"slut" in the news

[Laurence Horn]

On Jul 6, 2011, at 10:10 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> Yeah, but most of those are OK now, so replacements are needed.
> 
> JL
> 
> 
I'm not the first to suggest that ethnic slurs, especially the strongest ones, are more taboo now in a variety of contexts than most of Carlin's milder unmentionables ("piss" for one, "tits" for another).  The seven charter members of the Carlin club, if anyone is keeping score, were
Shit
Piss
Fuck
Cunt
Cocksucker
Motherfucker
Tits
Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_dirty_words for commentary.

Note the Broadway (or Off-Broadway) play now running successfully named either "The ____ With The Hat" or, according to the Times, "The Mother With the Hat".  Affects the referent, I'd think.  The philosophical treatise _On Bullshit_ by Harry Frankfurt was #1 on the best-seller list not that long ago.  I forget how the Times referred to that one.  _On Bull_?  All seven, of course, occur quite freely on late-night cable.  
> 
> 
> On Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 7:33 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: "slut" in the news
>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> On Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 12:26 PM, Jonathan Lighter
>> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>>> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>> Poster: Â  Â  Â  Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>>> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: "slut" in the news
>>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> 
>>> For some reason I can't fathom, it looks like my last two comments on
>> this
>>> subject went to Nancy Friedman alone. Sorry, Nancy!
>>> 
>>> I
>>> July 3:
>>> 
>>> Tot-mom attorney Jose Baez claimed in his closing argument that his
>> client
>>> was being defamed as a "lying, no-good slut." Â Later, the Headline News
>> team
>>> expressed amazement that producers had not bleeped the word. Jane
>>> Velez-Mitchell said she'd sought guidance about whether she could repeat
>> it
>>> on the air.
>>> 
>>> In my day, though "slut" was obviously insulting (and thus "offensive"),
>> it
>>> was not usually thought to be indecent.
>>> 
>>> JL
>>> II
>>> Today
>>> 
>>> On CNN this morning Kirin Chetry quoted Jose Baez's use of the word
>> "slut."
>>> She felt, however, that she had to spell it out rather utter it. She
>>> apologized for using the word, saying that she was only quoting someone
>>> else, and that she took the precaution of spelling rather than saying
>> "just
>>> in case any children might be listening."
>>> 
>>> JL
>>> 
>>> --
>>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> truth."
>>> 
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>> 
>> 
>> Didn't George Carlin establish that there are only *seven* words that
>> can't be said on television?
>> 
>> WTF?!!!
>> 
>> --
>> -Wilson
>> -----
>> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
>> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>> -Mark Twain
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org