George Carlin: Death of a Cunning Linguist

When I learned of the death of comedian and unlikely philosopher George Carlin on June 22, words failed me. A bit ironic, considering that the bond I felt with the man was built on a love of words and language. You see, Carlin was not just a jokester clown, a pothead or the Hippie-Dippie Weatherman that he portrayed. He was a wordsmith and a lover of language and how it is used. As a Linguistics minor, I adored his observations on speech.

Some of Carlin's best routines and jokes were based on words and their meaning or relevance in society. Perhaps his most famous rant. "The Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television", was a statement about the meaning of words --how we assign them a value randomly. What makes one word obscene and another one not? We just choose it.

When Carlin was arrested in Milwaukee following a performance of "The Seven Words" in 1972, it just furthered the point. They're just words, people.

Carlin's obsession with words and language was not limited to obscenity, though. He enjoyed making observations about word structure itself. "What's the plural of hell of a guy?" was one of my favorites. "Is it hells of guys?" It's a real head-scratcher.

Some of his one-liners were based on wordplay: "When you step on the brakes your life is in your foot's hands." Others questioned the meaning of words you hear regularly: "What does it mean to pre-board? Do you get on before you get on?"

The evolution of language annoyed the bejeezus out of Carlin, as it seemed to devolve into what he called "soft language." "When did toilet paper become bathroom tissue?" he complained. And it didn't end there. As Carlin rattled off example after example, you saw the influence of advertising-speak on our culture. Sneakers are now running shoes. False teeth have become dental appliances. Your local dump is now a landfill, and perhaps most hilariously: partly cloudy has become partly sunny.