime, now it's a gay way to spend an afternoon
I wonder if straight people were ever convicted of buggery with he opposite sex? I wouldn’t be surprised if “buggery” existed solely to persecute homosexuals back then.
(I was gonna say “non-straight” or “queer” but “homosexuals” read in 30’s English accent sounded funnier to me in my head)
Found one example in the Wikipedia article about the buggery act of 1533, though it seems like he deserved it. I'm not clear if he was actually convicted.
Oh, that’s dark D: Rapists for sure deserve whatever extra harsh punishments can possibly be doled out, so that part’s cool at least. But yeah, other than that then, seems like historically it’s pretty much just to condemn gay peeps. D:
Sodomy used to be a common add on charge in sexual assault cases. I don't know if it was ever used outside that context other than to harass gay people. I assume buggery was used the same way.
Nice one.
Weren't idiot, moron and imbecile medical terms specifically used by white scientists to describe black people back in the good old eugenics days of the 1920's America? Language changes sure but it often has very racist roots.
I've never heard anything about it having a racial component.
I mean it is from 1951. I've seen a lot worse by people who meant it.
It's 4 years before Emmett Till was murdered for example.
I mean... there's also a famous Agatha Christie's book that used to have the N-word in its title.
We're viewing these things with our modern eyes. But they didn't have this kind of sensibility those days. It probably felt like using any other word: normal.
I wonder if our grandchildren will feel the same way about something we say normally today.
until 1985!
Outdated but not offensive, a lot better than it could have been.
Came for the n-word, stayed for the story. Those silly trains.