Tuesday, January 12, 2010

'The Beaver Was an Impediment Online'


I guess those innocent days when the word beaver meant, um, you know, the animal have passed us by.
Canada's second-oldest magazine, "The Beaver," is changing its name after 90 years because the title is too often censored by online porn filters, preventing it from reaching new online readers.

The Winnipeg-based magazine was launched in 1920 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Hudson's Bay Company and the fur trade that led to the early exploration of Canada.

But in modern times, the term "beaver" has become slang for female genitalia.

"The Beaver was an impediment online," publisher Deborah Morrison told AFP.

"Several readers asked us to change the title because their spam filters at home or at work were blocking it," she said. "I've even had emails bounce back because I had inadvertently typed the term in the heading."

"Nearly a century ago, it probably seemed the perfect name for a magazine about the fur trade and Canada's northwest frontier. There was only one interpretation for the word then.

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