Words You Can't Say Ever

Over a generation ago, comedian George Carlin got a lot of laughs with a routine he called the "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television", which was about curse words one was not supposed to say in public.They referred to various terms regarding sex, other body functions, and anatomy. We will not repeat the words here, not out of any defernce to morality, but out of politeness to anyone reading this with small children, or who are more sensitive. I simply direct the reader to Carlin's classic Class Clown album if he or she is curious.Carlin's point is that words in and of themselves are not harmful. Whatever harm they might contain lays solely in the mind of the beholder. An interesting point, but one that may not matter depending on what word is being used.

These days, it seems to me, that the Seven Words You Can't Say on Television have been replaced by the Seven Words You Can't Say Ever. (By the way, I'm not sure that there are only seven, but for the purpose of simplicty let's just call it that.) Unlike Carlin's seven words, these new words refer to another person's race, religion, color, gender, or sexual orientation. They are rude and meant to be insulting. My personal belief is that they shouldn't be used as being rude is wrong and there are far more creative ways to be insulting.

The classic example of one of these words is the one we refer to as the "N- Word", an epithat used to refer to African Americans. Several people have gotten into trouble for not only saying the "N- Word" in public, but even for having been said to have said the word in public. Former police detective Mark Fuhrman not only got into trouble for forgettng that he had once or twice used the word during the OJ trial, but the fact of the oversight contributed to the acquital of a man who without a doubt carved two human beings up like a pair of Christmas turkeys simply on the basis of his race.