On a 1930s Wifely Rating Scale, republished in the APA’s Monitor on Psychology, using slang or profanity alone nets you a motherfucking negative 5 points. (Via Crooked House; apologies if you already saw and laughed over this three weeks ago at Jezebel.)
Overall, I probably score something in the neighborhood of -105. And for the record, Caitlin Flanagan, my grandmother wouldn’t have done much better.
The test was created by a Northwestern University doctor “who ran a counseling practice, wrote a syndicated national newspaper column called ‘The Worry Clinic’ and started his own matchmaking service.” His “views on marriage were well-received at the time.”
Don’t forget, this was also the era during which women were encouraged to bathe their private parts in Lysol.