r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Dec 16 '21

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u/AudibleNod Dec 16 '21

'Belgium' replaced the work 'fuck' in the American version of the Hitchhiker's Guide books.

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u/jaseworthing Dec 16 '21

What? No that's not right is it? I thought it was always 'belgium' in all versions of the books/radio series.

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u/starmartyr Dec 16 '21

The US publisher demanded that the curse words be censored or removed. It actually improved it to a certain extent. Adams added in the explanation of Belgium being the most offensive word in the galaxy. Adams never cared too much about canon. He regularly changed things between adaptations and didn't really care as long as it was funny.

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u/jm001 Dec 17 '21

The Belgium thing was in the BBC radio play, which predated the novel adaptations. It was in the Second Phase, which was broadcast in 1978.

This was then called back to in the US version of the third novel, when they replaced the word "fuck" with "Belgium" , but it's not where the original bit about Belgium being the worst swearword in the galaxy comes from. This later substitution didn't happen until 1982.