So, you know how earlier, we were wondering how and when the Post decides to publish curse words? Well, a tipster from the paper sent me a snippet of their style guide relating to profanity. To wit:

a. Words and expressions generally regarded as obscene, profane or blasphemous should be used only with great care. In general, omit them except when they are relevant to the story, as in an article about court rulings on obscenity.

b. In quotations, such words may be published in the rare cases when they are necessary to the understanding of a person or situation, as in an article about a prominent official berating subordinates in harsh language. The classic example was John F. Kennedy’s description of business executives as “sons of bitches.”

c. Generally, such words should be replaced by [expletive] or omitted. Bowdlerized words may be put between brackets.”They’re all [messed] up,” he said. Do not use initial letters with dashes or ellipses: s—- etc. When in doubt, consult the managing editor or the executive editor.

Fair. Interestingly, the headline of the suburban edition of the story was far more…explicit…about the contents. Instead of the D.C. hed, “Contentious D.C. Council meeting exposes tensions,” suburbanites were warned, “Cursing, rebukes for D.C. Council.”