I heard an interesting interview on NPR by a linguistics professor who researched “profanity.” She claimed that the notion of what is profane is shaped by the culture, and our notion of it has changed. Years ago, George Carlin had a comedy routine about the 7 words you couldn’t say on radio/TV. Most were sexual terms or vulgarities. These words have been stripped of their profanity and are regularly heard on the streets today (much to my chagrin). Today’s profanities however the professor said, are cultural: race (the “N” word), sexual orientation (the “F” word), and a few other.
So much for our society. I shudder when I hear coarse language coming from anyone. So much indignity to the speaker, so little regard of the listener.
Frankly, saying “the ‘N’ word” instead of the word itself chills me. One group freely calls its members by this name yet if another person – not in the group – says the word, he is castigated? Nonsense.
This post is NOT “JustHavingFun.”