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News & ArtsFriday, August 7, 2009
Housekeeping The 2009 Challenge: Vanquish Potty Mouth
Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 10:43 AM
It's sweet that we still get these (though not as frequently as in the past):
Content & Objectionable Language Permitted on Your WebsiteI realize that I am going back to 2007. However, I brought up your Website [sic throughout] today {8/7/09 and found potty mouth submissions from your writer and "commentators>" Obviously this is not a top flight {or even acceptable} Internet publication but c'mon guys can't we clean up our collective vocabularies? Surely with a whole dictionary chock full of nouns,verbs, adjectives, superlatives & so on , couldn't we find suitable words that would express our so called "opinions" in an acceptable form. I suggest you accept the 2009 challenge & clean up your "act." In '07 the object of your infantile tirades was Garrison Keillor. Who knows who else you have "ripped' over time. It is mind boggling that this much time can be spared for the promulgation of garbage. We can all do without it! Thank you & goodbye.
Elizabeth, in Phoenix
Part of my heart of hearts agrees with part of your sentiment, Elizabeth; "Fuck Garrison Keillor" is not an elegant, subtle, nor especially creative headline. It is, however, an honest one, full of real human fury—and I would not deny Dan Savage this (entirely justified) real human fury. And it worked: Keillor's apology, due no doubt in part to Dan's screed, is discussed here.
Even The New Yorker says "fuck" now. The battle, not of 2009 but of a time already receding into the past, is lost.
Thank YOU & good-bye, Elizabeth.
2
I'd like to lock Elizabeth in a room with the author of the "I, Anonymous" post a few weeks ago, excoriating those who misuse quotation marks as emphasis.
4
@1 I totally expected the first comment to be all "FUCK THAT" hahaha ... I guess that is too obvious though ...
5
I remember that Garrison Keillor post. Fuck me, that was 2007? Time flies.
No ironic retorts for the douchebag, other than to say "Fuck you, asshole."
No ironic retorts for the douchebag, other than to say "Fuck you, asshole."
10
Golly gee willakers, Elizabeth's right!
It's an awful shame 'bout all that cussin'
Shucks, I'd be gosh darn happy to go back to good, wholesome, family-friendly language.
It's an awful shame 'bout all that cussin'
Shucks, I'd be gosh darn happy to go back to good, wholesome, family-friendly language.
12
Yeah, my kid's all into reading The Stranger and I have to cut out the articles he wants to read and use some text-concealer to blot out the bad words, or else I hear "OOOH! THIS IS A BAD WORD!" every four minutes. (Fear not, Savage Love is not among my son's favorite columns.) Why does he read The Stranger? I don't know -- at first I thought it was to make me look bad at PTA meetings. Now I am thinking that Charles Mudede could teach him much of what he needs to know about composition.
13
Isn't it fucking irritating to have shit mouths open their holes and excersise free speech? I bet it really chafs your cunt ,Elizabeth.
15
Cuss words are not dirty words, derogatory words are the true dirty words. We can argue that words have power, but only as much as the listener allows.
16
Speaking as a former soldier (I believe there's an Army Regulation that specifies that every other word you say must be of the four letter variety) and a thoroughly secular and liberal-to-libertarian gay man, let me say that Elizabeth does have a point.
A wise teacher I had in high school once pointed out that we ought to reserve such strong language for the times that we really need it. If we constantly use "fucking" as a casual intensifier then it loses all of its impact. What appropriate words do you have left—how do you escalate the conversation—when some guy runs over your dog with his car or some other truly horrendous thing happens?
These aren't bad words; they are powerful ones, but only as long as we keep them in reserve.
A wise teacher I had in high school once pointed out that we ought to reserve such strong language for the times that we really need it. If we constantly use "fucking" as a casual intensifier then it loses all of its impact. What appropriate words do you have left—how do you escalate the conversation—when some guy runs over your dog with his car or some other truly horrendous thing happens?
These aren't bad words; they are powerful ones, but only as long as we keep them in reserve.
17
@14 Wait, cunt is now a verb too? When did this happen!?
Oh, and fuck that bitch. I bet she lives in a gated suburb where she can bury her head in the Arizona desert and pretend it's still 1950.
Oh, and fuck that bitch. I bet she lives in a gated suburb where she can bury her head in the Arizona desert and pretend it's still 1950.
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@16: It is true that overuse can deprive powerful words of their power. But in the case of Dan's original piece the full force of those words was intended and warranted (not that you or anyone else here is saying otherwise).
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@18, given the circumstances (a broadside from someone who really ought to know better, especially after trotting out the Palinesque "but I have gay friends" defense), I'm inclined to agree. I was speaking more generally.
21
@16 well put.
Also, it may be honest, but being constantly outraged (Fuck this! Fuck that! That's right, I said it!) decreases its impact.
Also, it may be honest, but being constantly outraged (Fuck this! Fuck that! That's right, I said it!) decreases its impact.
23
From an objective perspective, so called curse or fowl words are an oddly arbitrary thing. If for example the use of the word 'shit' was prohibited because of what it refers to, we would then not have any problem using the word when we refer to defecation. We would just say "We need a shit sample, so go shit in this bag sir", etc. But that's not what happens. If on the other hand, it was the intent that matters, like "stop talking shit, you moron"!, then it should be unacceptable to replace shit with other words in that case like, "stop talking that hateful non-sense, you ignoramus!". But somehow that comes off as more acceptable. So in looking for a motive in creating such a boundary around certain words, one is forced to surmise that it is an arbitrary command, to see if people will obey without question, an arbitrary taboo, used as a symbol of social power over the individual.
24
@ strangeways -- I so do not want to think about potty fingers...
I do want to give my support to the judicious use of the word cunt. It stops 'em in their tracks!
I do want to give my support to the judicious use of the word cunt. It stops 'em in their tracks!
25
I feel the same way about porn, Elizabeth. It's always "ooh, f--- me. F--- me in the a--!" Ok, I get it. His penis is already in you and you don't have to use such filthy language. Makes it almost impossible to jack-off.
28
Geesus, I misread the headline and thought you were saying Garrison Bliss, my marvelous former doctor, featured in Strangercrombie articles for his work on affordable healthcare.
29
Corydon: Actually, I enjoy using curse words for exactly the opposite reason. Those words can be frightening when people use them when seriously angry, making it seem like they're seriously flying off the handle. I toss "fuck" and "shit" and "cunt" around lightly because I like turning those conventions on their heads.
door64: In fact the Old English verb "scitten," from which "shit" descends, was entirely acceptable from all we can tell, appearing in medical texts from the era.
door64: In fact the Old English verb "scitten," from which "shit" descends, was entirely acceptable from all we can tell, appearing in medical texts from the era.
30
Here's a question for you: Why are fuck, piss, shit, cunt, and cock dirty words? They all refer to concrete, universal things.
32
@30: Because they refer to things that many people are embarrassed or uncomfortable about, and they are by tradition the most vulgar words for these things.
In linguistics, those words have a low politeness level. They are used only by those who either don't have a sense of decorum, don't care about decorum, or aren't in a situation that requires decorum. If one is in a situation requiring a higher level of politeness, one might say "make love," "urinate","defecate," "vagina", and "penis."
In linguistics, those words have a low politeness level. They are used only by those who either don't have a sense of decorum, don't care about decorum, or aren't in a situation that requires decorum. If one is in a situation requiring a higher level of politeness, one might say "make love," "urinate","defecate," "vagina", and "penis."
33
Uh, she hasn't read Savage Love, has she?
I'm reminded of the old Chris Rock joke about Dick Van Patten hating rap music. "It's not for you."
And, of course, "Why Do Porn Actors Have to use Such Foul Langauge?"
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/332…
I'm reminded of the old Chris Rock joke about Dick Van Patten hating rap music. "It's not for you."
And, of course, "Why Do Porn Actors Have to use Such Foul Langauge?"
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/332…
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