Swearing

Re “Forswearing the Commonplace,” by Jenijoy La Belle (Commentary, Sept. 21):

I am a retired dentist who practiced dentistry in Los Angeles County for more than 32 years. With regard to LaBelle’s statement, “The worst cursing I ever heard in my childhood was from our dentist . . . the air turned blue while he worked on his patients’ teeth,” I find it hard to believe that her parents, whose strongest words were “phooey,” would be so stupid as to allow their child to go to a dentist who used such language.

And it is obvious from her description of her childhood dental experience (“The invective was just part of the whole awful experience, like shots and the drill and the pain”) that the dentist her parents sent her to was a hack. I would presume that with a dental initiation like that, her teeth must now occupy a glass of water on her night stand.

I want LaBelle to know that there are not many ethical dentists who have ever publicly vituperated. In fact, I have not been involved in any vituperating, at least not in public, for more than 10 years now.

So (excuse my profanity), “hecky-darn,” Jeni, and I’ll see ya later, vituperater.

ROBERT L. WEST, Calabasas

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Speaking of euphemisms, are there any statistics on how many people have actually taken a bath in a “public bathroom”?

M. L. ROMANI, Los Angeles