THOSE UGLY WORDS

Those Ugly Words

By Peter Fredson

April 25, 2007

Russell Simmons of the Hip-Hop Action network last Monday stated that "We recommend that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words ’bitch’ and ’ho’ and the racially offensive word ’n***er.’," because they are derogatory and disrespect people’s suffering, pain, and racial oppression for several hundred years.

This came about as a response to the firing of Don Imus radio and television show in which Imus referred to the Rutgers basketball players as “nappy-headed hos.” And this followed the racial insults hurled by Michael “Kramer” Richards at a LA comedy club.

Racial insults are part of a stream of language which gives offense to listeners. This language can refer to anything sexual, religious, political, social, or to anything anyone considers a product of bodily functions that should not be heard, seen, felt or smelled. We know that some political functionaries consider that the mere sight of any mammary tissue is a grave sin and should be punished with hefty fines in the absence of any stoning legislation.

Similar reactions have caused the burning of books and even their authors. Many examples could be given of instances where people have been punished for being “incorrect” in utterances or actions, including the bloody and cruel centuries of the Inquisition, the witch-craze, and the Hitlerian tyranny. Modern legislation action concerning the “Seven Dirty Words that Can’t be Said on Television.” about comedian satirist George Carlin was the prime example of political, social and religious indignation against emission of words referring to sex and excretion.

It is difficult to distinguish boundaries between “clean” and “dirty” words although anyone can set artificial limits on their computers as to which words will be rejected. For instance, it is often not considered to be “correct” to utter the word “cock” when speaking of a penis, but it is perfectly alright when speaking of a male fowl.

I just used the word “penis” as being inoffensive because it derives from Latin, which was used by the Catholic Church for centuries. So, Latin words are okay but English equivalents may be offensive?

What if I use words referring to sex and excretion, or racial derision, if they come from a non-English vocabulary? For instance, the majority of people in the U.S. do not speak Lithuanian so is it too circumlocutory to use only Lithuanian words when I want to discuss a “dirty” topic? For instance: “de*ilas juod*vernis nepi* prot*” Sorry if I offended any Lithuanians. I don’t even know what I might have said.

Or must I use asterisks as in “f**k”, “p**s”, and “p**s” Can I cover up epithets, and curses with ….? Is editing the answer? And who will do the editing? Is their idea of offensive, the same as mine?

Or, to speak to a broader principle, should we all refrain from speaking at all about race, excretion, sex, anxieties, problems without using any “offensive” words or phrases? Can anything replace a heartfelt “oh, f**k?”

Must we repress all emotion, all anxiety in the interest of social cohesiveness or political correctness? Must any expression of hatred or unease be condemned? Can we all become Little Lord Fauntleroy?

Is disrespect or disapproval to be legislated away? How about lust and pain? Who sets a line, who limits freedom in crowded movie theaters?

Also, what of the political language offenses? When Bushies speak of “collateral damage” will this erase the pain of a hundred thousand widows? Does “friendly fire” mean anything nice? And when Bush or Cheney speak of “progress,” what in h**l does that mean?

Why can’t we just cut out all a-words, b-words, c-words, d-words, e-words, etc? Does anyone have a word they dislike? Let’s add it to our computer listing, eliminate it from our “Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary”, and levy hefty fines on people who say “b**ger.”

Lenny Bruce was slapped with obscenity charges after a performance in Greenwich Village’s. He had trouble finding work after his arrest, was ultimately convicted, then died of a drug overdose two years later at age forty

Several decades ago, the word “pregnant” was decreed far too provocative for television, so the network decreed that Lucy Ricardo could be described only as “expecting.’

Once following an outburst Mark Twain said, “In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer.”

Do I ramble? Of course.