Walter Lang rushed over to apologize to me once when Barrymore cut loose with a barrage of foul language, but I didn't even know he was swearing. The way I was raised, I didn't even hear a four-letter word until I was eighteen. I mean that. Here's another example: I was autographing photos of me for fans once and my mother looked over my shoulder with a stricken look on her face and said, "What are you writing?" So I told her: "Good luck, always, Anne Baxter." Then she told me, "Your 'L' looks just like an 'F,' and that's a very dirty word!" But the truth is I'd never heard that word before and hadn't a clue what it meant." - Meaning and context.">
p. 140
“

Well, Walter Lang rushed over to apologize to me once when Barrymore cut loose with a barrage of foul language, but I didn't even know he was swearing. The way I was raised, I didn't even hear a four-letter word until I was eighteen. I mean that. Here's another example: I was autographing photos of me for fans once and my mother looked over my shoulder with a stricken look on her face and said, "What are you writing?" So I told her: "Good luck, always, Anne Baxter." Then she told me, "Your 'L' looks just like an 'F,' and that's a very dirty word!" But the truth is I'd never heard that word before and hadn't a clue what it meant.

— Anne Baxter

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Well, Walter Lang rushed over to apologize to me once when Barrymore cut loose with a barrage of foul language, but I didn't even know he was swearing. The way I was raised, I didn't even hear a four-letter word until I was eighteen. I mean that. Here's another example: I was autographing photos of me for fans once and my mother looked over my shoulder with a stricken look on her face and said, "What are you writing?" So I told her: "Good luck, always, Anne Baxter." Then she told me, "Your 'L' looks just like an 'F,' and that's a very dirty word!" But the truth is I'd never heard that word before and hadn't a clue what it meant." in the context of "p. 140" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Anne Baxter" (Quotes, Interview with James Bawden and Ron Miller (1983): Bawden, James; Miller, Ron (2016). Conversations With Classic Film Stars; Interviews from Hollywood's Golden Era. pp. 137—151) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Anne Baxter

About Anne Baxter

Anne Baxter (May 7, 1923 – December 12, 1985) was an American actress, star of Hollywood films, Broadway productions, and television series. She won an Oscar and a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy.