I confess...I watch a lot of reality TV
And I spend a lot of time online. And I am often a bit surprised at what passes for acceptable language these days. Believe me, I have quite a colorful vocabulary at times. I'm tough to shock and my grammar is certainly not pristine. I lose my temper on occasion. But I was raised with the notion that certain words should never be uttered in public...that spelling counts...that "smart" people think before they speak...and that public brawling and name-calling is not cool.
Although TV censors bleep out some words, terms like "bitch," "retard," "schmuck" "you suck," and "crap" are now quite common in day-to-day chatter. (In fact, one of my own books is called "Bitch Slap.") The media is filled with assaultive and abusive behavior. Is this a harbinger of things to come?
The expression, "I'll wash your mouth out with soap" is probably going to eventually fade away. (Soap now comes in those plastic pump bottles, so the act itself would be rather inconvenient.) Will the average length of a sentence eventually become 140 characters? Will we no longer speak in calm voices, but scream at each other like "The Real Housewives" and the kids from the Jersey Shore? Perhaps this is all just the evolution of the English language and changes in social norms.
Shakespeare and Emiy Post are probablly rolling over in their graves. (And someone will, most likely, post a video of it on YouTube!)
Who used to be considered "dirty?" George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, and Richard Pryor
Recent Comments