More euphemisms: "pervasive language"

[Joel S. Berson]

At 3/16/2012 06:58 PM, Neal Whitman wrote:
>Although this phrase is new to me, I take it to be the same semantic
>narrowing of "language" to mean "offensive or obscene language" as
>you get in movies that are rated PG for "mild language":
>http://literalminded.wordpress.com/2005/03/06/mild-language/

I do get it.  Although if "language" means "offensive or obscene
language", it can't be "mild".

But -- "Mild" I can understand -- it's a quality.  "Obscene" or
"blasphemous" I can understand.  But "pervasive" I can't place on a
scale.  "Pervasive offensive language" would make sense for an R, as
opposed to "occasional offensive language" meriting a PG, or whatever.

Joel


>Neal
>
>On Mar 16, 2012, at 5:59 PM, "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      More euphemisms:  "pervasive language"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > From the capsule attached to a review of the movie "21 Jump Street"
> > by Wesley Morris in today's Boston Globe:
> >
> > Rated: R (crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug
> > material, teen drinking, and some violence)"
> >
> > About 1,520,000 Ghits, the first few asking (and alleging) what it
> > means but many referring to other concepts.  And apparently standard
> > -- part of the code?; other newspapers use the same phrase about the
> > same movie (GNews).  The phrase seems to go back to about 1994 in
> > this context (GNews), but is hard to trace for this sense in GBooks.
> >
> > So Morris did not mean "perverse".  Perhaps he meant "persuasive" --
> > influencing someone into underage sex.  In a movie about the Catholic
> > Church, "pervasive language" would be repeated exchanges of "Bless
> > you, Father;" "Bless you, my son".
> >
> > I also wonder what is R about "drug material".  Surely more than just
> > seeing it.
> >
> > Joel
> >
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