This list of words not allowed on film posters is the most Australian thing ever

I was, as per, talking about ‘shagging’ the other day - in particular, the ‘shagging’ that occured on the poster for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. 

Back in 1999 when the film first came out, there was a bit of a collective tizzy spread across the country - lots of blue rinse old ladies getting their large knickers in a plait over a naughty word appearing on a film poster, WHERE THE KIDS COULD SEE IT. WHAT AN OUTRAGE.

What I’m trying to say is: bad words on movie posters = not allowed, basically. Particularly in Australia, where they’re so against rude words on posters that someone had to knock up an official document to spell it all out for any rogue designers out there. Yep, a recently unearthed document from all the way back in 1995, detailing a list of banned words, courtesy of the Australian Censorship Board has been doing the rounds on Twitter, and it’s a doozy.

Prepare yourself for the most Australian thing you have ever seen:

Couple of questions:

1. what is a lezzo

2. what is a nunga

3. what is a smoo

Apart from that, I’m all good. This document, written by John Dickie, no less, is a very important piece of legislation, and even though I may not agree with it, the fact remains: I am glad that it exists.

Still, that was 1995 - things have changed now:

(Image: 20th Century Fox)