Apparently, in the United States, s%&t is news.
In an FCC ruling yesterday, the S-word was deemed acceptable as long as the the TV program even faintly resembled a news show.
The Federal Communications Commission reversed it's previous decision after reviewing and judging that a Survivor:Vanuatu contestant's use of the obscenity during an interview on a December 2004 episode of The Early Show on CBS was, in fact, acceptable. The contestant used a vulgar term for "smooth talker" to describe a fellow contestant.
Apparently the morning fluff-news show is news-worthy enough to allow a liberal tongue. Thank God...can you imagine trying to describe the city's best french toast without the use of powerful verbal descriptives!
Still, the reality is our vocabularly is inching closer and closer to devolution. For example, did you know that the simple term abandon was once represented by three descriptors: anforlætan; forlætan; ofgiefan -- all from Old English and none of them in continued use?
While the FCC ruling can be deemed an effort to reflect a more liberal attitude, it borders on linguicide. The approval on the use of vulgarities is more than a reflection of our liberal society; it is a reflection of our linguistic laziness. As a lazy culture we rely, too often, on four-letter vulgarities to describe a plethora of situations -- and this reliance on boorish words means that other, more refined descriptors are forgotten and dismissed.
As the Vocabula Review states: A society is generally as lax as its language.
While the FCC prides itself on being the moral last word for broadcast acceptability in the United States (and that, in itself, says a lot), I choose to ignore Big Brother's acceptance and condemnation of my verbally descriptive world. Instead, I will try and reform this particularly unpleasant potty-mouth of mine -- and that should take more than a few regulations and rules from a bureaucratic watch dog.
For an amusing take on vocabularly loss (and reclamation) go to:
http://vocabreclaim.blogspot.com/
For the full USA Today article on the FCC ruling go to:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2006-11-07-indecency-usat_x.htm
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4 comments:
Yeah, I imagine fiftysomethings and older blanching at the invective available on regular TV.
Good night, and good f@#&ing luck.
Gosh darn it Greg...do you have to be so bleedin' agreeable???? I mean **bananas!** It's hard to have a flippin' conversation without throwing in at least one or two expletives!
The good news is that now we might possibly see the CNN tagline, "SHITTIEST PRESIDENT EVER?"
This is just the beginning. Eventually they'll conform to Canadian, primarily CityTV, standards, where they will bleep the word "Mother" but keep the word "fucker".
Take out the adjective, leave in the noun.
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