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Mind your language

How Shakespeare became ‘problematic’

4 September 2021

9:00 AM

4 September 2021

9:00 AM

‘This crossword is problematic!’ exclaimed my husband, tossing aside the folded newspaper marked with a ring where his whisky glass had rested.

He was being facetious, a common register of speech with him when vacancy does not take over. Problematic has acquired new life as a label for something disapproved of and therefore ripe for banning or cancelling.

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