To me, comedians
are like modern day philosophers. After all, it is part of their job to
stand back and look at the world and see just what is wrong and what is
right with it.If they were not able to do this then they would never be
able to find acceptable ways of imparting to us horribly inappropriate
details. And isn't that what comedy is all about?
There is a comedian I was listening to the other day. His name escapes me at the moment. But what he said was important. A good deal of his bit was about how he hates the "N" word.
Now he was very specific. He was not talking about the racial slur commonly used to refer to black people, in this country, for over a hundred years. While horribly unacceptable that wasn't what he was referring to. He was talking about people that say "the n word" instead of using that slur.
Its like saying you are too self righteous, too good of a person to use that word yourself, but you are in no way at all shy about forcing someone else's mind to use that word every time you avoid it. Let's be honest. Whether you say that particular racial slur out loud or not, you are still saying it in the minds of all the people to whom you say "the n word". Unless they have never heard the racial slur spoken aloud before they all know exactly what you are saying and what it references. It really isn't any better than just coming out and saying it.
Am I suggesting that we all just start throwing racial slurs back and forth? Far from it. I am suggesting that we remove that type of language, in fact all expletives, curses and swears from our vocabulary altogether. Is it going to happen? Probably not. But I still think it is something we should attempt to do.
We teach our children that they should not swear. But we do it. That in and of itself creates hypocrisy and trust issues. We get mad when they say one word but say it is okay for them to say another word instead.H E double hockey sticks(LL) isn't okay but heck is. Shoot is okay but that other SH word isn't.
If you know anything at all about psychology you probably realize how ridiculous such a thing is. To the child we are just arbitrarily deciding that one vowel consonant combination is taboo but another is okay.
Expletives, in general are things that come out of our mouths when something is wrong and we want to announce that wrongness. When we stub our toes or cut ourselves, the words come out. Whether the words we use describe some improbable sexual act done with a donkey or we say phooey or fiddlesticks the meaning is the same. Why do we lie to ourselves and say that one is wrong and one is right? If either one is wrong, both are.Why don't we just say ouch or that really hurt?
Personally, I do not have a problem with swearing, it does not bother me whether a person uses every foul word in the book or whether they have some cutesy method of cursing. But an expletive is an expletive no matter what words are used. It is the intent that goes with those words, the volume, pitch, duration and a dozen other things.
A friend, a lover and a stranger can all say the same exact thing to you and it can be a casual greeting, a welcome invitation and a dire threat respectively. It is the intent behind the words that truly matters.
If you have a problem with people expressing their displeasure with the wrongness of a situation, then it is my opinion that you should remove all forms of swearing from your life, no matter how benign sounding your choice of words usually is. If what you have a problem with is the appropriateness of the verbiage that another person uses or the context and setting under which they use it, well then, that is another conversation altogether.
There is a comedian I was listening to the other day. His name escapes me at the moment. But what he said was important. A good deal of his bit was about how he hates the "N" word.
Now he was very specific. He was not talking about the racial slur commonly used to refer to black people, in this country, for over a hundred years. While horribly unacceptable that wasn't what he was referring to. He was talking about people that say "the n word" instead of using that slur.
Its like saying you are too self righteous, too good of a person to use that word yourself, but you are in no way at all shy about forcing someone else's mind to use that word every time you avoid it. Let's be honest. Whether you say that particular racial slur out loud or not, you are still saying it in the minds of all the people to whom you say "the n word". Unless they have never heard the racial slur spoken aloud before they all know exactly what you are saying and what it references. It really isn't any better than just coming out and saying it.
Am I suggesting that we all just start throwing racial slurs back and forth? Far from it. I am suggesting that we remove that type of language, in fact all expletives, curses and swears from our vocabulary altogether. Is it going to happen? Probably not. But I still think it is something we should attempt to do.
We teach our children that they should not swear. But we do it. That in and of itself creates hypocrisy and trust issues. We get mad when they say one word but say it is okay for them to say another word instead.H E double hockey sticks(LL) isn't okay but heck is. Shoot is okay but that other SH word isn't.
If you know anything at all about psychology you probably realize how ridiculous such a thing is. To the child we are just arbitrarily deciding that one vowel consonant combination is taboo but another is okay.
Expletives, in general are things that come out of our mouths when something is wrong and we want to announce that wrongness. When we stub our toes or cut ourselves, the words come out. Whether the words we use describe some improbable sexual act done with a donkey or we say phooey or fiddlesticks the meaning is the same. Why do we lie to ourselves and say that one is wrong and one is right? If either one is wrong, both are.Why don't we just say ouch or that really hurt?
Personally, I do not have a problem with swearing, it does not bother me whether a person uses every foul word in the book or whether they have some cutesy method of cursing. But an expletive is an expletive no matter what words are used. It is the intent that goes with those words, the volume, pitch, duration and a dozen other things.
A friend, a lover and a stranger can all say the same exact thing to you and it can be a casual greeting, a welcome invitation and a dire threat respectively. It is the intent behind the words that truly matters.
If you have a problem with people expressing their displeasure with the wrongness of a situation, then it is my opinion that you should remove all forms of swearing from your life, no matter how benign sounding your choice of words usually is. If what you have a problem with is the appropriateness of the verbiage that another person uses or the context and setting under which they use it, well then, that is another conversation altogether.
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